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.

The Hoovers of Kenmore Road

Walter D. and Lillian Hoover moved into their spacious brick American Four Square at 68 North Kenmore Road in 1919.  The Hoovers had three children and they became a fixture at the corner of Kenmore and Lowell.  Mr. Hoover was an important chemist for Eli Lilly & Company. In 1937, the corporation profiled him in a company publication lauding his patience and skill.  By the early 1940s, the Hoovers moved out of Irvington Terrace for South Bend, Indiana.

In the top image, Mr. Hoover posed on the day of his daughter's wedding on October 18, 1942. The photograph has been inverted, but he is actually standing in his front yard at 68 North Kenmore Road.  Behind him, you can see the brick bungalow at 301 North Kenmore Road and the rear of a home on Ridgeview Drive.  The contemporary images show the beautiful homes in 2014.

Walter Denny Hoover on October 18, 1942: Behind him you can see 301 North Kenmore Road and the rear of a home on Ridgeview Drive. 

 

301 North Ridgeview Drive in 2014

Company profile of Walter D. Hoover in 1937

Lillian Gladys Hoover c1940

68 North Kenmore Road in 2014

The historic images are courtesy of Ed Hermsen via Ancestry.com

Hoffmans of Irvington Terrace

William C. and Avis Hoffman raised their family on Minerva Street just west of downtown Indianapolis.  In his sixties, just as he had retired from a nearby flour mill, Mr. Hoffman packed up his family and moved into a new house at 317 North Kenmore Road c1915. The beautiful large American Four Square home comfortably housed his adult and unmarried twin daughters, Edith and Ethel, who worked as secretaries downtown.  Their widowed son, Francis, (Frank) moved in with his parents in 1919 after the death of his wife.  He brought his son, Robert along with him so the house on Kenmore was quite full. Other Hoffman family members lived nearby.  City directories reveal that dozens of Hoffmans lived in the area.  As the elderly Hoffmans passed away, the twins continued to dwell in the large home on Kenmore Road until the early 1950s.

In the top photo, twin sisters Edith and Ethel Hoffman, rested behind 320 North Ridgeview Drive along the alley behind their home on Kenmore Road c1935.  It is unclear why they posed here or if they knew the family who dwelled in the bungalow behind them.  The second photo captured the entire Hoffman family with William and Avis serving as bookends.  The third image shows Francis or Frank Hoffman, who moved into the Kenmore home after the death of his wife in 1919.

Edith and Ethel Hoffman posed along the alley behind 320 North Ridgeview Drive c1935.

The Hoffman family moved into 317 North Kenmore Road c1915.  William Hoffman is at the far end while Avis Hoffman is closest to the photographer.  Their large extended family is in the middle.  The photo was taken c1915.

Frank Hoffman moved back with his parents at 317 North Kenmore Road along with son Robert after the death of his wife in 1919.  

The historic images are courtesy of the Hoffman family descendants via Ancestry.com.  

Raising a Family on Ridgeview Drive--1950s

Leland and Anna Belle Dickerson moved into 322 North Ridgeview Drive in the early 1950s along with their two children, Linda and Robert. Another son would soon be on the way, so the couple needed a larger home and the brick bungalow would suit them perfectly. The Dickersons enjoyed the beauty of the house including the screened and glassed-in front porch. Mr. Dickerson reported that although it was over thirty years old by the time they moved in, the bungalow was solidly built.  The house had two bed bedrooms downstairs and one large room upstairs that Mr. Dickerson converted into two bedrooms. The kids walked to School #77 on Arlington Avenue and had fun playing with their friends along the quiet street.

The couple had nice neighbors although Mr. Dickerson recalled one resident behind them who frequently blocked the alley with his car.  This prompted Mr. Dickerson to storm over there and ask the wayward citizen to move his auto.  He also chuckled about the fact that his large 1950s-era car frequently had trouble navigating the slight incline into the garage on snowy or slick days.  Despite those issues, the Ridgeview Drive years were very happy for the family.  Mr. Dickerson noted that had the backyard been larger, they might have stayed there longer, but in 1958 everything changed when Mr. Dickerson happened to be passing by 951 North Graham Avenue.  (More on that story in my  next post.)  You may see more images of Ridgeview Drive from an earlier era by clicking on the link below.

