They Gathered at Winona Lake

Members of a youth group from the Irvington Presbyterian Church made the long drive up to Winona Lake, Indiana in the summer of 1925.  The camp site had long been home to various Christian groups including the Presbyterians, who operated a site along the lake beginning in 1913.  Although not every name is known in this photo, we do have some of them.  They read like a "whose who" of Irvington families.  Most of the youth in the photo range in age from 16 to 20.  S.B. McQuown has been identified as the photographer.

The Young Women (left to right)

Janet Carr--Miss Carr dwelled at 76 North Whittier Place. Her was father was a prominent dentist and her uncle was a well-known architect.  She would later marry Egbert Smith Hildreth and live her entire life in Irvington.  An active club woman, Mrs. Hildreth helped to save the Benton House in the 1960s.

We do not know the names of the next two young women.

The fourth girl in the photo was Mary Dove.  Little is known of her at this time although she might have been part of the Dove family who dwelled near East 10th Street and Arlington Avenue.

Next was Ethel Loomis, who dwelled at 341 North Bolton Avenue.  Mrs. Loomis helped to organize the trip and also served as a chaperone.

Mary Alice Epler, of 133 North Drexel Avenue is the sixth girl.  Her sister sat nearby.

We do not know the name of the next young woman.

Jeanette Epler, also of 133 North Drexel Avenue sat near her sister and just below the love her life, John McPheeters.  The two of them would eventually marry.  Tragically, Mr. McPheeters perished during World War II leaving a young widow back in their apartment at 46 South Ritter Avenue.  The famous photographer, Alfred  Eisenstaedt for Life magazine visited her in the fall of 1944 and photographed her for a story on the victims left behind from the war.  Her face in that photo, filled with anguish and sadness, looked far different than the gay young woman on an Indiana summer day in 1925.

We do not know the name of the next young woman.

Helen Brown (later Weigman) of 333 North Irvington was the eighth girl from the left.

Next to her sat, Elizabeth Mullin, who lived in a cottage at 203 South Ritter Avenue. Her father, Elmer Mullin, ran a business along Bonna Avenue.

At the end of the row, rested Mildred Campbell, who would later become a teacher at Shortridge High School.  She inspired thousands of city residents and her reputation as an outstanding educator still lives on in 2013.  A thorough person, she once helped to document the species of every tree in Ellenberger Park.  As a girl, she dwelled at 29 North Hawthorne Lane.

The Young Men (left to right)

Paul Lambert, at the far left, dwelled at 46 North Sheridan Avenue.

Next to him, stood Howard Dirks of 24 North Ritter Avenue.  The Dirks family ran one of the most popular grocery stores in the neighborhood.

Unfortunately, we do not know the names of the next two young men.

John McPheeters, an Eagle Scout and future war hero, stood above his future wife, Jeanette Epler.  After his untimely death in battle, the military named some barracks for him at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He was beloved by his troops.  As a youth, he lived at 52 North Audubon Road.

Dr. George William Allison, of 254 South Ritter Avenue, served as the minister for the Irvington Presbyterian Church from 1919 to 1930.  He would be responsible for overseeing the construction of the grand edifice that today sits at 55 Johnson Avenue.

The last young man at the far right was that of George Newton, who dwelled at 323 North Audubon Road.

This photograph is courtesy of Bill Ferling and the Irvington Presbyterian Church.

Dirks Grocery Store

The Dirks family operated a grocery store along East Washington Street for much of the twentieth century.  Edward Dirks, Sr. moved to Irvington in the early 1910s and opened a store at 5548 East Washington Street.  Later, as his business expanded, he moved into 5524 East Washington Street.  Both structures are now gone.  The store is mentioned in several of the oral histories conducted in the 1970s and 1980s by the Irvington branch (Hilton U. Brown branch--in those days) of the Marion County-Indianapolis Public Library. Local Irvingtonians recalled dialing up Mr Dirks on their phones to place an order.  His staff, generally local high school students and young men, would get in a wagon or a car and drop off the groceries.  Neighbors could walk to the store and choose vegetables and meat, but most items were behind the counter so the process was quite time consuming. Even after larger stores like Standard Grocery and others came into the community, Dirks continued to thrive.  Store loyalty was very high in those days.

Throughout the 1920s, Butler University students shopped at the store.  On the night of February 2, 1923, several college students heard a thump inside the closed store and peeked into the windows.  One student thought he saw two white guys and an African-American male.  Assuming they were burglars, a crowd soon gathered.  One hundred college students surrounded the store in case the burglars tried to flee.  The police showed up and entered the store.  Officers exited the building with a cat.  The incident garnered front page news the next morning and likely elicited a few chuckles around the city.

Edward and his wife Anna Bloemker first dwelled in a two-story home at 24 North Ritter Avenue.  He built a large barn behind his house in 1914 to house his delivery vehicles. As his fortunes rose, Mr. Dirks moved his family into a spacious brick American Four Square at 50 N. Kenmore Road.  The couple had three children, Mildred, Helen, and Edward, Jr. Young Edward would take over the family business in the early 1950s until he finally sold it in 1966.  Ask any mid-twentieth-century resident of Irvington and you will hear stories of shopping at Dirks.

In the top two historic images, courtesy of the Larry Muncie Collection from the Irvington Historical Society, you can see two deliverymen ready to begin their routes.  Mr. Muncie has zoomed in on one of  the men so we can see his face.  The third historic image is an advertisement that came out of the 1927 Drift, a Butler University yearbook.

Dirk's Grocery delivery men 

The contemporary images show the Dirks homes in 2013.  24 North Ritter Avenue was moved in the early 1930s to its current location in the 300 block of North Ritter.  The previous site was needed for commercial expansion.  The last image shows the beautiful home at 50 North Kenmore Road where the Dirks dwelled throughout much of the twentieth century.  The house still retains its beautiful roof tiles.

The Dirks home used to be at 24 North Ritter Ave.  It now sits in the 300 block of North Ritter Avenue.  It was moved in the early 1930s.   

Edward and Anna Dirks moved into this home at 50 North Kenmore Road in the 1920s.