The Old South Side in the 1950s ran from South to Raymond Streets, White River to East Street and was a community of German immigrant heritage — Protestants, Catholics, and Jewish. My wife grew up on Talbott St. in a family of German ethnicity that had moved to the south side from a farm in Johnson County. She attended Nebraska Cropsey Public School No. 22, 1231 S. Illinois St. and Frieden’s United Church of Christ (Deutches Evangelische Friedens Kirche) at the northwest corner of Alabama St. and Parkway Ave. There was a sandlot a few doors south of her home where she played baseball with the neighborhood boys and often did grocery errands at Palmer Market, 117 E. Palmer and later at Miller’s Regal Store, Madison and Terrace avenues. On Sundays, she often went to Ratz Bakery, 1239 S. Meridian, for cake donuts.
A neighborhood of modest homes, hardworking people, and family-owned small businesses, the Old South Side also had valued institutions. Below South St. stood Emmerich Manual (Harry E. Wood) High School on the triangular piece of land between Meridian St. and Madison Ave., and beyond was Shaare Tefila Synagogue, the “Polish Shul,” 607 S. Meridian, United Hebrew Congregation, 601 Union, Ezras Achim Synagogue, “the Peddlers Shul,” 708 S. Meridian, and Austin H. Brown Public School No.6, 702 Union. Beginning at McCarty and Meridian streets with Passo’s Drug Store, 802 S. Meridian, and Peter Pan Market and Sidney’s Liquor Store (The Archivist) across the street, a vibrant retail and commercial strip extended south on Meridian to Morris St. that included Shapiro Delicatessen, 808 S Meridian, Regen Baking Co, 826 S Meridian, Kraft’s South Side Baking Co, 901 S Meridian, Alinikoff’s Kosher Meat Market (Greek Islands Restaurant), 906 S. Meridian, Efroymson’s Department Store, 918 S Meridian, Safrin’s Department Store, 928 S Meridian, and Fletcher Trust Co, south side banking branch (Sacred Heart Parish Center), 1125 S. Meridian. Apartments, taverns, barber shops, and grocery stores added to the strip’s diversity. Today, beside Shapiro’s and the Greek Islands, the last remaining connected business block once housed South Side Furniture Co, 932 S. Meridian, Standard Grocery, 942 S. Meridian, Vogel’s Meat Market, 944 S. Meridian, Simon Shoe Repair, 946 S. Meridian, and South Side Liquor Store, 950 S. Meridian.
The section between South and Morris Streets was a mix of light industry, railroad freight facilities, and residential neighborhoods. The eastern portion was dominated by the Eli Lilly & Co complex of buildings which abutted an area containing the Indianapolis Farmers Market and a community of homes served by Catherine Merrill Public School No. 25, 332 E. Merrill, South New Jersey Street Tabernacle, 617 S. New Jersey, and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 727 S. New Jersey to the north and east. Among the industries in the western area were Stark Wetzel & Co, 602 W. Ray, Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp, 545 W. McCarty, and Emrich Furniture Co, 324 W Morris. Nearby a small thriving African American neighborhood was served educational by Robert Dale Owen Public School No. 12, 733 S. West St, and spiritually by McCarty Street Pilgrim Holiness Church, 359 W. McCarty, Bethesda Baptist Church, 234 W. Ray, and the Interracial Church of God, 802 S. Capitol. Mayer Chapel Presbyterian Church, 448 W. Norwood, and St. George Episcopal Church, 230 W. Morris, also saw to the religious needs of the larger community.
Morris St. was the threshold to a larger residential community. Sacred Heart Catholic Church and School, 1530 Union, and Sacred Heart (John F. Kennedy) Catholic High School, 1501 S. Meridian, were the focal point of religious and educational life for many and the Concord Center, 17 W. Morris, was the recreational and social venue for the neighborhood children. While most of the industrial activity was to the west of the district along White River, there were pockets on Madison Ave. that included pharmaceutical laboratory Pittman-Moore Co, 1200 Madison Ave., and Indianapolis Drop Forging Co, 1300 Madison Ave. To the southeast, Stokley Foods packing plant, 2002 S. East, sent the sweet aroma of cooking tomatoes wafting across the area during harvest season, and the nearby Ernie Pyle VFW Post, 1840 S. East, provided a social gathering place for the many veterans working at the plant. The Bates-Hendricks House, 1526 S. New Jersey, an historic towered home of Italianate design, was a field trip destination for neighborhood school children while G H Herrmann Funeral Home, 1505 S. East, and Lauck Funeral Home, 1458 S, Meridian, provided dignified settings for southsiders to say “goodbye” to loved ones.
In the mid-1950s, the six-lane Madison Avenue Expressway split the Old South Side. Designed to eliminate the street level crossings of the Belt and Pennsylvania Railroads to facilitate commercial and real estate development on the far south side, over one hundred homes and business were either razed or moved to allow for the construction of this below grade level road. Delayed by an investigation into corrupt land sales by the State Highway Commission chair and others, the project was completed and open to traffic in the fall of 1958.
The elevated portion of Interstate 70 cut a swath across the northern portion of the Old South Side in the early 1970s obliterating businesses, homes, and landmarks like the former Knesess Israel Synagogue (King Solomon Missionary Baptist Church), 1023 S. Meridian, the Oriental Theater, 1105 S. Meridian, a Saturday afternoon gathering place for local young people, and the Madison Avenue Branch Public Library, 1034 S. Alabama. The route barely spared Germania Hall (South Side Turner Hall), 437 Prospect, with its unique classical sculpture on the west facade, and Immanuel Evangelical Church, 412 Prospect. The highway’s earthen embankment limited access from north to south isolating the small African American community. Years later, the construction of Lucas Oil Stadium erased what remained of this neighborhood.
Over time while many Old Southside landmarks, especially along Meridian St, faded and disappeared either leaving vacant spaces or being replaced, a resilient people continued to adjust and welcome newcomers.
