The Little Flower neighborhood sits to the north and west of Irvington. Many of the homes in the area date to the 1920s including the Cape Cod at 1314 North Emerson Avenue. Built in 1925, Adam and Anna Schaaf were the first couple to reside in the house. Mr. Schaaf, a native of Germany, worked as a tailor and later for J.D. Eastman Sunshine Cleaners. The couple also took in lodgers to cover the bills. They sold the property in 1937 to Oliver and Etta Nesbit. He worked as an electrician for the city fire department. Mrs. Nesbit served as a saleswoman for the L.S. Ayres Department Store.The 1940 Federal Census indicates that the Nesbits also took in lodgers. Abe and Ruth Martin leased two second-story rooms from the Nesbits. Then in 1942, Mr. Nesbit died at the age 55. Mrs. Nesbitt continued to live on in the house and she still leased rooms, but by 1946 she decided to sell.
In the late autumn of 1946, Etta Nesbit, switched real estate agents and placed her home at 1314 North Emerson Avenue back on the market. According to newspaper ads, the widow had tried to sell the house earlier in the summer. The sign in front of the picket fence in the photo advertised Jack C. Carr, realtor. He ran ads about the house in November of 1946 and that matches the leafless trees in the photograph. His various ads touted the beautiful landscaping, an imported Czechoslovakian chandelier in the dining room, a "sparkling" glass tile fireplace complete with a mirror above it in the living room, a recreation room, and a light and "airy" basement.
A photographer with the last name of Lacey snapped the photo for Carr Realty. The image was recently unearthed on EBAY. The century-old home still stands today.
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| 1314 North Emerson Avenue in 1946 |
Sources: 1940 Federal Census; Polk's Indianapolis City Directories, 1925-1947; Obituary for Adam Schaaf--Indianapolis News, June 25, 1942, p. 22; Obituary for Anna Schaaf--Indianapolis Star, May 21, 1956, p. 14; Obituary for Oliver Nesbitt--Indianapolis Star, June 1, 1942; Obituary for Etta Nesbitt--Indianapolis News, October 20, 1961, p. 24.
