Clapp Family Operated an Irvington Grocery Store For 50 Years

     For nearly fifty years, Irvington residents shopped at the Clapp Brothers (also known as the Clapp Food Market) Grocery at 6044 East Washington Street. Originally from Hartsville, Indiana, siblings William C. and John P. Clapp relocated to Beech Grove, Indiana in the early twentieth century. John P. Clapp ran the Beech Grove operation while William C. Clapp moved to Irvington in 1916 and opened a store at 7 North Webster Avenue. He also bought a house at 6024 East Washington Street for himself and his wife, Ora Belle Moore Clapp, and for his children, Climpson, Leland, and Ima Clapp.  In 1924, William C. Clapp moved the store into a much larger newly-constructed building at 6044 East Washington Street. 

      Mr. Clapp ran the business for many years before turning it completely over to his son, Climpson "Pete" Clapp. The Irvington Historical Society possesses photographs, letters, ledgers, and other ephemera from the Clapp family. The operation was shuttered in 1973. The Clapps would not recognize their storefront today as it has been greatly altered over the years. 

 

Employees of the Clapp Brothers Grocery at 6044 East Washington Street posed for this snapshot on April 30, 1926. William C. Clapp is likely standing in front of the Beech Grove transport vehicle. You can also see the Adde's Pure Oil Filling Station at 6040 East Washington Street. That building still stands in 2025. The Levy family home at 6036 East Washington Street is also visible. (courtesy of the Irvington Historical Society)

Ads for Easter products hang in the window of Clapp Brothers Grocery at 6044 East Washington Street on April 30, 1926. (courtesy of the Irvington Historical Society) 

William Clark Clapp (top center) posed with his brothers c1940. The men all hailed from Hartsville, Indiana. While we are not able to match their faces yet, Edgar, John, Calvin, and Samuel Clapp reunited for this photograph. (Irvington Historical Society) 

Interior shot of Clapps Brothers Regal Grocery Store c1934; We can narrow down the date of this image by the fact that Mr. Clapp displayed a National Recovery Act sign in his store. This New Deal agency was in operation from 1933 until it was struck down by the US Supreme Court in 1935. (Irvington Historical Society)

Store display for Thanksgiving c1934 (Irvington Historical Society)

Clapp Brothers first operated around the corner at 7 North Webster Avenue from 1916 until 1924. That building is still standing in 2025. (Irvington Historical Society)

Promotional ad for Clapp Brothers Food Market (Irvington Historical Society)

Notepad for Climpson Moore Clapp Food Market complete with the hours of operation (Irvington Historical Society)

Some of the Clapp Grocery Store records have survived including this document that shows the names of employees and their weekly salary in 1945. Omer Kehl worked as a meat cutter. Others include Eileen Bangel, Tom Carmack, and George R. Smith. (Irvington Historical Society)

Google Streetview reveals that the Clapp Brothers Market is still standing but unrecognizable in 2025. The filling station and nearby house shown in the earlier photos also still stand. (Google)

     I wish to thank the extended Clapp family who donated items to the Irvington Historical Society.

Sources:  Polk's Indianapolis City Directories, 1908-1973; Federal Census Records, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940; Newspaper articles: "Building Permit" (6024 East Washington St.), Indianapolis News, June 21, 1916, p. 16;  "Building Permits," (6044 East Washington St.) Indianapolis Star, January 10, 1924, p. 14; Obituaries:  "W.C. Clapp, Irvington Grocer, Is Dead," Indianapolis News, March 18, 1944, p. 9; "Mrs. Ora Clapp," Indianapolis Star, January 5, 1960, p. 21: "John Clapp, Beech Grove Civic Leader, Succumbs, Indianapolis Star, November 7, 1943, p. 13; "Climpson Clapp, 1897-1978," Indianapolis News, March 21, 1978, p. 28.

M.C. Goe Groceries and Notions--1905

      Hezekiah and Margaretta Cornelia Farnsworth Goe moved to Irvington in 1884 to open one of the earliest groceries in the new town.  Mr. Goe ran the business, but named the store after his wife, M.C. Goe. Her name appeared on other transactions as well including the construction of rental property in 1891. The Goes prospered with their new enterprise and moved into a second store located in the Moore's Block at 130 South Audubon Road on January 1, 1892. (We do not know the exact location of their first store in Irvington. It likely sat on South Audubon Road as well.) The three-story brick structure housed other businesses as well including a barbershop, a drug store, the post office, and the headquarters for the Knights of Pythias, a fraternal lodge. The building was conveniently located across the street from the Irvington Depot and on the northwest corner of Bonna Avenue (then Railroad Street) and Audubon Road. 

