Irvington at 150: Street Names N-R

In part four of five in our series on Irvington street names, we continue to explore the history of various avenues throughout the neighborhood. When the city annexed Irvington in 1902 officials consolidated names to reflect the nearby matching street. However, there are several unique names that began in Irvington. A California city, a constellation, a popular tree, local families, and a beloved Hoosier poet all have a home on street signs in the historic suburb.  

New York Street: Formerly called Shank Street after a prominent local family, the city of Indianapolis changed the name in 1909 to coordinate with New York Street, which originates downtown. The Shanks owned several acres at the intersection of Arlington and Washington Streets in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 

Norway Drive: William Alexander and Flora McDonald Ketcham, who founded the Irvington neighborhood of Pleasanton, named one of their streets "Norway." Mr. Ketcham, a Civil War veteran and leader in the Grand Army of the Republic, received front page news when he passed away suddenly in 1921. In none of his lengthy biographical profiles is there mentioned a connection to the nation of Norway. Mrs. Ketcham passed away in 1938. She also appears to have no connection to Scandinavia. Since they named the other two streets after trees, perhaps Norway refers to a spruce or maple. 

Oak Avenue: The beautiful winding street known as Oak Avenue was likely named after the majestic trees still present in the 1870s when the neighborhood was platted. Some of those specimen still exist in 2020. Generations of families have resided and played under these ancient trees. East of Arlington Avenue, the city renamed Third Street as Oak Avenue as well. 

Chuck Vogt posed with his sister, Jane, and his new bike under the giant oak tree near 5733 Oak Avenue in 1947.  Behind the siblings, you can also see the residence at  5728 Oak Avenue. (photo courtesy of Chuck and Joyce Vogt)

Ohmer Avenue: Nicholas Ohmer was a very early investor in Irvington. A resident of Dayton, Ohio, Mr. Ohmer and possibly his brother George Ohmer, built 312 Downey Avenue in 1873. The beautiful Second-Empire style, a French design, was in vogue when the brothers built the elegant brick home. Mr. Ohmer was a horticulturalist and likely became involved in the neighborhood due his connection with Sylvester Johnson, a founder of Irvington. There is little evidence that Mr. Ohmer lived in the house and if he did then it was for a brief period of time. His primary residence was located at 1350 Creighton Avenue in Dayton. Both he and his brother George also operated a series of restaurants throughout the Midwest in or near train stations including one in Union Station in Indianapolis. When Ohmer's Irvington home was restored in 1966 the residents of the neighborhood decided to interpret the house from the Benton family's tenure in the home. A nearby street was named for Mr. Ohmer and local historian, Steve Barnett, has discovered that part of Julian Avenue was also named Ohmer. Both the house in Dayton and his creation in Irvington are on the National Register of Historic places. Not many Americans can claim that honor. Furthermore, Mr. Ohmer built his own suburb around his orchard in Dayton in the 1880s and it also bears his name as Ohmer Park. 

Nicholas and Susanna Spratt Ohmer of Dayton, Ohio: Mr. Ohmer built what would become known as the Benton House at 312 South Downey Avenue in Irvington in 1873. Mrs. Ohmer's brother, Thomas B. Spratt also became an early investor in Irvington. (photo courtesy of Ohmer family via Ancestry.com)

Nicholas Ohmer built this beautiful home for his very large family at 1350 Creighton Avenue in Dayton, Ohio in 1864. He also founded the suburb of Ohmer Park in Dayton. (Screenshot of home)

Some accounts note that George Ohmer, the brother to Nicholas, helped in the investment of 312 South Downey Avenue (the Benton House). He became quite wealthy as he operated numerous restaurants around train stations in the Midwest. He is given credit for helping both Thomas Taggart, an Indiana politician, and inventor Thomas Edison early in their careers. (photo courtesy of Ohmer descendants via Ancestry.com)

Named for the Benton family who dwelled here in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the house was built by Nicholas and George Ohmer in 1873.  (photo by Wm. Gulde, spring 2020)

Orion Avenue: The Irvington Town Board reached for the stars in 1898 when they renamed Nora and Water Streets after the constellation. (Indianapolis News, November 8, 1898, 12)

Pasadena Street: At about the same time that the first residents started to build houses in Irvington in the early 1870s, a different group of Hoosiers moved to southern California and founded the city of Pasadena. They wanted to name their new home the Indiana Colony, but that name was rejected by the US Post Office so they settled on the Chippewa name that literally means "crown of the valley." Nearly fifty years later when developers east of Irvington needed a new street name, they chose "Pasadena." By the late 1920s, the Stradley, Thomas, and Goodnough families lived in charming bungalows and Tudor-Revival cottages along the new street just north of Washington Street. 

