Methodists Dedicated New Wing in 1957

      On a chilly but sunny Sunday morning in November hundreds of members of the Irvington Methodist Church gathered along North Audubon Road for the groundbreaking of a new education wing. The church had been on this site since 1926, but had been in Irvington since 1879 in a variety of locations. Dr. Henry L. White, the pastor of the church in 1957 conducted the special outdoor ceremony. 

     The Garns and Moore Firm designed the new three-story brick wing. Glenroy Construction won the bid for the construction of the edifice. You can see their truck in the top photo. The new wing included numerous classrooms, a chapel, and an administrative area and would be completed in 1958. Officials placed the wing east of what was formerly the Forrest-Howe home.

     Behind the crowd that morning neighbors who resided in 23, 25, 53, and the double at 59-61 might have peeked out their windows to watch the formal event. So who lived in those residences in 1957? Wellise and Rose Hui along with Cornelia Hui resided at 23 Audubon Road. Mr. Hui operated the Irvington Importing Company while his wife Rose worked at the N & R Laundry. Cornelia taught at the McKinley Elementary School. Next door Dorothy White lived in the corner home at 25 North Audubon Road. The Dufour family resided at 53 North Audubon Road. They might not have been home that morning as they usually attended mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. In the large double next door Frank and Ella Wallace leased 59 North Audubon Road while Henry W. and Carol Ross leased 61 North Audubon Road.      

     Throughout the winter of 1957 and 1958 construction workers built the new wing changing the look of the Irvington Methodist Church. 

Members of the Irvington Methodist Church gathered for the groundbreaking of a new education wing on November 10, 1957. The most visible homes in the photo include 23, 25, 53, and 59-61 North Audubon Road. (photo courtesy of the Irvington Historical Society)

Officials from the Irvington Methodist Church participated in the groundbreaking of the new education wing on November 10, 1957. Left to right: Reverend C. Kenneth Powell, Firman Sims, Glendon Hackney, Delbert Meyer, and Dr. Henry L. White. (photo courtesy of the Irvington Historical Society)

Throughout the winter in 1957 and 1958, workers for Glenroy Construction erected the new education wing at the Irvington Methodist Church. This image also shows the rear of the businesses along East Washington Street and the tower of the Irvington Presbyterian Church. (photo courtesy of the Irvington Historical Society)

Workers neared completion of the new education wing at the Irvington Methodist Church in the spring of 1958. The addition housed numerous classrooms for the church. (photo courtesy of the Irvington Historical Society)

Editor's Note: The Irvington Methodist Church will turn 150 years old this September. 

Sources: Polk's Indianapolis City Directories, 1957 and 1958; Sources: "Irvington to Break Ground For Addition," Indianapolis Star, November 9, 1957, p. 12. 

Who Lived Here? A Career Woman Along South Emerson Avenue

Leonora Showalter Ross, a journalist, wrote for the Indianapolis Star throughout the late 1910s and most of the 1920s. She served as both the "Home Planning" editor as well as the music editor for the daily paper. In the summer of 1923, Mrs. Ross wrote a series about the discovery of a trunk found in the attic of a New Castle, Indiana home. Contained in that trunk were letters and personal papers belonging to the Indiana poet, James Whitcomb Riley. She also wrote of a visit by Harry Houdini to the city of Indianapolis. Thousands of Hoosier readers perused her stories daily.

Her personal life remains somewhat unclear at this time. In 1914, at the age of 18 she married David N. Ross in Missouri. They moved to Indianapolis likely because Mr. Ross found a job with a local radiator factory. She began working for the Star shortly after her arrival to the city. By 1922, the couple purchased 346 South Emerson Avenue and started a family. They would have three children. Mrs. Ross did not give up her career as most women would have done during this era. She joined a local writers' club and a women's league. She hosted bridge parties in her home. Then, according to a blurb in the Society section of the Indianapolis Star, Leonora Ross drove to New York City and sailed to Europe in the summer of 1928. Did she stay in Europe? The 1930 census lists her husband, children, and even her mother, Katherine Showalter, residing along South Emerson Avenue, but no Leonora Ross. A newspaper article about the marriage of her first daughter in 1936 does not mention her as present. Where was Leonora Ross? By 1941, she seems to have returned to her husband and family as a newspaper account mentions her attending her third child's graduation from Arsenal Tech High School in 1941.

The Ross family dwelled in the American Four Square along Emerson Avenue until 1938. They then moved to a home along Sutherland Avenue. Information on Ancestry.com indicates that the couple might have lived into the 1980s, but an Indianapolis Star article about Houdini in 1976 referred to the "late Mrs. Leonora Ross." Perhaps a Ross descendant will find this article and help to shed light on this interesting journalist who once called Irvington home.

