Weekly View » Irvington

Abraham Lincoln at the Irving Theatre

Al Hunter — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 05:08:44 +0000

Well, not in the flesh, but Lincoln will surely be there in spirit. Anyone familiar with my writings and ramblings knows that I have one special obsession: Abraham Lincoln. I’ve written several articles, papers and literary works on the life and death of Abraham Lincoln over the past 15 years or so. Once again, we will meet and discuss the assassination of Lincoln and the resulting legend of the ghost train at the Irving Theater this Saturday, April 14th at 5 p.m. This date is important as it is the 153rd anniversary (to the day) of the Lincoln assassination. In my opinion, that night changed the face of America forever.
It has been eight years since I hosted my last Lincoln talk. Three things motivated me for this return presentation. One: I’ve promised Irving Theatre owner Dale Harkins for years that I would do it again. Two: I’ve picked up a whole bunch of new Abraham Lincoln relics that, pardon the pun, I’m dying to show off. And three: The Irvington Food Bank at Gaia Works is empty. Admission is free but we do ask that you bring an unopened food item or personal care item as a donation to the Irvington food bank.
Please consider bringing transportable, healthy snacks. Individually wrapped items like granola bars and energy bars, crackers and meat sticks. Personal care items like toothbrushes, deodorants and band-aids are much needed. If you are like most people, you have a bag or a box of those little soaps and shampoos from hotel vacations past. We’ll take ‘em! Socks and gloves are also much prized. Blue jeans too tight or too loose? We’ll take them off your hands. Open your heart to your less fortunate neighbors. Do it for Abraham Lincoln. As a thank you, I will hand out copies of the official April 30th, 1865 Lincoln Funeral train timetable through the Hoosier State for you to take home as a souvenir (that is, until I run out of them).
The Lincoln funeral train is consistently the most asked for story on the ghost tours. It is the event that gathers the most attention from admirers and devotees of the 16th President. Although we’ll discuss the route of the train this Saturday evening, there are specific details about the train that rarely seem to make their way into public view.
When the train came through Indiana, the official “Travel Log” of the train notes that it arrived in Greenfield at 5:48 a.m., Philadelphia at 5:57 a.m., Cumberland at 6:30 a.m., the Engine House (identified as “Thorne” in Irvington) at 6:45 a.m. before finally arriving in Indianapolis at 7:00 a.m. The previous day’s rain had stopped just after midnight as the train approached the Indiana border, revealing a beautiful starlit sky backdrop for the sad processional and lifting the hopes of the trackside witnesses. However, the telltale slap/pop sound of hard raindrops hitting roofs and dirt roads reappeared in the predawn hours and by 6 a.m., a hard rain blanketed the Hoosier countryside. Although it was dark and rainy, the area along the tracks was well lit by torches and bonfires tended by loyal Lincolnites as the train crept towards Indianapolis at less than 10 miles per hour.
In Greenfield, the depot was choked with people wishing to gaze upon the face of the departed leader one last time. The train was not officially scheduled to stop in Greenfield, but the mood among the citizens was that perhaps the engineer might be persuaded to stop when he witnessed the tremendous outpouring of trackside emotion at the depot. The local newspaper described among those expectant gatherers “a knot of three boys, hands in pockets chattering back and forth with each other while pacing up and down the railroad tracks. Two older fellows were standing together, each arm around the other, probably soldiers remembering what it means to be a comrade.” The depot porch was filled to overflowing with women in long dresses, old soldiers in uniforms of blue and a sea of men dressed entirely in black. The telegraph operator in Charlottesville wired that the train had just passed and was heading towards Greenfield.
A sentinel was perched atop the station to alert the citizens below of the train’s approach. In a few moments, a cloud of silver phosphorescent smoke appeared above the tree tops that parallels the exact route of the present day Pennsy trail. “Here it Comes” was the cry from above and immediately the crowd below hushed and gazed eastward expectantly. For several moments, the only sound that could be heard on the platform was the muffled weeping of the gathered mourners. The crowd asked Captain Reuben Riley to read aloud excerpts from Lincoln’s second inaugural address as the train slowly approached. As if in response to the impromptu ceremony, the train paused briefly at the station and the engineer removed his cap in respect to the reverent gathering.
Fortuitously, Reverend Manners stepped from the crowd and led the group in a prayer that began with “Thank God for the life of Abraham Lincoln.” The people now openly wept as the nine car train departed westward towards Indianapolis. Unfortunately, there are no witness accounts from the train’s sojourn through Irvington. But judging by the records from other towns and cities along the route, it is easy to imagine that the depot that once stood near the intersection of present day Bonna Avenue and South Audubon Road was likewise bedecked in black mourning cloth, lit by trackside bonfires and oil lamps, it’s platform choked with adoring masses.