Pleasant Run Parkway: Noted landscape architect, George Kessler, began his tenure with the city of Indianapolis in 1907 and worked with officials through 1915. He had already designed boulevard systems in Kansas City and Cincinnati. In 1909, he presented a bold plan to the city that linked green spaces with winding boulevards that followed streams or rivers. Irvington became part of that plan when Mr. Kessler proposed Pleasant Run Parkway along the Pleasant Run stream. Although his vision was not completed until the late 1920s, boulevards like Fall Creek Parkway, Brookside Parkway, Kessler Boulevard, and Pleasant Run Parkway are some of the most beautiful in the city of Indianapolis. 

Poplar Road: When William Alexander Ketcham and his wife Flora McDonald Ketcham platted Pleasanton in 1915, they named one of the streets after a genus containing 25-30 species--Poplar. By the early 1920s, middle class families began building along the beautifully planned street. Reflecting the modern era in which the residences were built, several of the families along Poplar had a portre cochere attached to the side of their homes. 

Evelyn Schneider posed with her doll in 1925 in front of her home at 327 Poplar Road. The Schneiders were among many families who moved into new homes in the Pleasanton neighborhood of Irvington. To see more images of this street, click on the "Poplar Road" tab below. (Photo courtesy of Bill Ferling)

Rawles Avenue: Lycurgus Rawles joined Jacob Julian and several other investors in developing southern Irvington in 1873. His death at age 38 in that year ended his brief tenure in the venture. His father, John Rawles, stepped in and served as the administrator of his estate by selling off lots. More research is needed on this family, who seemed to have more connections to Lafayette than they do to Irvington. To honor the Rawles family, early developers named a street for them connecting South Arlington Avenue to Audubon Road.  In 1903, the city renamed Trislar Avenue west of Audubon Road and east of South Ritter Avenue as Rawles Avenue as well.

John Rawles, the father of Lycurgus Rawles, sold off his son's remaining real estate after Lycurgus passed away in 1873. (Ad in The Indiana Sentinel, March 22, 1876) 

Ridgeview Drive: When the Buckeye Realty Company under the leadership of John Chilcote developed the Irvington Terrace neighborhood in 1913, they originally named this street as Kensington presumably after the palace in England. Several families sought to build their own modest "palaces" along the street. R.L. Castle erected many of the residences. In October of 1916, the city of Indianapolis changed the name to the generic Ridgeview Drive. They also changed nearby Eldridge to Kenmore Road. 

An ad in the Indianapolis News, November 15, 1914, (39) for 319 North Ridgeview Drive, formerly addressed as 95 Kensington Avenue. 

Riley Avenue: Beloved Hoosier poet, James Whitcomb Riley, would have still been alive when the Irvington Town Board honored him by naming a street Riley Avenue sometime around the turn of the century.  While the avenue today is most associated with the Emerson Heights neighborhood, it originated north of Washington Street and began life as Summit Avenue. In 1898, the Irvington Town Board considered calling it Appian Way after the famous the Roman road, but eventually Riley Avenue won the day. We do not know if Mr. Riley ever visited the stretch named for him. Further research is needed! 

James Whitcomb Riley (public domain)

Ritter Avenue: When Levi Ritter purchased over 80 acres of land in Warren Township in 1869 he had the idea of owning a Jersey cattle farm. His vision changed once he heard that Jacob Julian and Sylvester Johnson were planning to develop a suburb next to his acreage. Mr. Ritter built a large home for his family on the southwest corner of East Washington Street and what was to become "Ritter Avenue." According to a 1903 Indianapolis Journal article, old growth trees, iron weed, and "red-topped" thistle dominated the landscape around the family. On September 16, 1871, Mr. Ritter platted the first addition to the new suburb of Irvington. He kept the original plan in place with winding streets. Although it is difficult to imagine today, Mr. Ritter, Mr. Julian, and Mr. Johnson kept a fully-stocked horse stagecoach barn on the northeast corner of East Washington Street and Ritter Avenue. After Mr. Ritter's death in 1893, his widow, Caroline Ritter continued to live on the site until she sold the property to the Indianapolis Public Schools in 1903. IPS #57 has operated continuously on the Ritter land since 1904. 

