The Plotner Family Arrives For Church--c1955

Mr. and Mrs Harold Plotner (5735 Beechwood Avenue) arrived for Sunday services at the Irvington Presbyterian Church sometime in 1955. Awaiting them, was photographer Reuben L. Brullow, who was taking photos for a future publication commemorating the history of the church.  The Plotners were active members of the congregation.  Harry Plotner worked at the International Harvester Company on Brookville Road as did many others in southern Irvington in the mid-twentieth century.  Local resident, Larry Muncie, who grew up near the Plotners remembered the family fondly.  Mr. Muncie noted that it was Mr. Plotner who asked him to help with recording church services on closed-circuit television.  Dr. Howard Stone was the minister at the time and during his tenure the church broadcasted services on Channel 8.

The American Four Square home visible in the photo behind the Plotners was that of 58 Johnson Avenue.  To see that house today, click on the link below.

The Plotner Family of 5735 Beechwood Avenue arrived for services at the Irvington Presbyterian Church c1955

The historic photo is courtesy of Bill Ferling and the Irvington Presbyterian Church.  Information about the Plotners is courtesy of local historian, Larry Muncie.  

Lost Irvington--The Kile Home

Most Irvingtonians of the early twenty-first century are familiar with the Kile Oak, a grand tree now protected along Beechwood Avenue.  For most of the twentieth century, a member of the Kile family literally dwelled under the giant spans of the majestic tree. Reverend Oliver and Sarah Kile moved into their new Irvington home at 5939 Beechwood Avenue in 1901 along with their eight children.  Historian Paul Diebold notes in his book, Greater Irvington, that the family relocated to the community from Ohio for better educational opportunities for their large family.  Reverend Kile died in 1924 and his funeral was held under the tree.  Many of his Civil War veteran friends attended the memorial service.

Mae Kile, a daughter to the elder Kiles, continued to dwell in the home until the 1970s. Miss Kile was fiercely protective of the ancient tree. She allowed school children from IPS #85 to walk onto her property with their teachers and collect acorns and leaves. Larry Muncie, a nearby neighbor remembered that they then walked back to the school and wrote poems and stories about the tree.  While Miss Kile allowed supervised visits of the property, children who wandered unaccompanied onto the property faced her wrath and threats of phone calls to the police.

Chuck McCleery, the next door neighbor to Miss Kile, recalled that she seldom allowed people into the home and that the tree had actually begun to grow into the house.  She was warned to cut back the branches but she refused.  Instead, she had a handyman place rubber tires under the branches so that they would not do further damage into her already compromised roof.

Still living on her own in her early 90s, the home and the property became too much for Miss Kile to manage. With her place falling into ruin and her health beginning to fail, she moved to California to stay with relatives.  Larry Muncie reports that even while she was in California, she called long distance to her former neighbors along Beechwood Avenue to check on the tree.  She had tried unsuccessfully to get the city to buy the lot and turn the area into a park.  Upon her death, Irvington Landmarks and the Irvington Historical Society purchased the land with a grant to save the tree for as long as it remains on this planet.  Miss Kile's Victorian home was demolished in the 1970s and today wildflowers and native plants grow on the site of the Kile home.

In these historic images, provided by Chuck McCleery, you can see the Kile home shortly before its demolition in the early1970s. Once a beautiful home, now a sad wreck, the structure still had many of its Queen Anne elements including the wrap-around porch.  In the next photo, likely taken in 1967, the Kile home appears behind the construction of a small ranch home at 5945 Beechwood Avenue.  In the third photo, likely taken in 1977, the lot has been cleared and the Oak towers above the newer brick home.  The final photo shows the site of the Kile home in 2013.

The Kile home at 5939 Beechwood Avenue c1973. Shadows of the giant oak formed patterns on the lawn.

The Kile home at 5939 Beechwood Avenue looms above the newly built-McCleery home at 5945 Beechwood. You can also see the Kile Oak in this photo taken c1967.

The Kile Oak, a Burr Oak, c.1977

Wild flowers grow on the site of the former Kile Home in 2013.

Thanks to both Chuck McCleery and Larry Muncie for their contributions to this post.

Any Monday--An Irvington Tradition

Local historian, Larry Muncie, who also happens to be a bit of an artist, sent in this beautiful photograph of his mother, Margaret Muncie.  He titled the photo, "Any Monday" as many Irvington moms spent that day as "wash" day.  In this photo, Mrs. Muncie hangs clothes to dry in the backyard of the family bungalow at 5831 Beechwood Avenue. (c1955)  It looks like it might have been a spring day as well.  How many other Irvington mothers were doing the same thing on this gorgeous day?

Margaret Muncie hangs clothes to dry in the backyard of her home at 5831 Beechwood Avenue . (c1955)

This historic image is courtesy of Larry Muncie.

The Milk Truck on Beechwood Avenue--1948

Milk products used to be delivered to nearly every house in Irvington.  Residents placed a metal box on their porch and awaited the deliveryman.  The milkman would arrive at the home and either find a note on the box or a person at the door informing him of what they would need for the week.  In this photo, taken in 1948, neighborhood kids along Beechwood Avenue posed for a photo after asking for shaved ice on a hot summer Indiana day.  The truck was parked in front of the Muncie family home at 5831 Beechwood Avenue.  I have also included a historic photo of the bungalow taken about the same time. These historic images are courtesy of Larry Muncie.

Polk's Milk Truck in front of 5831 Beechwood Avenue in 1948

5831 Beechwood Avenue and several homes to the west c1940.  

Endangered Beechwood Bungalow Then and Now

 Some people count sheep to help them fall asleep.  I restore houses.  I first noticed the small charming bungalow at 5831 Beechwood Avenue five years ago as I took my regular evening walks. Each night as I closed my eyes, I put a new roof on the dwelling and restored the porch.  Then I replaced some of the rot along the eaves.  As fatigue usually began to wash over me, I painted the exterior clapboards and trim in earthy shades of green.  Some nights I worked on the interior.