     Other grocers soon moved into the neighborhood including Daniel D. Pike. To stay competitive, Mr. Goe kept a fully-stocked store. Most of his dry goods came from the Wholesale District just south of downtown. How do we know this? On December 3, 1895, he was shopping for items in the basement of Schnull & Co. on South Meridian Street when he heard a commotion above him. Mr. Goe along with two Schnull employees got into an elevator, but then they realized that the building was on fire. A portion of an upper floor crashed upon the elevator and trapped the three men. They could hear the crackling of the flames above them. The two younger men managed to escape through a small hatch in the roof of the elevator, but Mr. Goe was "too robust." He took off his jacket and his vest, but could still not squeeze through the hole. The two young men retrieved an axe and helped to liberate him "with a prayer upon his lips." 

     Mr. Goe remained in business for several more years. He divested himself of the store in 1908 to the Kemper brothers. Zeb Kenady took over the operation in 1909 and remained for several years. The Moore block is no longer standing and was bulldozed in the late 1930s. 

In July of 1905, Hezekiah Goe (in the dark suit) along with some of his employees gathered in front of M.C. Goe Groceries and Notions for this photograph. We do not know the names of the children or of the
 other adult male in the image at this time. (Photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

Hezekiah Noble Goe (1837-1919) opened his first grocery store just as the Civil War ended on Illinois Street north of downtown Indianapolis. He moved his store to Irvington in 1884. (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

Margaretta Cornelia Farnsworth Goe (1848-1940), known as Cornelia, served as one of the first female school board members in the state of Indiana. Her husband, Hezekiah Goe, named the grocery store in Irvington after her. (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

 Up Next: The Goes Build a Home on South Ritter Avenue

I wish to thank Kathy and Dick Meyer for the image and the stories of the Goe family. 

Sources: Ad for Mckenzie's Family Syrup in M.C. Grocery, Indianapolis Journal, November 13, 1885, p. 8; Fire-" A Half Million Loss," Indianapolis Journal, December 4, 1895, p. 1; Polk's Indianapolis City Directories, 1884-1909; New store--"Irvington Town Topics," Indianapolis News,  December 26, 1892; Commemorative Biographical Record of Prominent and Representative Men of Indianapolis and Vicinity, (Chicago, 1908), pp. 643-644

The Stevensons Spend Their Final Years Together

Robert E. and Mary Pulver Stevenson moved into 56 South Irvington Avenue in 1932 along with their nephew, Edward Lollis.  Mr. Stevenson busied himself with various projects and ideas for new business adventures.  He had received a patent in 1912 for a water softener and he had tried to raise the capital for a dam along the Eel River in Putnam and Owen Counties.  He "read law" as a young man and became an attorney.  He was involved with the Scottish Rite.  Many top businessmen in the city networked in social clubs like the Masons.  Mrs. Stevenson was active at the Irvington Presbyterian Church and she likely looked after her elderly parents who dwelled nearby at 112 Johnson Avenue.  Young Edward Lollis had graduated from the Indiana Law School in 1930. To supplement his income while completing his coursework, Edward worked at the Piggly Wiggly Grocery Store at 5440 East Washington Street and then at an all-night filling station at East Washington Street and Southeastern Avenue. He later worked for the Bobbs-Merrill Company before moving on to American States Insurance, a company where he worked for decades.  He left home in 1933 to marry although he stayed close to his Aunt and Uncle.

On November 1, 1939, Mary Stevenson's world changed dramatically when her sixty-five-year-old husband died suddenly.  Life must have been a blur for her as she had lost her father three years earlier.  Mrs. Stevenson and her nephew Edward held the funeral for Robert E. Stevenson at 56 South Irvington Avenue on November 3, 1939.  Mrs. Stevenson could not live in such a large house by herself so she moved in with her mother at 112 Johnson Avenue in 1941.  She would never remarry.

Mary Stevenson posed for a photo in 1937 before getting into Robert Stevenson's 1934  Cadillac. Behind her you can see the residences located at 21, 23, and 25-27 South Irvington Avenue.  

Going for a Drive:  Robert E. Stevenson pulled into the driveway of 56 South Irvington Avenue in 1935. Behind him, you can see the double at 25-27 South Irvington Avenue.  

Robert E. Stevenson proudly posed next to his 1934 Cadillac along South Irvington Avenue in 1937. Behind him, you can see 52, 28, 24, 22, and 18 South Irvington Avenue.  (some of those houses are no longer standing)

Edward Lollis, the nephew and ward of Robert and Mary Stevenson, graduated from Butler University in 1927 and the Indiana Law School in 1930. He lived with the Stevensons until his marriage in 1933.  

The historic images are courtesy of Ted Lollis.  

Preston's Supermarket c1958

The arrival of the supermarket in the mid-twentieth century changed the shopping habits of the American people.  Corner grocery stores that delivered continued, but they struggled and most were gone by the end of the century.  Several larger grocery stores opened in the greater Irvington area in the 1940s and 50s including this Preston's located on the northwest corner of East 16th Street and Emerson Avenue.

The intersection remains a busy one in 2013 and the structure still serves as a grocery, now called Safeway's.

Preston's Supermarket located at 5040 East 16th Street c1958