Sources:  Larry Muncie, Three Windows on Irvington History, 1989; George Kessler--Paul Diebold, Greater Irvington II, 2020; Rawles--"Administrator's Sale, Indianapolis News, March 22, 1876, 2; Ridgview Drive--""Taxi Men Oppose Rate Ordinance," Indianapolis News, October 3, 1916, 11; Riley Avenue--"Call it Audubon Road," Indianapolis News, January 17, 1903, 2; Ritter Avenue--"Old Ritter Homestead: First House Built After Establishment of Irvington," Indianapolis Journal, June 28, 1903, 8.

Prominent Architect Designed Emerson Avenue Duplexes--1944

After Butler moved away from Irvington in 1929, many people began to wonder what would become of the abandoned campus structures and 30 acres. Throughout the 1930s, the college tore down most of the original university buildings. There was talk of donating the land for an Indianapolis high school and some people wanted the area to become a park. Neither idea materialized and eventually the acreage was sold for redevelopment. Beginning in the early 1940s, Meridian Construction Company began building small cottages along Ohmer and Butler Avenues in what became known as the Campus Terrace Addition. The builders worked around some of the huge trees planted by the college although some of the groves vanished with the extension of University Avenue to Emerson Avenue.

In 1944, the Meridian Construction Company partnered with architect, Leslie F. Ayres, to design fourteen brick duplexes facing South Emerson Avenue. Still a young man at 38 years old, Ayres had already designed many impressive homes and commercial buildings throughout the country. He specialized in Tudor-Revivals early in his career, but by the late 1930s and early 1940s he had embraced the Art Moderne style.  The Wilkinson Home in Muncie, Indiana represents the peak of his his design during the Art Moderne period.  He also drafted "modernized" colonial revival homes which is what he termed the Emerson Avenue structures. Most of his incredible work still exists today along streets like Washington Boulevard on the north side of Indianapolis. He also designed the very beautiful Harry Moore Chapel along East Michigan Street. Beginning in the 1930s, Ayres was awarded the prestigious honor of being the architect of several Indianapolis Home Show residences. These dwellings were constructed at the Indiana State Fairgrounds and then often times reconstructed in various neighborhoods in northern Indianapolis. His untimely death of heart disease when he was only 45 robbed the world of an amazing architect.

Today, most east side residents of Indianapolis drive by the line of unusual doubles and do not know that these residences were designed by a brilliant architectural star. Mr. Ayres was also an accomplished artist and his work was exhibited by the Hoosier Art Salon. One of his early mentors happened to be his art teacher, Frederick Polly, an instructor at Arsenal Tech High School and resident of Irvington.

On September 8, 1944, the Indianapolis News featured the duplex at 251-253 South Emerson Avenue. The unnamed author described each of the rooms beginning with the living room with its long windows and tan-striped wall paper. The dining room sat in an alcove and the L-shaped kitchen featured two rows of white-painted cabinetry. Two bedrooms upstairs had "generous" closets with another closet in the hallway. The bathroom, also located upstairs, boasted a recessed tub and a "Venetian Mirrored" medicine cabinet. The double opened on to a large uncovered terrace. Hundreds of residents moved in and out of the 28 units over the years including former Indiana House of Representative, Dan Burton.

251-253 South Emerson Avenue under construction in the autumn of 1944 (Indianapolis News, September 8, 1944, 25)

217-219 South Emerson Avenue in 1948 can be seen behind Alfred Moffitt, who dwelled at 218 South Emerson Avenue (photo courtesy of the Moffitt family via Ancestry.com)

Duplexes in the 200 block of South Emerson Avenue in 2017

Duplexes in the 200 block of South Emerson Avenue in 2017

Leslie Ayres (1906-1952), a brilliant architect, designed many homes and structures in Indianapolis. (photo courtesy of Ball State Digital Archives) 

Leslie Ayres designed this residence for the 1941 Indianapolis Home Show

Leslie Ayres designed this home for the 1940 Indianapolis Home Show. 

The Wilkinson House in Muncie, Indiana was designed by Leslie Ayres. (photo courtesy of Indiana Landmarks)

Sources:
"1941 Home," Indianapolis News, April 18, 1944, 37.
"Campus Terrace Addition," Indianapolis News, September 8, 1944, 25.
Lucile Morehouse, "Drawings of Historical Interest," Indianapolis Star, August 25, 1946, 53.
Obituary for Leslie Ayres, Indianapolis Star, September 7, 1952, 21.