The train came to it’s final west bound destination under cover of a sheltered structure at Union Station in the Hoosier Capitol City. As the train arrived, guns were fired every minute, every city bell chimed continuously, and the Indianapolis city band played dirges at trackside. The train slowed to a stop as the smokestack puffed and hissed under the massive hipped roof of the old station, enveloping the platform and gathered dignitaries in a ghostly fog. As the final slow hiss of boiler steam escaped the bowels of the Lincoln funeral train, the President of Chicago & Indiana Central Railway, D.E. Smith issued the following telegraph, “The funeral train arrived here precisely on time. There was a perfect torchlite along the along the whole route. Every farm house had its bonfire in order to see the train. Urbana, Piqua, Greenville and Richmond turned out their entire population. Nearly every town had arches built over the track.”
Extensive preparations had been made for receiving the President’s remains that Governor Oliver P. Morton decreed were to be “Consistent with the dignity and reputation of the state.” While Morton planned the festivities meticulously, leaving no stone unturned, he could not control the weather. As rains poured forth at daybreak, the bunting, mourning signs and decorations were soaked and, in most places, sadly dragging the ground. However, the rains did not deter the sorrowful pilgrimage of mourners packing the streets from Union Station to the Statehouse. The military guard was drawn up in a solid blue line on both sides of the street, posed with bayonets forward for five blocks from Illinois up Washington Street to the Statehouse doors. The heavy rain forced the cancellation of a much larger, planned official processional. Lincoln’s body was transferred by a guard of honor from the train into a hearse topped by a silver-gilt eagle, drawn by six white horses with black velvet covers, each bearing black and white plumes.
The body was escorted by Governor Morton and General “Fighting Joe” Hooker to the Indiana State House. Legend claims that we owe the title affixed to present day “ladies of the evening” to Gen. Hooker, an avowed ladies’ man. As proof of his affinity for the opposite sex, when the coffin was opened in preparation for public viewing, Hooker observed eight rosebuds clinging to the dead President’s body inside. He carefully plucked the flowers, believed to have been placed there while the body was in New York, and distributed them personally among several ladies present for the ceremonies. These women prized the memory of their encounter with the General as well as the flowers for decades after the event.
News traveled slowly in those days and Indianapolis was the first major city to hear the news that the President’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth, had been captured and killed a few days before. The news buzzed through the excited crowd as they waited outside in the rain. The doors were opened at 9 a.m. as an estimated 120,000 people passed by Lincoln in less than 13 hours of public viewing. Roughly 155 people per minute (or 9,300 Hoosiers an hour) passed by the open casket as it rested in the old Capitol Building. By the time Mr. Lincoln’s body arrived in Indianapolis, his face was almost black from decomposition. A local newspaper reporter wrote that Lincoln looked, “…a good deal discolored and emaciated — wearing a haggard and careworn look, but otherwise rather natural.”
Among the most noteworthy visitors that day were the “Colored Masons” who formed a respectable procession lead by a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation and carrying banners reading “Colored Men, always loyal” and “Slavery is dead.” By 9 p.m., the crowds diminished, allowing those remaining mourners the luxury of having a long look at the remains. The doors of the State House were ordered closed at 10 p.m. and once again the soldiers were assembled and posted along the return route to Union Station. At 11:50 p.m. the Lincoln train left Indianapolis bound for Chicago. During the night the train passed through Augusta at 12:30 a.m., Zionsville at 12:47 a.m., Whitestown at 1:07 a.m., Lebanon at 1:30 a.m., Thorntown at 2:10 a.m., Lafayette at 3:35 a.m. and Battle Ground at 3:55 a.m. In Michigan City at 7:40 a.m., an impromptu funeral was held and Mr. Lincoln’s coffin was opened one last time in the Hoosier State as mourners filed through the Lincoln train car to view the dead President.
The May 1, 1865 edition of the “Indianapolis Daily Sentinel” newspaper reported on the ceremonies of the previous day. “All in all the multitude presented the most grotesque and ridiculous appearance we have ever witnessed. Wet, tired, cold and famished, bedaubed with mud and filth, they presented a sorry sight indeed. No more inclement and uncharitable day could have been, and no more enthusiastic mass of sightseers could have been collected together.” Ironically, while the crowds waited in the rain-soaked muddy streets for one last glimpse of Lincoln, pickpockets worked the crowds. Abraham Lincoln would have appreciated the irony in that.