I often wondered who lived in the late-1920s era home and what it might have looked like when it was much loved.  Thankfully, I have been fortunate in that many members of the community have reached out to me since starting this blog dedicated to documenting the stories of Irvington.  One such person is Larry Muncie, who has been extraordinarily generous with both his photos and his memories.  Mr. Muncie, who himself, has spent years chronicling the neighborhood, grew up in the little house on Beechwood. You can imagine my delight upon receiving historic photos of the very house I had been restoring each night.

Taken in 1940, the first image shows 5831 Beechwood as well as two houses west of the home.  You will note that the bungalow had lovely landscaping and was kept in mint shape.  In the second photo, taken in 1942, a very young Larry Muncie, chooses ice cream from the peddler's wagon on a warm summer day in front of his childhood abode. Mr. Muncie fondly recalled many of his neighbors, including Charles Wray, a veteran of the Spanish-American War!

Tidy bungalows of 5831, 5825, and 5823 Beechwood Avenue c.1940

Little Larry Muncie chooses ice cream in front of his home at 5831 Beechwood in 1942

Today, 5831 Beechwood Avenue is dark and decaying. My nightly visits have done little good to turn back the ravages brought upon by Mother Nature.  Irvington is now protected so my fervent hope is that someone five or even one hundred years from now will post a photo of the bungalow completely restored.  There will be life in the house and perhaps if we are lucky, a child will be buying ice cream along the street once again.

The same view of the Beechwood bungalows in 2012

No life at the moment, but 5831 Beechwood Avenue awaits rejuvenation!  

Martin Home of English Avenue--Then and Now

John and Dora Martin built their dream home at 5225 East English Avenue in 1925.  The American Four Square house sat on a large lot along what has always been an important southern Irvington street.   The street car line that ran down the corridor was the first to connect Indianapolis with the neighborhood.  Later lines along East Washington Street and Michigan Street would be built to accommodate the growing community.  John Martin worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad.  The Martins could likely hear the distant trains along that path and from the nearby Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.  Mrs. Martin died in 1936.  Sadly, she did not live to see the marriage of her daughter, Margaret to Verl Muncie at her beautiful home in 1937.  The home remains much as it did in 1925 although the porch has been enclosed and vinyl siding now covers the clapboards.  These wonderful historic photos are courtesy of Larry Muncie.

The Martin home at 5225 East English Avenue in 1925 shortly after it was completed

The Martin home at 5225 East English Avenue in 1930. Note the beautiful spirea bushes. 

Verl Muncie and his new bride on their wedding day in 1937. They were married at her childhood home at 5225 East English Avenue.  Also pictured:  Ralph and Gladys Shimer.  

John Martin with his second wife Fronie c.1940

5225 East English Avenue in 2012

A Victory Garden in Irvington--1944

Twenty million Americans planted "Victory Gardens" on their lots, in parks, and on public land throughout World War II.  Food shortages and rationing became the norm as the country fought a two-front war. Eleanor Roosevelt planted a garden on the White House lawn to encourage more to do the same.  Americans produced an astounding nine to ten tons of food from these small and sometimes large gardens.

Verl Muncie answered the call and planted a large vegetable garden on a lot next to his in-law's home at 5225 English Avenue in 1944.  In this image, he paused from his toil along with his young son, Larry for a photo.  Behind them, you can see three new doubles on the northwest corner of English and Grand Avenue.  In less than a year after this photo was taken, Mr. Muncie was called into service.  The lot where the Muncies farmed was eventually sold and redeveloped into housing.

Verl and Larry Muncie in their Victory Garden next to 5225 English Avenue

1940s era doubles located on the northwest corner of English and Grand Avenues in 2012

The historic photo is courtesy of Larry Muncie. The contemporary photo shows the "newer" doubles on the northwest corner of English and Grand in 2012.

Film Clip of Charles Dorn's Standard Grocery and the Nearby Horner House c.1933

Charles Dorn operated a small Standard Grocery store on the northwest corner of Brookville Road and Grand Avenue. (just east of South Emerson Avenue) Sometime in the early 1930s, a family member or friend filmed Mr. Dorn and some of his workers as they exited the store.  Mr. Dorn can be seen wearing a hat and smoking a cigar.  Larry Muncie, a local historian, remembers going to the store during World War II with his mother Margaret Muncie and his Aunt Gladys Shimer.  During the war years, Mr. Dorn could only carry canned goods because of the rations on meat and other items. Eventually, a Standard Grocery Store would be built on East Washington Street. Mr. Dorn's store still stands today although it has been drastically altered and is now a church.

So you know what you are seeing, I have included a sequential history by clip:

0-5 seconds--The exterior of the store

6-20 seconds--You can see the employees exiting the store and playfully posing for the camera. Behind them, you can see a bungalow on the southside of Brookville Road near Emerson and a brief shot of the Horner House on South Emerson.  Towards the end of this segment, you can see Mr. Dorn standing along the Grand Avenue side.  A small bungalow on Grand is behind him.

22--27 seconds--You can see a young man come from around a bus parked on Brookville Road.  Behind him, you have a clear shot of the Horner House on South Emerson Avenue.

This amazing film clip is courtesy of Larry Muncie. I am working to get rid of the labeling on the film. Contemporary images show the same views in 2012.

Charles Dorn's Standard Grocery in 2012

The Horner House has recently been purchased. You may follow their blog by clicking on my favorite links.