Robert Dickerson and Mike Dugan (829 Lesley Avenue) on July 4, 1952 in front of 322 North Ridgeview Drive

Having fun:  Linda and Robert Dickerson in the backyard of 322 North Ridgeview Drive (March 1953)

Birthday Party at 322 N. Ridgeview Drive on June 10, 1952--Pictured:  Sue Amick (315 North Kitley Avenue),  Jeff Mars,  Linda Dickerson (322 N. Ridgeview Drive), Barbara Howard, Debbie Ballard

322 North Ridgeview Drive (second house) pictured on October 15, 2013

The historic images and stories are courtesy of Leland Dickerson.

Ridgeview Drive Bungalows Then and Now

Ridgeview Drive is aptly named.  Lowell Avenue slightly inclines east of Arlington until it intersects with this lovely tree-lined street.  North of Lowell Avenue, contractors busily constructed numerous bungalows in the 1910s and 1920s all along the drive.  Rollen and Georgia Leonard moved into their home at 339 North Ridgeview Drive in the mid-1920s. Their daughter, Glenna, became the subject of numerous photographs including this one snapped in the spring of 1933.  Little Glenna certainly looked dashing with her hat as she posed on that warm day.  Behind her, you can see three bungalows across the street at 328, 322, and 320 North Ridgeview Drive.

In the lovely bungalow closest to Glenna, dwelled the Smith family at 328 North Ridgeview Drive.  Thirty-three-year-old Charles N. worked as a superintendent for a telephone company while his thirty-four-old wife, Emily, worked as a substitute teacher. She might have been tipped off about the job from her neighbor, William R. Krickenberger, who taught math for the Indianapolis Public Schools.  You will note that this bungalow today is one of the most impressively restored of its style in the entire neighborhood. This home was valued at $7,000 in 1930 and was owned by the Smiths.

Forty-seven-year-old William Roy and forty-four-year-old Katherine Krickenberger owned the brick bungalow at 322 North Ridgeview Drive.  Their home was valued at $9,000 in 1930 and was one of the most expensive on the block.  Mr. Krickenberger, a local math teacher, had already authored two mathematics books by 1933.  In 1927, he wrote Algebra, published the Bobbs-Merrill Company, a textbook used in high schools all over the United States.  When Glenna Leonard posed for this photograph in 1933, Mr. Krickenberger had just published another work titled, Plane Geometry (Ginn & Company). The Krickenbergers had one son, Craig, who was six years old in 1933.

The most distant home in the photo, belonged to Lawrence and Blanche Schremer, at 320 North Ridgeview Drive.  The unusual bungalow still retains its interesting shape in 2013. Mr. Schremer owned a "beverage and cigar house."  His business was definitely not in keeping with the accepted morals of the dry neighborhood.  The young couple had no children as of 1933.  Their home was valued at $7,500 in 1930.

This historic image is courtesy of Jim Brandenburg.

Glenna Leonard in 1933:  Behind her you can see 328, 322, and 320 North Ridgeview Drive.

328, 322, and 320 North Ridgeview Drive in the autumn of 2013

William R. Krickenberger, of 322 North Ridgeview Drive, co-authored this book in 1927