Al Hunter is the author of the “Haunted Indianapolis” and co-author of the “Haunted Irvington” and “Indiana National Road” book series. His newest books are “Bumps in the Night. Stories from the Weekly View,” “Irvington Haunts. The Tour Guide,” and “The Mystery of the H.H. Holmes Collection.” Contact Al directly at Huntvault@aol.com or become a friend on Facebook.

Irvington’s Community Space for Art

Ethel Winslow — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 05:11:59 +0000

The whole thing started because David Jackson got bored during the nasty winter of 2013-14. “I do contract work cleaning out properties for the city, and use the building as a warehouse,” he explained. “It was too snowy to do any work, so we sat around looking at all the things we’d salvaged and started banging things together.”
Jackson began repurposing items he had found on sites throughout the city, creating functional repurposed pieces from stuff that would have ended up in a landfill somewhere. Fencing was transformed into a raised platform. Old fixtures from Central State Hospital became lighting. Slices of a tree became an accent wall. A gutted electrical breaker box transformed into a coffee table. “We did it just to keep working,” he admitted. Then he hooked up with Foundation East, the public art nonprofit responsible for the painting of the signal boxes in Irvington, and they hooked him up with other artists. The gallery 5547 Project was born in the warehouse at 5547 Bonna Ave.
Now, the 5547 Project offers rotating exhibits of local works, each month with a different theme. They added a coffee shop, plus comfortable chairs, a foosball table, and a place for neighbors to hang out. Their First Friday open house draws capacity crowds. On second Fridays, they host Coal Yard Comedy nights, on third Fridays local musicians, and fourth Fridays are spoken word nights. On most Sunday afternoons, Delta Duo comes in to play at 3 p.m. Irvington Community School and Scecina students have exhibited work there.
“We heard a lot about how much people missed Lazy Daze . . . a community space. We’re giving people some of that feel here,” Jackson said. It has become a place to relax and meet neighbors, have a coffee and perhaps buy a piece of art. “One hundred percent of the art sales go back to the artist,” Jackson states. “We don’t take a commission.”
Jackson grew up near Christian Park, and returned to the area after a 23 year stint in the Marine Corps, serving in Japan and Korea. “I learned to swim at Ellenberger Park, I hung out around here,” he said. He saw that Irvington was growing, that people were coming together, and the space on Bonna could become something bigger. Currently, the 5547 Project is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and employs 12 people.
The Coal Factory project, which was given the green light last year, will be going on around 5547 Project. In addition, work has begun on the Pennsy Trail that will be just across the street from the gallery, and a repaving project for Bonna Ave. will begin shortly. Jackson noted that the changes along Bonna will likely create new opportunities for the gallery and coffee shop as well. He’s planning on extending hours for the summer, and they are thinking about how to add some food to the coffee shop menu.
However, he wants to keep the feel of the 5547 Project repurposed and fresh, and a little eccentric. “This is Irvington, after all.”

First Home will be a Safe Haven in Irvington

Ethel Winslow — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 06:11:57 +0000

The Associate Vice President of Eskenazi Health/Midtown Mental Health Center Julie Szempruch and several other representatives of Midtown Mental Health were on hand at the Historic Irvington Community Council meeting January 20 to discuss the First Home project they will be housing in the former nursing home on South Ritter. They were also there to dispel some rumors and fears residents might have about the First Home project.
Szempruch explained at the meeting that First Home is a transitional housing program for the mentally ill who are experiencing homelessness. The facility will be used as transitional housing for about 35 individuals who are nearly ready to take the next steps to independent living, but who also need support care and assistance to get them there. First Home is a Safe Haven project, and clients stay in it about two years.
First Home has been around since 1997 and has had a remarkable degree of success during that period. In 2013, the program saw 32 individuals discharged — 26 to permanent housing.
First Home’s current facility in Fountain Square has been there for 15 years, Szempruch said. “We’re leaving because it is a very old facility, and it would just cost too much to revamp it and upgrade everything. We couldn’t believe what a great building we got in Irvington.” Formerly The Waters of Irvington, the property has been vacant for a few years. The building’s sale was finalized last year, and plans drawn up to adapt it to First Home’s needs. “A few of the residents have come to visit it with us and are amazed that they’ll be able to live in such a nice place.” No rezoning or variances will be needed to refit the building.
As part of Midtown Mental Health Centers and Eskenazi Health, First Home will have 24 hour professional staff on site, plus a high level of care for residents. Many of the people who will be at First Home have been in care for years, suffering from serious depression, anxiety, or other mental health issues which lead to them being homeless. “We don’t label our clients,” Szempruch stressed. “We want what is best for each one as an individual.” When they are ready to take the steps toward independent living, First Home is where they learn to manage a household and take care of themselves.
About 30 percent of the residents are employed either full or part time, sometimes in the faith community or in other jobs where they will gain confidence and get support and on-the-job training. Others qualify for social security disability or supplementary income. The residents adhere to a schedule, and no alcohol or drugs are allowed on the property. Clients who qualify for the First Home program are eager to begin a transition to independent living. “They tell us, ‘Give us a chance to live,’” Szempruch said.
When looking into First Home’s experience in the Fountain Square neighborhood, Irvington Development Organization’s Executive Director Margaret Banning said that she called the Community Development people for Fountain Square to find out if there had been complaints or concerns. “They had no idea First Home was even in the neighborhood. They had to call around to find out where it was.” The reports have come back that First Home residents make for quiet neighbors who are eager to get involved in the communities in which they lived.
At the HICC meeting, a few people asked if the community could volunteer to help the First Home residents, perhaps with teaching classes or therapy. The staff said they would welcome community involvement.
Plans are being finalized for First Home’s move-in date, which may be later this year after upgrades are completed.

