A Playhouse and Fun Times Along Dewey Avenue

Frank Roehm, a local general contractor, was the grandfather to Barbara and Dorothy Schweiters of 6076 Dewey Avenue. In 1944, he built a beautiful playhouse for his beloved granddaughters complete with a high-pitched gabled roof, a chimney, and shutters for the windows. The small structure resembled something out of a fairy tale. The girls could invite their friends over for any number of fun scenarios. Mr Roehm custom-built a table and two benches for the interior and a picnic table for the backyard. Inside their small cottage, the girls could sit on the window box or open it and take out a toy! Dorothy's good friend Irene Spitzer, who lived nearby at 6064 Dewey Avenue, also had a playhouse although it had been previously used as a chicken coup. The girls would travel from one small "dwelling" to another.  Amazingly, Mr. Roehm's whimsy still stands on the property 72 years after he first built it.

Dorothy and Barbara Schweiters swing next to their playhouse in the summer of 1945

Dorothy Schweiters stood next to her sister, Barbara, who was dressed up for her first day of school in 1945. Behind the girls, you can see the playhouse built for them by their grandfather, Frank Roehm.  

Barbara Schweiters stood in front of the playhouse in September of 1945. The Schweiters dwelled at 6076 Dewey Avenue.

Neighborhood girls gathered in the sandbox in front of the Schweiters family playhouse in the backyard of 6076 Dewey Avenue in 1945. Pictured:  (left to right) Irene Spitzer, Lynda Ashcroft, Dorothy Schweiters, Mary Jo Harding, Barbara Schweiters

Laura, Leslie, and Debbie Davis, the great granddaughters of Frank Roehm, gathered in the playhouse in the backyard of the Schweiters home at 6076 Dewey Avenue in 1970. 

The historic images and stories are courtesy of Deedee Davis. 

The Schweiters Move to Dewey Avenue

Norbert and Dorothy Schweiters did something unusual in the middle of the Great Depression. They bought a house in Irvington. It probably helped that they both had good jobs and a double income. Mr. Schweiters met his bride at the Kiefer-Stewart Company, a wholesale drug business, where they were both employed. He worked in the tobacco division and supplied drug stores and hotel lobbies with tobacco products. Some of his clients even included the resort at French Lick, Indiana. Mrs. Schweiters worked as a stenographer and secretary for the company although she resigned once she began having children. In 1937, the couple took the big leap and purchased the modest two-bedroom bungalow at 6076 Dewey Avenue. Built in 1929, the Hannah, Williams, and Elliott families had already moved in and out of the dwelling by 1937. Longevity arrived to the house when the Schweiters set up housekeeping. For over fifty years, a member of their family dwelled in this Dewey Avenue abode. The couple raised their two daughters, Barbara and Dorothy, in the residence and everyday and into the night the family could hear the nearby passing trains behind their home along the Pennsylvania Rail Line.

6076 Dewey Avenue after a winter snowstorm in 1939. Norbert and Dorothy Schweiters had already lived here for two years when this photo was snapped. 

An apparent spring snowstorm struck the city of Indianapolis in April of 1940. Buds can be seen on some of the trees now laden with snow. The Schweiters family dwelled at 6076 Dewey Avenue at the time. 

The backyard of 6076 Dewey Avenue in January of 1939. Behind the home, you can see the roofline of the double at 145-47 South Catherwood Avenue. The home at the left of the photo remains a mystery at this time. 

The Schweiters of 6076 Dewey Avenue documented a January snowstorm in 1939. 

Norbert and Dorothy Schweiters proudly posed with their daughter Barbara on a bench in the backyard of their home at 6076 Dewey Avenue. Behind the family, you can see the home at 6072 Dewey Avenue. The Ricketts family dwelled there when this photo was snapped. 

Frank and Leota Roehm, the maternal grandparents of Barbara and Dorothy Schweiters posed with Barbara Schweiters in the backyard of 6076 Dewey Avenue. Mr. Roehm would later construct a playhouse for his granddaughters which still stands in the backyard in 2016. 

Dorothy and Barbara Schweiters paused for a photograph along the back sidewalk at 6076 Dewey Avenue in 1943. It was a warm summer day and the perfect opportunity to play with the family dog. 

The historic images are courtesy of Deedee Davis.