Scenes Along Ridgeview Drive in the 1920s

Herbert Hoover was President of the United States when the Leonard family snapped the top two historic images of beautiful little Glenna Leonard in 1928.  Rollen Glen and Georgia Leonard moved into a bungalow at 339 North Ridgeview Drive in the mid-1920s and remained into the mid-1940s.  In the top image, Glenna posed in the front yard of the family home in the summer of 1928.  Behind her you can see the two-story home at 332 North Ridgeview Drive and the side of the smaller bungalow at 328 North Ridgeview Drive. Forty-four-year -old Cecil Earle and thirty-seven-year-old Elizabeth Lee Smith lived in the larger home with their children Harmon and Virginia, and with fifty-eight-year-old Lilly Lee, the mother of Mrs. Smith.  The Smiths dwelled along Lowell Avenue before moving into their spacious new home in the 1920s.  Mr. Smith was a manager of a local publishing company.  Next door, at 328 North Ridgeview Drive lived Charles N. and Emily W. Smith. Both in their late twenties, Mr. Smith worked as a supervisor for a local telephone company while Mrs. Smith served as a substitute teacher for local high schools.  The contemporary image of the same view today reveals that the larger home has been altered over the years with the removal of the roof overhang along with the knee braces. You will also note that the front porch has been enclosed  that the dining room bay has been removed on the north side of the house.  The smaller bungalow at 328 North Ridgeview has been beautifully restored to its original appearance.

Glenna Leonard in her front yard in 1928.  Behind her, you can see 332 and 328 N. Ridgeview Drive.

332 and 328 North Ridgeview Drive in 2013.

In the second historic image, taken in the winter of 1928, Glenna Leonard posed in front of her home at 339 North Ridgeview Drive.  Behind her, you can see the charming bungalows at 329 and 323 North Ridgeview Drive.  Charles F. and Clara Woodstock rented the bungalow at 329 North Ridgeview for $50 a month.  Mr. Woodstock was a foreman at a local tire company.  The couple had two adult children still living at home at the time this photo was taken.  Their son Norman worked as an operator at an oil business while their daughter Dorothy cut, bobbed, coifed, and washed hair in a nearby beauty salon.  Next door, at 327 North Ridgeivew Drive, Edward A. and Edna M. Kelly lived along with Frederick Guy, a nephew to Mr. Kelly.  Mr. Kelly served as a manager for a furniture company and he employed his fifteen-year old nephew as well.  The contemporary photo, taken in 2013, reveals that the little has changed with these bungalows in the eighty-five years since the photo was first snapped.

Glenna Leonard stands in front of her home in 1928. Behind her you can see 339, 329, and 323 North Ridgeview Drive.

329 and 323 North Ridgeview Drive in 2013

Rollen G. and Georgia Leonard dwelled at 339 North Ridgeview Drive.  These photos show the couple before they were married and before they moved into the Irvington Terrace neighborhood.  Their lovely home still stands although significantly altered.  (see previous post)

Rollen Glen Leonard

Georgia Leonard

The Leonard family home at 339 North Ridgeview Drive in 1933

Many thanks to Jim Brandenburg for these wonderful historic images.

Irvington Terrace Bungalow Then and Now

Ridgeview Drive cuts through the heart of Irvington Terrace, a neighborhood in the far eastern section of Irvington.  The first folks to settle here likely came in the late nineteenth century, but this area did not really take off until the construction of Pleasant Run Parkway in 1909.  Speculators and dreamers alike built many beautiful Arts and Crafts, Dutch Colonial, and American Four Square styled homes in a burst of activity from 1910 through 1940.  One of those many structures erected during that time period was that of the Leonard Home at 339 North Ridgeview Drive.  This beautiful bungalow sat and still sits atop a small hill.  Rollen Glen Leonard worked as a draftsman.  He was employed for the Link Belt Company and designed floor-cleaning machines.  His wife, Georgia, was a piano teacher and instructed her students on a beautiful grand piano.  In this wonderful photograph, taken in 1933, Georgia Leonard posed with her daughter Glenna on a summer day.  If you look closely, you can see the young girl's tricycle parked nearby.  Because the house faced west, the Leonards added an awning to help with the summer heat.  A contemporary photograph, taken in 2013, reveals that the charming bungalow has been significantly altered, however, you can see remnants of the former home behind the newer facade.

Georgia and Glenna Leonard posed in front of 339 North Ridgeview Drive in 1933.

339 North Ridgeview Drive in 2013.  

This historic image and information on the Leonard family is courtesy of Jim Brandenburg.