Casserole: A Mixture of Photographic Thoughts at the Bona Thompson

Weekly View — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 06:10:12 +0000

IRVINGTON — The Irvington Historical Society is hosting a photography exhibition, “Casserole: A Mixture of Photographic Thoughts.” This exhibition of fine art photography is a group exhibition, featuring color and black and white photographs created by the members of INvision: Alliance of Photographic Artists. The exhibition opens with a reception at the Bona Thompson Memorial Center (5350 University Ave.) on Sat., Jan. 31, from 6 to 9 p.m. The artists will be present and refreshments will be served. This reception is free and open to the public.
The “Casserole: A Mixture of Photographic Thoughts” exhibition will run until Feb. 21. Gallery hours are: Wednesday 1 to 3pm, Saturday and Sunday 1 to 4pm. The exhibiting members are Donna Lee Adams, Andy Chen, Paul D’Andrea, Lauren Ditchley, Holly Hooper, Ginny Taylor Rosner, Larry Stuart, and Mike Stroup.

Applause!: Dec. 12-19

Weekly View — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 06:08:11 +0000

• Despite the cold rain on Dec. 5, the Irvington Holiday Open House put on by the Irvington Merchant’s Association saw a nice turnout. Thank you to the merchants and shoppers who made it a success!
• EclecticPond, the east side’s classic works troupe, recently announced they will have a new home in the Irvington Coal Factory. They will be leasing 2,800 square feet in the facility, allowing them to develop a new black-box theatre. In the meantime, EclecticPond will hold their 2014-2015 performances at the Irvington United Methodist Church, 30 N. Audubon. Their next production is 10 x 10, which opens Jan. 10 for two weekends — go see this unique production of 10 of Shakespeare’s plays given the 10 minute treatment. Tickets are only $10, and available online at http://etc10x10.bpt.me/
• East Village Business Owners and ReCycle Force are holding a near east E-Cycle Collection Drive on Sat., Dec. 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the curb at 1825/1827 E. New York St. Old electronics (toys, lamps, toasters, cordless phones, modems, printers, keyboards, monitors, TVs, etc.) for safe and eco-friendly recycling.
• Join your neighbors at the The Benton House, Monday December 15th at 7 p.m. for a spirited reading of the classic Christmas tale, A Christmas Carol, adapted from the 1942 Basil Rathbone radio play. Violin and rattling chains accompany the voices of Scrooge, Marley, and more in the parlor of the beautifully restored Benton House, built in 1873. The event is sponsored by Bookmamas and is free. The Benton House is located at 312 S. Downey Ave. in Irvington.
• Once again, there seems to be a rash of burglaries from garages and cars on the east side, especially in Emerson Heights and Irvington neighborhoods. Thieves are looking for unlocked cars, homes and garages — crimes of opportunity. If you see suspicious people, please call 9-1-1 with descriptions of vehicles or persons. The police can only be in so many places — we can help be their eyes and ears. You can remain anonymous by telling the dispatcher up front that you don’t want to divulge your name.
• The Phoenix Theatre recently received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to support their “Heritage” series of three plays by or about artists of color. The three part series includes River City by Diana Grisanti, Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea by Nathan Alan Davis, and a new play with music based on Mexican folk tales, to be developed by the Phoenix and presented in English and Spanish in November of 2015. The Phoenix does some ground-breaking theatre; visit them at www.phoenixtheatre.org for current shows and tickets.
• The Alternative Gift Fair, now in its third year, will be held Dec. 13 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Irving Theatre, 5505 E. Washington St. Lots of local, handcrafted gifts for everyone on your list. Admission is free.