To see some of Leslie Ayres beautiful renderings click on the Ball State digital site below:

Leslie Ayres

Aerial Photograph of Irvington--Winter of 1908

A small crowd gathered on Butler College's (now University) Irwin Field in the winter of 1908. Were they watching a football scrimmage?  A game? A practice? One lone automobile--a rarity in those days--parked near the tall fence. The unknown photographer snapped this image for the 1909 Butler Drift. 

The photographer faced east so the most visible street in the picture is that of Ohmer Avenue as it snakes its way towards Downey Avenue. The dwelling closest to the photographer with intersecting gables and a long front porch still stands at 307 Ohmer Avenue. The barn or outbuilding associated with the property is long gone. Note that there are no other homes along the north side of Ohmer Avenue. On the south side of Ohmer Avenue, the most visible home is that of 5338 Ohmer Avenue. (Near the fence by the athletic fields)  If you look closely, you can see the rear of the Benton House at 312 Downey Avenue along with other nearby homes.  The smaller residences at the far right of the photo face Burgess Avenue.  The football field and green space would later be developed in the 1940s into housing.

Ohmer, Downey, and Burgess Avenues near the the Butler University football field in 1908

Journal Reveals Snippets of Life in Irvington--1948

Lawrence and Nell Dufour dwelled in three houses in the Irvington area. They would in total have ten children:  Lenore, Daniel, Sussanne, Richard, Donna, Bernadette, Christopher, Victoria, Maria, and Dianne.  While Mr. Dufour worked as a salesman and traveled all over the state of Indiana, Mrs. Dufour stayed home with the children. She washed clothes every single day and diapers for at least fourteen years.  She prepared meals daily and made sure the children got off to school. Somehow she also found time be an active part of the community. In 1948, her husband gave her a journal to record and document their lives which she did faithfully for two years.  Her daily snippets reveal so much detail about their lives at their Michigan Street and Audubon Road addresses. She stopped recording events throughout the 1950s due to her busy life, but she resumed again in the 1960s.

All of the following journal entries were written while the Dufours dwelled at 5125 East Michigan Street in 1948.

5125 East Michigan Street in 2015

Movies

January 18, 1948:  Larry and I went to the Emerson this evening to see Rex Harrison and Maureen O'Hara in "The Foxes of Harrow." She is beautiful and a wonderful actress, but the picture was definitely in the "B" category.

Valentine's Day

February 14, 1948:  Daddy brought the children a large box of Fannie May Candy as a Valentine to them! To me, he sent a dozen of lovely long-stemmed roses. He is still sweet and considerate. My Valentine to my family were individual cakes which went over big.  

Coal

February 23, 1948:  Three ton of Stoker coal delivered.  The price of coal is certainly going up. $14.95 per ton.  Was $8.00 four years ago.  

5125 East Michigan Street in 1948

Memorial Day Picnic

May 30, 1948:  The whole family got together and cleaned up the yard. It is quite a job and will have to finish tomorrow. After our hard work, we had a lovely picnic in the backyard--our first this year.

Shingles  (The Dufours added shingle siding over the clapboards of 5125 East Michigan Street)

June 2, 1948:  Men putting shingles on house had to stop on account of shortage of materials...

June 9, 1948:  One week later and the job on the house is still incomplete.  

June 16, 1948:  Another week and still the job on the house is incomplete.  

5125 East Michigan Street in 1947

5125 East Michigan Street in 1948

5125 East Michigan Street in 1948

Baptism Celebration for Christopher Dufour

November 14, 1948:  Christopher was baptized! Julie and Bryan Grotegut (5135 Ohmer Avenue) are his godparents. Father Beechum (Joseph Beechum) baptized him at 2:30 at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. Father Beechum was our guest at dinner which everyone seemed to enjoy. The menu was:

     Roast Prime Rib of Beef
       Mashed potatoes and gravy
         Pear Nut, cherry, and lettuce salad
            Broccoli with cheese sauce
              Harvard Beets
                 Cornbread and butter
                    Chiffon Parfait Cake 
                        Coffee

Snowstorm

December 18, 1948:  Came home through several inches of snow. It came down suddenly and furiously. Everything looks just beautiful in this typical winter wonderland. It is our first real snowstorm this year. Daddy had the tree up when we got home. 