Taken from Fellow Citizens of Indianapolis, 1926

346 South Emerson Avenue in 2016

Exciting Times at an East Washington Street Double

For years the Wilkens family dwelled in a small one-bedroom double along Linwood Avenue. In 1950, Harold and Ellen Wilkens along with their daughter Diana moved into a spacious double at 5120 East Washington Street.  The family could see the beautiful Hilton U. Brown mansion across the street and of course in the winter, they watched as hundreds of kids sledded down his steep hill. Next door, motorists stopped by the Flying Red Horse Filling Station on the northeast corner of East Washington Street and Emerson Avenue to fill up their Pontiacs, Buicks, Cadillacs, and other boat-sized vehicles. Mr. Wilkens, a pharmacist, purchased his first car in 1950--a 1949 Chevrolet.

Young Diana enjoyed living in the stucco double as she could walk to Howe High School, a place she loved.  Each morning she dressed up in her cashmere sweater, long dress, hose, and flat shoes and entered Miss Motley's homeroom class. She loved to draw so Mr. Howard, an art instructor, was one of her favorite teachers.  She joined a social club called  "Smiles" and hung out with friends after school. After graduating from Howe in 1952, Diana matriculated to Butler University. She continued to dwell with her parents

Then Diana decided to do something crazy. In 1956, she bid her bid parents "farewell" and headed off to New York City with a few other friends. She landed a job with the Benton and Bowls Ad Agency as an art secretary. While she mainly kept the files organized for the executives and ad men, she occasionally helped out the creative directors by posing for test shots before the models would be brought in for the actual photo shoot.  Diana had to pinch herself as she met famous people like Norman Rockwell, Grandma Moses, and fashion designer John Weitz. She also fell in love, but in 1964 she learned that her mother was ill so she packed up her bags and made the long ride home to Irvington, where a new life awaited her.

Diana Wilkens posed for this shot with her date, Paul Ross, in her home at 5120 East Washington Street in 1954

All Dressed Up: Diana Wilkens on the front steps of 5120 East Washington Street in 1954

Diana Wilkens playfully held up "Ming" to the Christmas wreath hanging on the door at 5120 East Washington Street in 1955.

Mr. Wilkens fed a tame squirrel on the rear stoop of 5120 East Washington Street in 1954

Exciting Times: Diana Wilkens and Alan Pentaleri posed for a test shoot for an ad while working at the Benton and Bowls Ad Agency in New York City in 1958.  

The Wilkens family moved into the double at 5118-20 East Washington Street in 1950 would remain there throughout the decade.  

The Gang is All Here--Oak Avenue in the 1940s

In these candid and posed shots, southern Irvington children gathered for photos.  In the top image, taken in 1947, Bob Drum (5740 Oak Avenue), Chuck Vogt (5733 Oak Avenue), Jane Vogt (5733 Oak Avenue), Linda Drum (5740 Oak Avenue), and Ed Hecker (5729 Oak) gathered on the front porch at the Vogt home.  Note the wonderful metal sliding bench behind the kids.

Fun Gathering:  Bob Drum, Chuck & Jane Vogt, Linda Drum, and Ed Hecker at 5733 Oak Avenue in 1947

In the second photo, taken from an article from the Indianapolis News (June 2, 1948, 18), members of the Cub Scout Den 6, Pack 3 troop listen intently to airplane pilot, Carl M. Smith.  All of the boys had the opportunity to ride with him over the city of Indianapolis. The scouts pictured in this article lived throughout the neighborhood.  Pictured:  Dick Ebert, Bob Hecker, Robert Drum, Billy Ebert, David Hecker, Gene Ross, Richard Rich, and Chuck Vogt.  The adults pictured are Carl M. Smith and his wife Mrs. Smith.

These images are courtesy of Chuck and Joyce Vogt.

After a Snowstorm in Irvington--1950

Two neighborhood children enjoy a day in the snow in the winter of 1950. Behind the young boys you can see 352 South Audubon Road. Eugene W. and Lois M. Ross dwelled in the house at that time. They were likely the second owners of the home as Raymond H. and Louise H. Matthius were the first to live in the home. They moved in the place in 1926 and stayed until the 1940s. The 1930 census reveals that the Matthius's had one son named Don, who was eleven at that time. Mrs. Matthius's thirty-year-old sister, Leona Rau, a bookkeeper, also lived with them.

Behind the Matthius home, you can get a glimpse of 5637 and 5635 Beechwood Avenue. Tracy R. and Nancy Elliott lived in the newer brick home at 5637 in 1950. The Elliotts built the house in 1940 and remained in it for decades. Next door, Floyd R. and Eva N. Taylor dwelled in the bungalow at 5635 Beechwood. Other families who occupied that small bungalow prior to the Taylors include Leonard Welsh, a printer and Frank Echolds, the Principal of Christian Park Elementary, and his wife Ferne. The historic image is courtesy of Helen Hunt.

The contemporary shots were taken in the summer and late autumn of 2011.