Historic Benton House Book Sale a Community Event

Ethel Winslow — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 05:11:47 +0000

Oh, I just want what we all want: a comfortable couch, a nice beverage, a weekend of no distractions and a book that will stop time, lift me out of my quotidian existence and alter my thinking forever. — Elizabeth Gilbert, American novelist

For many years, the Historic Benton House Book Sale has been the place to pick up some great book bargains while supporting an east side historic landmark.
The sale will be held July 25 from 4-7 p.m, July 26 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and July 27 from noon-4 p.m. at the Benton House, 312 S. Downey Ave. A huge tent, erected by Montgomery Tent & Awning Company, will be filled with boxes and tables of book of all kinds donated over the course of the past few months by the community. Prices range from $1 for paperbacks to $2 for hardcovers, and children’s books are at a special low price. On Sunday, you can buy a bag of books at low prices as volunteers look to clear the shelves.
Kids especially love the tables full of books just for them, which they can buy with their allowance money. Look for a big selection of history, biographies, popular fiction, classics, and cookbooks. The Benton House Book Sale is one of those places where book lovers come to find hidden treasures — a couple of years ago I found a rare science fiction double novel in hardcover for a buck!
Books are donated to the sale throughout the spring at local businesses and collected, sorted, and moved by volunteers. During the sale, volunteers help with organization and check out. There are usually a couple of folks who can help tote your purchases out to the car. Donations to the Benton House are also welcome on sale days.
Proceeds from the sale benefit the Benton House, a Second Empire home built in 1873. It was the home of Allen R. Benton, twice president of Butler University.
The Irvington Historic Landmarks Foundation was founded in 1966 to purchase and restore the Benton House; in 1969, the Benton House Association was formed to maintain the house and promote it as a destination for small events. The Benton House is surrounded by historic gardens lovingly maintained by the Irvington Garden Club, and has been the site for many weddings, showers, reunions, and other celebrations.
Special tours can be arranged by calling 357-0318 or 353-1210. The Web site is www.thebentonhouse.org.

The Irving Theatre’s 100th Birthday

Steve Nicewanger — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 06:11:08 +0000

One hundred years ago this month, the Irving Theater opened its doors as an entertainment venue. Commissioned by the Idle Hour Amusement Company to be used as a nickelodeon; it was erected by the Guthrie-Thompson Construction Company as a single story building with an Oriental motif. After a neighborhood competition to select a name for the theater, a committee of prominent Irvington citizens announced that the name “the Irving” had been selected.
At the time, theaters being built for the sole purpose of exhibiting films were a rarity. Most theaters, including the ones in downtown Indianapolis, were built for live entertainment such as plays or the very popular vaudeville circuit. Nickelodeons started out in canvas tents or empty storefronts, so the Irving was something of a pioneer.
On Wednesday December 3rd, 1913, Mr. H. L. Whitehead, president of Idle Hour was on hand to officially open the theater. The theater seated 535 and “contained every appliance to make the perfect picture.” The admission price was 10 cents. The theater was not open on Sundays. The Irving exhibited films distributed by the General Film Company, and were generally 15 to 20 minutes in length, although an occasional half hour film was shown. The filmmakers feared that the average viewer just couldn’t sit still long enough for a lengthy 30 minute movie. Within a few years, films would stretch to an epic 59 minutes or even longer.

The Irving in 1927.