The photos and use of Mrs. Dufour's journal entries are courtesy of the Dufour family.  Stay tuned for more journal entries as the family moved to 53 North Audubon Road.

Color Photo of Missions Building--1955

The Disciples of Christ had been operating the Missions facility at 222 South Downey Avenue for forty-five years when this photo was published in the form of a postcard in 1955.  The organization sent missionaries all over the world and invited many people from faraway lands to help train Americans.  The organization eventually obtained the Bona Thompson Library when Butler University moved to the Fairview campus in 1928. Over the years they added wings, an auditorium, and a community room on to the sprawling site.  In fact, the complex became the international headquarters for the Disciple of Christ and churches from all around the world received memos, letters, and missives from 222 South Downey Avenue.  This image shows the structures on a beautiful early autumn day. You can also see that Downey and Ohmer Avenues were still bricked in the mid-20th century. If you look closely, you can see the edge of the Bona Thompson Library at the far left with long boat-like automobiles parked in a nearby lot.

The Disciples of Christ maintained their international headquarters at the Missions Building (222 South Downey Avenue). It can be seen here in 1955.  

Lost Irvington--Cross Home

Charles and Laura Lott Cross moved to Irvington in 1891 and built this beautiful home on the southeast corner of East Washington Street and South Ritter Avenue.  Notice that the house sat on a large lot with a tall barn behind it.  Mr. Cross was into real estate and developed several streets and homes in Irvington.  He later sold this dwelling and moved the house so that it faced South Ritter Avenue.  The front of the lot was developed for commercial purposes including a corner building utilized as a bank (still standing in 2012).  This lovely home served as a fraternity for Butler University in the 1920s, but it was eventually torn down for parking.

Cross Family Home at 5507 East Washington St. before is was turned to face South Ritter Avenue.

In the 1920s the home faced South Ritter near Washington Street and was home to a Butler fraternity. It was eventually demolished. (Photo courtesy of Amy Friedly)

Mrs. Cross loved to write and she studied Shakespeare.  Sadly, several of the Cross children died young.  Two boys died of tuberculosis while one daughter died during the Great Flu Epidemic that swept the world in 1918 and 1919.  Another son, Harry, fought in World War One and took aerial photos from his plane.  He would survive the war and return to Indianapolis.

Laura Lott Cross was a writer and studied Shakespeare.  

Extended Cross family in 1917 at their Downey Avenue home:  Standing (left to right)--Harry Edgar Cross in his WWI uniform, Mary Wright Cross, Helen Cross Buddenbaum, Charles Mercer Cross; Seated: (left to right)  (possibly Mary Cross Wright's mother) Anna Lott (holding infant) Louis George Townsend, Jr. (infant), Laura Cross, and the Townsend brothers are on the ground--they would be raised by Mr. and Mrs. Cross after the death of their mother.

In the 1910s, Mr. Cross developed several homes along Ohmer Avenue.  He often had his son or other family members live in the houses while they were under construction to protect the expensive plumbing supplies inside from theft.  The Crosses eventually moved to 322 Downey Avenue.  (see Cross Family link)

These photographs and historical information are courtesy of Susan Morgan.

Alpha Delta Pi Home--1925

Butler University fraternities and sororities usually looked for homes to rent in the Irvington area for their chapter houses.  In the early 1920s, the Alpha Delta Pi sorority members moved into 5356 Ohmer Avenue.  They had sixteen members in 1925 although it is unlikely that all of the young women lived in this home.  Harriet Jaehne served as the President.  The home was likely built in the early twentieth century and is sited on a large shady lot. The young women had an ideal location just two blocks from the campus.  The dwelling is still standing in 2012 although it was radically enlarged and altered in the 1990s.  This image was taken in 1925.

Butler Tennis Match and a Lost House--1924

The tennis courts for Butler University used to sit on the southwest corner of University and Ohmer Avenues.  In this shot, taken in 1924, a member of the team prepares to return a serve.  He is facing north.  Near him, you can see 5317-19 University Avenue.  That home is still standing.  Across the street, however, like a ghostly image, you can see the former home that used to sit on the northeast corner of University and Ohmer Avenues. (5326 University Avenue)  It has been missing for at least sixty years.  The Disciples of Christ purchased the corner and removed the house to add a wing on to the College Board of Missions sometime in the 1950s.  The house appears to have been a large Queen-Anne styled home.  More research is needed to determine who dwelled in it.  Pictured in this photo is Julius Sagalowsky, who was the star player for the team in 1924.

