Article Archives: Building Blocks

Building Blocks is a monthly feature by historian Steve Barnett about historic properties on the east side of Indianapolis.

From Cottontown to Vinegar Hill – Indy’s Old Neighborhoods

August 26, 2021 | by Steven R. Barnett

The diversity of Indianapolis is represented in its neighborhoods. Some neighborhood names date back more than a century and a half, while others are relatively new and utilitarian. In the early years of Indianapolis, divisions in the city were simply practical North Side and South Side, designating the areas on … Read More

From Flying Fields to Airports

July 29, 2021 | by Steven R. Barnett

Growing up in Indianapolis in the fifties, my dad would often take me and my brothers to Weir Cook Airport to watch the planes take off and land. At that time there was an open-air observation deck that extended from the terminal, and you could leisurely walk out onto it … Read More

Flights of Fancy

June 24, 2021 | by Steven R. Barnett

Over six years after Wilbur Wright took to the sky in the Wright Flyer, sharing the air space with birds, Joseph “J.W.” Curzon in a Farman biplane “made a series of graceful flights” at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the afternoon of March 3, 1910, marking the first airplane flights … Read More

What’s In a Name?

May 27, 2021 | by Steven R. Barnett

Some time ago my friend Barb asked me why Indianapolis was called “Railroad City.” I surmised that it was because the “Crossroads of America” at one time had numerous railroads coming and going through the “Circle City.” Although, the number of railroads crisscrossing Indy today has diminished significantly, the old … Read More

“ . . . How Does Your Garden Grow?”

April 29, 2021 | by Steven R. Barnett

Gardening came to the Indianapolis east side neighborhood of Irvington as naturally as an April shower, and over the years the community became known as “the Garden Spot of Indianapolis.” Early accounts tell of gardens fashioned in stiff geometrical designs — stars, crescents, and triangles — ablaze with colorful geraniums, … Read More