As the Roaring Twenties progressed, the Irving needed to adapt to the times. Local businessman Charles Walker purchased the theater in 1927 and it underwent some major renovations which enhanced the look and feel of the street corner. A second story was added to the front of the theater to contain a fireproof projection room and two additional rooms. The motif was changed from Oriental to Spanish. About 60 extra feet was added to the rear of the theater and the screen was moved back which increased the seating capacity to over 600. The original lobby was converted to two small retail shops that faced Washington Street. Along Johnson Avenue, three commercial units were added, along with three apartments on the second floor. The idea of the neighborhood theater was just that — most of the patrons usually walked to the theater to attend a film. There was also the bus and trolley lines for transportation, so there was limited parking for automobiles but the majority of customers didn’t own a car.
The movie programs followed a very fairly regular schedule: a feature, and a sub-feature, selected short subjects such as a news reel, a comedy short, perhaps the chapter of a serial, and a cartoon. All in all a showing lasted about two-and-a-half to three hours, On occasion, a fashion show, or even a lecture was conducted at the Irving. Programs usually changed on Fridays and Tuesdays unless the program was very popular. The movies were generally first run “B’s” with westerns, comedies, and detective whodunits being very popular with moviegoers. Kiddie matinees on Saturdays sold lots of popcorn.
The Irving thrived through the Great Depression and the War years. It was a place to go to forget your problems, cheer the good guy, hiss the villain, and laugh at the comedy hijinx. Audiences spent some quality time with Rudolph Valentino, Clara Bow, Lon Chaney, Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Laurel and Hardy, Tom Mix, Norma Shearer, Clark Gable, the Marx Brothers, Carole Lombard, Jean Harlow, Boris Karloff, Claudette Colbert, John Wayne, Bogy, Bette Davis, Johnny Mack Brown, Cary Grant, Joan Crawford, Fred and Ginger, Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Jimmie Cagney, Barbara Stanwyck, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, Henry Fonda, Gary Cooper, Abbott and Costello, Judy Garland, Van Johnson, Elizabeth Taylor, William Holden, Kirk Douglas, Marlin Brando and the other greats of the Silver Screen.
When television came on the scene in the 1950s, the Irving, like most other neighborhood theater saw a decline in attendance. The Irving underwent more renovation. The auditorium was modernized, and the old canopy was removed and carrera-style glass was added. Double features, 3-D, Technicolor, CinemaScope, and Panavision stereophonic sound all were added to the Irving to keep the box office humming. Parking was not always easy. The Walker family had owned the Irving since 1927 but in 1969 it was sold to some Chicago businessmen. Within a short period of time, the Irving was rechristened the “Festival” Theatre. The Festival started showing so-called adult features, but by 1971 it was showing hardcore XXX films. The Festival seemed to be emblematic of a decline in the neighborhood as several other adult-themed businesses opened along East Washington Street. The Irvington citizens and city officials struggled for 10 years to clean up and revitalize the neighborhood, but shutting down the Festival always remained the focus of their efforts. Finally, in 1979, the Festival was closed.

The Irving today.

For the next few years the Theater fell into several hands. It reopened as the Zenon I and showed second run movies for a couple of years. In 1987 some Irvington businessman reopened the theater again as the Irving Theatre to much fanfare. It enjoyed some success as an art house theater, showing independent and foreign films, with an occasional vintage film recalling the theaters past glories. After closing in 1994, the Irving ownership passed through several more hands, with each new owner attempting to find a formula for success with the Irving. Financing problems always seemed to be at the heart of each failed venture. In December 2008, Irvington entrepreneur Dale Harkins acquired the Irving. Dale has so far been successful in revitalizing the Irving as a concert venue for both national touring and local musicians, as well as teaming up with the Ball State and Butler Theater Departments to provide a unique live theater stage for their students to perform. The Irving has hosted appearances by such notables as Marilene Isaacs and Glory-June Greiff as well as other entertaining and informative programs. The Irving has been reborn as an entertainment destination.
Perhaps what has worked best for the Irving is that in its 100 year history, it has always remained a theater. It was never converted to dry cleaners, or a hardware store, or a second hand clothing store as a number of other former neighborhood theaters have. The Irving has remained true to the original intent of the Idle Hour Amusement Company when they opened way back in 1913. It is and remains a neighborhood entertainment palace.

“The Devil Comes to Irvington”

