Stroll and enjoy 80 acres of bargains, food and entertainment at the Woodruff Place Flea Market June 3 from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. and June 4 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. This year marks the 40th Victorian Emporium, where people from all over Central Indiana can walk through the historic neighborhood, shop for bargains, and enjoy a unique event in the annual festival and fair circuit. There is no rain date and admission is free.
The Flea Market is more like a festival — food, music, and other amusements are part of the experience. Shoppers can peruse approximately 200 yard-booths for everything from collectibles and antiques to books and baby clothes. If shopping is not your thing, stroll the esplanades with an ice cream from Gordon’s Ice Cream, listening to the splash of the fountains and admiring the beautiful homes. Other local food and drink will be available, including Flat 12 beer, Ash & Elm Cider for the adults, Circle City Kombucha, Lick Ice Cream, General American Donut Company.
Parking is always tight, so check out the additional parking behind Woodruff Place Baptist Church south of Michigan St. and at Harshman School just west of the neighborhood on East 10th. Parking will also be available at the Farmily Dollar parking lot on 10th St. just across from Middle Drive.
This 140-year-old community is just one-and-one-half miles from the center of the city. This residential neighborhood features decorative cast iron urns, Victorian fountains, and turn-of-the-century statuary on wide, grassy esplanades. Included in the National Register of Historic Places since 1972, Woodruff Place is one of the first contained residential sub-divisions in the nation.
Woodruff Place is bounded by 10th St. to the north, Michigan St. to the south, West Dr. to the West, and Tecumseh St. on the east. Established in 1870s as a suburb of Indianapolis, Woodruff Place was independent from the city until 1962, when it was finally annexed by the city. The community was the inspration for Booth Tarkington’s novel The Magnificent Ambersons, and the neighborhood attracted such luminaries as James Whitcomb Riley and T.C. Steele’s son Brandt Steele. After falling into decline in the 1960s and 1970s, prompting action to create a powerful neighborhood organizing effort. The 1980s and 1990s saw a lot of rehabilitation and renovation of individual homes, and a concerted push to improve shared public spaces like the fountains and statues in the medians. In 1972 Woodruff Place was added to the National Register of Historic Places and in 2001, the city designated it a preservation district.
For more information about Woodruff Place, visit their Web site at woodruffplace.org/