Lost Irvington: 216-18 Ohmer Avenue

Ever wonder what used to be where many of our parking lots are today?  Houses close to businesses, lodges, churches, schools, and other institutions have often been demolished as the need for more parking has grown.

Such is the case for today's profile.  This early twentieth-century residence used to sit on the northwest corner of Downey and Ohmer Avenues. (216-18 Ohmer Avenue)  Its location near the former Butler University campus made it an ideal location for renters and boarders over the years.  It sat across the street from the headquarters for the Disciples of Christ.  That fact, would in the end, spell the doom of the historic home because the Disciples tore it down for more parking.

It was first built as a single family residence. Professor Richard B. Moore and his family dwelled at 216 Ohmer Avenue in the early twentieth century.  Later it appears to have been turned into a duplex.  In this photo, taken in 1947, Johnny Lindeman poses in front of his childhood home.  The Lindemans dwelled in 218 while Mr. and Mrs. Earl Deeter lived at 216 Ohmer.  This historic image is courtesy of Sue Thompson.  The contemporary image was shot in the winter of 2012.

216-218 Ohmer Avenue in 1947--Young Johnny Lindeman

The same view in 2012.

Before there was a Hinkle Fieldhouse...

During Butler University's tenure in Irvington, many mainstream sporting events grew in popularity. Basketball took longer to take root as baseball and football remained enormously popular. After World War One, campus officials took over the former Student Army Training Corp barracks for a new gym. The college finally had a larger venue for indoor sports like basketball. The building was completed around 1918 and was located on the southwest corner of University and Ohmer Avenues. Ten years later, the college completed the famed Hinkle Fieldhouse at the new campus at Fairview in northwestern Marion County.

In the historic photo, taken in 1922, you can see the historic gymnasium. The photographer was actually standing on the campus as you can see that University Avenue used to dead end into South Butler Avenue. In the distance, you can see the double located at 5317-19 University Avenue. In the late 1930s, local officials saw to the demolition of most of the structures on campus after Butler moved away, including the old gym. In the early 1940s, a developer built several smaller homes on the site. You can see the same view, taken 90 years later, in the contemporary image shot on April 12, 2012.

Butler vs. Wabash at Irwin Field in Irvington--1922

On October 28, 1922, Butler played Wabash College at Irwin Field to a standing room only crowd. In fact, young people gathered on campus rooftops, in trees, and up light poles to get a glimpse of the game. In this amazing photo, taken by photographer Frank Jones, you can see the massive crowd intensely watching the game. Notice that some folks in the foreground are sitting and standing on a gabled roof to watch the game. You will also note that everyone is very dressed up!

The photographer is facing south so you can see houses in the 5300 block of Burgess Avenue. The large double to the left faces Ohmer Avenue. This amazing picture was originally part of the Hilton U. Brown collection, but now rests with his great granddaughter, Amy Friedly.

Butler Football Field--1922

Irwin Field sat south of University Avenue, east of South Butler Avenue and West of Ohmer Avenue. In this incredible shot, the photographer is facing east towards Ohmer. All of the distant houses in the photo are still standing along that street. Like a mirage, in the upper right part of the photo, you can see the brick "tower" of the Irvington Ice and Coal building in the 400 block of South Ritter Avenue. The Baltimore and Ohio Rail Line is to the far right of the photo as are houses along Burgess Avenue south of the tracks. Irwin Field served as the football stadium for Butler University until it moved out of Irvington in 1928. In the 1940s and 50s, the site was redeveloped into housing. This historic photo, taken in 1922, is courtesy of Amy Friedly.

Lost Irvington--222 Ohmer Avenue

This lovely American Four Square used to sit at 222 Ohmer Avenue across from the Christian Women's Board of Missions. The intended object of this photo was not the house, but rather Don Ward (238 Ohmer Avenue), who was playing ball next door at 230 Ohmer Avenue at the Pflueger home in 1945. Behind him looms the ghost of the house not seen in Irvington in over thirty years.

The house used to sit along the alley connecting Butler Avenue and essentially Butler University. In 1909, Harry Wilfred Ballard and his family dwelled here. He was the president of the Indianapolis Engraving Company. Curiously, three other engravers lived in the neighborhood during this time including Harry Simpson (5743 Oak Avenue), S.Turney Downs (5803 Oak Avenue), and Charles Hackleman (34 North Ritter Avenue).