Al Hunter — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 05:08:01 +0000

On October 10, 1894, 119 years ago this week, the devil came to Irvington. On that day, a tragedy of immense proportions took place in a one and a half story cottage, located a short distance from Union Avenue on the extreme eastern edge of Irvington. The property, resting about 200 yards north of the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks (present day Bonna Avenue), was secluded with only a couple houses located nearby. To the west was a small grove of young catalpa (or catawba) trees, to the east a large grassy common. Two nearby roads led to the street cars that ran into Indianapolis Union Station, a scant six miles away. The small cottage was owned by Dr. J.L. Thompson.
The devil blew in with the cool October breezes down the winding dirt road now known as Julian Avenue. When America’s first serial killer, Dr. H.H. Holmes, slid the key into the door of the innocuous rental house there was no hint of the evil deed that would take place there. When the devil came to Irvington, he brought along an innocent little boy, 10-year-old Howard Pitezel.
Dr. Henry Howard Holmes (real name Herman Webster Mudgett) came to Irvington via Chicago fresh off the wildly successful 1893 World’s Fair. Holmes had opened a hotel which he had designed and built for himself specifically with murder in mind, and which was the location of many of his murders. While he confessed to 28 murders, of which four were confirmed, his actual body count could be as high as 200. He took an unknown number of his victims from the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, located less than two miles away, to his “World’s Fair” hotel. The press would later name it the “Murder Castle.”
Holmes arrived in Indianapolis on a Monday, the first day of October. He first checked into the English Opera House Hotel and later moved to the Circle House Hotel on Governor’s Circle (present day Monument Circle). On Friday, October 5th, Holmes rented the Irvington cottage from J.C. Wands, paying one month’s rent in advance. Holmes accepted the keys Saturday morning at 9 a.m. At 5 p.m. that same day, Holmes called upon a local handyman named “Mr. Brown” to make some minor repairs to the property.
According to his own confession, Holmes became enraged at the perceived indifference to the repair requests. Holmes said, “I became very angry with him (Mr. Brown) and my only wonder is that I did not entice him to the house and kill him also. This small circumstance aided in bringing the crime home to me when it was made known to the detectives and considered by them with many other complaints of my violent and ungovernable temper that had come to their knowledge.” Irvingtonian Brown has no idea how lucky he was.
On Sunday, October 7th, Holmes visited the drug store in Irvington and “purchased the drugs I needed to kill the boy and the following evening I again went to the same store and bought an additional supply, as I feared I had not obtained a sufficient quantity upon my first visit.” On Monday, Holmes went about securing furniture for the house. He did this late in the afternoon and “as I wished to stay at Irvington that night I hired a conveyance and carted the goods to the house myself, keeping the horse there until the next day. It was also upon the 8th, early in the forenoon, that I went to the repair shop for the long knives I had previously left there to be sharpened.”
It was getting late that Wednesday when H.H. Holmes called young Howard into the house for the final time. As the sun slid slowly down the side of that sleepy little bungalow to be quickly overtaken by the long shadows of twilight, there can be little doubt but that Howard had no idea of what was going to happen next. He probably left toys in the yard to retrieve and restart his playtime the next morning.
According to Holmes, “I called him (Howard) into the house and insisted that he go to bed at once, first giving him the fatal dose of medicine. As soon as he ceased to breathe I cut his body into pieces that would pass through the door of the stove and by the combined use of gas and corncobs proceeded to burn it with as little feeling as ‘tho it had been some inanimate object.” The next day, Holmes took the dead boy’s coat and presented it to the Irvington grocer as a gift for his children. In an earlier confession to police, Holmes said, “Howard was strangled by myself and I dismembered and burned his body, then buried it in a house outside Indianapolis.”
Regardless of the method of murder, poor little Howard had no way of knowing that Dr. H.H. Holmes had lured countless unsuspecting World’s Fair visitors to die in his Chicago hotel the year before. If he had, young Howard might have attempted to escape by running towards the last two Irvingtonians to see him alive, Mr. Moreman and Mr. Armstrong. Howard was unaware that he, his father, mother and two sisters were embroiled in a life insurance scheme devised and controlled by Dr. Holmes. Nor did he know that he was worth $10,000 ($270,000 in today’s money) to Dr. Holmes — provided of course that Howard was dead.
Over 10 months after the boy’s death, Detective Frank P. Geyer took the trolley from Indianapolis to Irvington, arriving on August 27, 1895 to search for the boy. Mr. Brown, a real estate agent in Irvington, identified the photo of Holmes recalling that he had rented a cottage in the 5800 block of Julian Avenue to the man in question. Brown added that Holmes came to town using an ominous alias; he was traveling under the name of “Dr. Cook.”
Detective Geyer was taken to the cottage but Holmes was long gone. Geyer questioned one of the homeowner’s employees, Elvet Moorman, who, after being shown the photo, claimed to have seen Holmes and the little boy and helped to move a large “Peninsular Oak” wood burning stove onto the property.
When the ashes inside the stove were eventually searched, Dr. Barnhill, partner of Dr. Thompson, found pieces of charred bone from a femur and skull located in the makeshift crematorium in the cellar. According to the official report, “Detective Geyer returned to the house and found teeth and a jaw, which were identified by Dr. John Quincy Byram, dentist. Also found at the bottom of the chimney was a large charred mass that was discovered to be a portion of the stomach, liver and spleen. The pelvis was also found.”
While on trial, Holmes wrote, “After I had finished the cremation of my victim I made the excavation in which the few remaining portions were found at the time the horror was brought to light, which together with the stove and other evidences of my wrong-doings, were brought here to Philadelphia at the time of my trial to mock me in my efforts to save my life.” Holmes made certain that his poor little victim remained on the property by scattering the pieces and remaining ashes all around the area.
And that’s not all, as many say that the devil, H.H. Holmes, is still on the property. Famed Indianapolis psychic intuitive Marilene Isaacs, who has visited the property many times, found that an evil, negative male spirit roams the east side of the property and spends time in a long-gone outbuilding that sat there. Marilene identified that evil spirit as H.H. Holmes himself. She also believes that Howard remains inside the house to ward off his murdering guardian.
For his part, Holmes himself later claimed, “If I could now recall one circumstance, a dollar of money to be gained, a disagreeable act or word upon his part, in justification of this horrid crime, it would be a satisfaction to me; but to think that I committed this and other crimes for the pleasure of killing my fellow beings, to hear their cries for mercy and pleas to be allowed even sufficient time to pray and prepare for death-all this is now too horrible for even me, hardened criminal that I am, to again live over without a shudder.”
H.H. Holmes was a cowardly con man willing to say anything to spare his own life. His dastardly deeds succeed him and his evil spirit permeates the area to this day. You can experience the H.H. Holmes story for yourself on the Irvington ghost tour every Friday and Saturday night this October (and 1st week on November). Just be careful because this doctor makes house calls.

