Article Archives: Building Blocks

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

How Now Brown Cow?

July 23, 2020 | by Steven R. Barnett

Where do you get your milk from? Almond? Soy? The grocery? Cows? There was a time when most folks went out back of their house to the shed or barn and got a pail of the refreshing white liquid from Bossie. Many city dwellers even had a family cow that … Read More

Mole Hill or Mountain?

June 25, 2020 | by Steven R. Barnett

In Marion County, “there are many gentle slopes and small elevations in and around [Indianapolis], but nothing that deserves the name of hill, except Crown Hill…and one or two smaller protuberances a mile or two south.” While this observation in the state geologist’s report gave the official topography of the … Read More

“It’s not a home until it’s planted”

May 21, 2020 | by Steven R. Barnett

My father liked to garden — vegetables, flowers — it didn’t matter. Some said he had a “green thumb” and if he stuck a stick in the ground it would bloom. His vegetable garden was not exotic, just the usual tomatoes, bush green beans, cucumbers and zucchini. Oh, and he … Read More

Death Rides a Pale Horse

April 23, 2020 | by Steven R. Barnett

I was born in 1944 soon after the Allied invasion of Hitler’s Fortress Europe. While we know now that it was the “beginning of the end” in that theater of war, my mother, who had just given birth, and my father, who was on a cruiser in the South Pacific, … Read More

Roadhouses and Blind Tigers

March 26, 2020 | by Steven R. Barnett

My parents lived with my dad’s parents following the Second World War because of the housing shortage, and being the only endearing grandson in the household I enjoyed being spoiled. My grandfather frequently took me for walks around the block, and when he would head out the back door of … Read More