By 1912, the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity moved in and remained in the house until 1919. The home's location next to campus undoubtedly made it highly desirable for Butler students. The dwelling's position across the street from the Missions Building also made it attractive to the Reverend Oscar W. Wiley and his wife Ida. The Wileys set up housekeeping here in 1921 and remained well into the 1940s. In the 1950s, Ada M. Mosher, a librarian, lived at 222. By the early 1960s, another minister named Spencer P. Austin and his wife Margaret called the place home. The house remained listed in both the 1970 and 1980 directory, but vanished from record shortly thereafter. Perhaps some of our astute readers will be able to tell us what became of the house. In more recent times, a small home has been constructed on the site.

Howe High School Sweethearts

Susie Westlake entered Thomas Carr Howe High School in 1948. She "lockered" with her best friend Ann Althauser and joined many clubs. Because Susie was on the honor roll, she was allowed to serve as an office messenger for Mrs. Loew, the Dean of Girls.

One day as she finished her lunch in the school cafeteria during her sophomore year, she eyed a boy sitting near the tray rack. His name was Rodney "Duff" Thompson. He also took note of her. Soon he began riding his bike by her home at 234 Ohmer Avenue. He had to go slightly out of his way to do this as he lived at 5010 Orion Avenue on the other side of Emerson.

They went on their first date together by attending a movie downtown at the Circle Theater. The teens both dressed up, but Susie decided that one date was enough for now. She went back to hanging out with her friends. With money saved from babysitting, Susie bought a record player and invited her girlfriends over to dance in her small Ohmer Avenue cottage.

Duff Thompson reappeared in her life in 1950 during her junior year. He was a member of Zeta Phi, a men's social club and she belonged to the Best of the West, a women's social club. He started attending joint meetings between the two clubs and he asked Susie out on a date again. By this time, he no longer had to ride a bike as he drove his father's 1947 Chevy. The car had a Dynatone Muffler on it and Susie reports that she could hear him before he was ever near the house. They started hanging out together quite a lot, usually with other friends. Since Duff and others had a car they cruised both Al Green's and Jones Drive-In Restaurants. They also played golf at Rustic Gardens, a local east side miniature golf course. One night several Howe students, including Susie and Duff, ventured out to the infamous House of Blue Lights along Fall Creek Boulevard. They had heard that Skiles Test, the wealthy man who lived there, kept his deceased wife in a glass coffin in the living room. They parked the car and noticed the twinkling blue lights. As they began to sneak up the hill to peek into the home, a caretaker of the house started to charge them. Thinking he had a gun, the group ran back to the car with extraordinary speed. In Duff's haste to "save" the group, he backed his car into a tree and then peeled off towards Irvington.

Susie continued to make the honor roll at Howe and because her father was a realtor, they moved away from their Ohmer Avenue home for two years, but the new house was still in the Howe district. In June of 1951, Duff graduated from Howe and Susie escorted him to the prom. Duff began to work for his father's ice and coal company while Susie finished her senior year of high school and graduated in 1952.

After high school, both Duff and Susie had jobs. Duff worked on the assembly line at RCA and at Grapho Products in Lawrence as a degreaser. In March of 1953, Duff presented Susie with an engagement ring and set the wedding date of May 22, 1953. By this point, her parents had moved into 234 South Butler Avenue near her former Ohmer Avenue home. The young couple decided that they would be married in the lovely newer home.

At 7:30PM, the ceremony began. Susie wore a white "shantung" dress and Duff wore a tailor made blue suit. Only a few relatives attended. The warm weather necessitated opening the windows of the house, but it also poured rain. Since both of them had to be back at work on the following Monday, the young couple celebrated their honeymoon in Cincinnati, where they stayed at the Netherland Plaza Hotel. Susie fondly recalls going to Coney Island and eating a delicious Italian meal at Capronis. They spent $60.99 for the entire weekend.

Within in the next year, the couple saw many changes including the birth of the first of their three children and Duff's enlistment into the U.S. army. The couple lived in several houses in the Irvington area and Sue is still active with many organizations including the Irvington Mother's Club.