Al Hunter is the author of “Haunted Indianapolis” and co-author of the “Indiana National Road” and “Haunted Irvington” book series. Contact Al directly at Huntvault@aol.com or become a friend on Facebook.

Book Sale Benefits Benton House

Weekly View — Thu, 15 Aug 2013 05:11:52 +0000

IRVINGTON — Preparations are in the final stages for the next big Benton House Association benefit activity, the Annual Used Book Sale. Sponsored by Montgomery Tent and Awning Company, the sale will take place August 23-25. On Friday, the sale will be held from 4-7 p.m., then on Saturday the sale will be 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday the flaps will open for the “everything must go” sale from noon-4 p.m. Most paperbacks are priced at 50 cents, hardbacks $1, and children’s books have special low pricing. There are a few collectible types of books priced a little higher.
The Benton House Used Book Sale is truly a community effort. A tent will be erected at 312 South Downey Ave. on August 20. The next day a group of Scouts from Irvington plus a group of Irvington merchants supplied by Joe Hammond of Oakley-Hammond will move books up from the basement of the Benton House.
Lisa Flick and Elizabeth Wissel, and a number of other volunteers have been busy sorting books. Lori Bloomer who manages U-Press at Office Max has donated boxes for the sorting. Books are being collected at six locations in Irvington. Dufours, Jockamos, Roll With It Bakery, Black Sheep Gifts, Deering Cleaners and Snips were collection points for the donated books. Andy and Jeffrey Whitehurst were in charge of the collection. However, the big organizers of this event are Bill and Rose Mary Clarke.
A huge crew of volunteers who love Irvington and the Benton House are responsible for making the Benton House Used Book Sale a success every year. This sale along with the Benton House Irvington Tour of homes makes up a major source of funding for the care of the 1873 former home of Allen Benton, once President of Butler University.

Brunch at the Historic Benton House

Local News Release — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 06:06:31 +0000

IRVINGTON — The public is cordially invited to attend a get-acquainted brunch Saturday, February 9th from 10 a.m. until noon honoring the Historic Benton House’s Sweetheart Volunteers. The Historic Benton House is located at 312 S. Downey Avenue (south off 5300 east Washington St.). It is casual attire and there is no charge. For more information call 356-8692. (Sponsored by the Benton House Association.)
The Benton House is a perfect place to hold private parties, meetings and receptions. It is an ideal setting for small weddings, rehearsal dinners, showers or birthdays in a Victorian setting for a modest fee. The home is beautifully maintained with room for up to 50 for a reception or buffet. It has a kitchen for the caterer and tables and chairs available. The grounds have been restored and would enhance any outdoor gathering. Attention brides-to-be: This is the time to check out this beautiful historic home.
Guests can tour the 1873 French Mansard style brick home built by Nicholas Ohmer. It was named after Dr. Benton who was President of Butler University (1880-1907), when Butler was located in Irvington. In 1973 the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the only house on the National Register on the Indianapolis east side that is available to the public to rent for events. Visit the website www.thebentonhouse.org.