In top photo, Rodney and Sue Westlake Thompson proudly pose inside the Westlake family home on the evening of their wedding on May 22, 1953. The bottom photo shows the Westlake house at 234 South Butler Avenue in 1953. Both images are courtesy of Sue Westlake Thompson. The stories for this post came from notes that Sue Thompson has taken regarding her life in and around the Irvington area.

Ohmer Avenue Crew in 1941 and 1947

Many children lived with their families in the newly-built cottages along Ohmer and Butler Avenues. Some dwelled in the older and taller homes nearby. In these two photos, children pause from playing outside for a photo. In the top photo, the kids gather at the Ward Home at 238 Ohmer Avenue. The matriarch of that family, Mae Yoho Ward, worked across the street at the Missions Building. She had traveled all over the world and spent extensive time in Argentina as a missionary. Her photo is included as well. The children seen on the front porch of the Ward Home in 1941 include: Top Row--Bill Parrey (306 Ohmer), Mike and Cliff Wagoner (215 South Ohmer), Don Ward (238 Ohmer), and Morgan Sly (?) Bottom Row--Neal Lindeman (218 Ohmer Avenue), Nancy Pflueger (230 Ohmer Avenue), and Susie Westlake (234 Ohmer Avenue)

In the bottom photo taken in 1947, several neighborhood children pose near the Missions Building on the Ohmer Avenue side. This view is not possible today because the Disciples of Christ added a wing onto the structure in the 1950s. Pictured in this photo: Top--Nancy Plfueger, Tudie Applegate, Susie Westlake, Carolyn Carpenter; Bottom Row--Janet Pflueger, Melinda and Jimmy Lynch

The images showing the children of the neighborhood are courtesy of Sue Westlake Thompson.

Butler University Campus Redeveloped

After Butler University moved away from Irvington in 1928, the land proved to be valuable as there was very little space to build new houses in the neighborhood because it was largely developed. In 1940, the Hall-Hottel Company (129 E. Market) purchased part of the site and built small homes along South Ohmer and Butler Avenues. Construction largely came to a halt in 1942 with the arrival of World War II, but would resume after the war.

The Westlake family purchased 234 Ohmer Avenue in 1941. For John and Dorothy Westlake it was their first home. Their daughter, Susie, fondly recalled all of her playmates who lived in the cottages around her. Her photo albums, seventy years later, are filled with pictures of children riding their bikes, playing ball, and just having fun on summer and winter days.

In the winter of 1942, Susie and her friends borrowed the family camera and snuck in the Missions Building across the street from her home. Children were not really allowed to run around in the structure, but Susie and her crew managed to get to the top floor to snap two amazing photos of the newly built homes across the street on a snowy winter day. In both photos you will see 238, 234, and 230 Ohmer Avenue. Both photos are not possible today because the Disciples of Christ added on a wing in the 1950s along Ohmer Avenue. Furthermore, she also captured two structures that have not been seen in many years.

In the bottom photo you will see 222 Ohmer Avenue at the far right of the picture. It is a two-story American Four Square. In the top photo at the far left you will see the back of 5326 University Avenue. This home was demolished to make way for the 1950s wing of the Missions Building. I also happen to think that these two photos are even more remarkable because they were taken by an eight-year-old girl. The images and stories are courtesy of Sue Westlake Thompson.

The Westlakes Arrive in Irvington--1941

John and Dorothy Westlake purchased their first home at 234 Ohmer Avenue in 1941. The house was brand new and had been built on speculation in the previous year on the grounds of the former Butler University campus. The college had been gone for over a decade and the buildings fell into disrepair, eventually succumbing to the wrecking ball by the end of the 1930s. The site provided a chance for many local families to build or buy a slice of the American dream.

John Westlake (1907-1976) began as a bellhop for the Claypool Hotel in downtown Indianapolis and eventually worked his way up to becoming the night auditor. His wife Dorothy Westlake (1908-1984) worked across the street for the Christian Women's Board of Missions. Their daughter Susie found plenty of friends in the area as most of the people who lived around her had young children.

The historic photos reveal Susie Westlake on her new bike in 1941. In the background you can see the Missions Building before a major addition was put on in the 1950s along Ohmer Avenue. The middle photo shows 234 Ohmer Avenue when the Westlakes purchased it in 1941. The bottom photo is of John and Dorothy Westlake proudly standing in front of their Ohmer Avenue home in 1945. These images are courtesy of Sue (Susie) Westlake Thompson. More of this interesting part of the neighborhood will be forthcoming!