Article Archives: Building Blocks

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

Marking the Way

January 24, 2019 | by Steven R. Barnett

The unseasonably warm weather and dry streets on New Year’s Eve 2018 gave revelers an opportunity to safely party with friends in homes and nightspots. However, my co-ed granddaughter marked the passing of the old year in a more relaxed and peaceful way by taking a drive eastward to Richmond … Read More

“O Tannenbaum…”

December 20, 2018 | by Steven R. Barnett

The fragrance of pine and candle wax. The warm glow of a fire flickering on the hearth. The peaceful calm of moonlight sparkling across the crystals of a fresh snowfall. These are among the memorable images of Christmas past with the center of all being the tree — a brightly … Read More

In Flanders’ Fields . . .

November 15, 2018 | by Steven R. Barnett

Sunday, November 11, 2018 marks the centennial anniversary of the Armistice that brought an end to carnage that was known as the Great War. When the guns fell silent across the ravaged land of the Western Front a hundred years ago at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of … Read More

“I Had a Little Bird . . .”

October 18, 2018 | by Steven R. Barnett

Along with the cool days of fall and as predictable as the changing leaves are the public service announcements reminding people to get their flu shots. Such was not the case a century ago when the great pandemic swept across the United States and the world, leaving many today with … Read More

Good news of youth

September 27, 2018 | by Steven R. Barnett

High school; yes, those were the days. For most of us, memories of this time in our life were captured in the yearbooks that we scurried around on the last day of school to secure autographs of our classmates and teachers. Today, most of these receptacles of our “precious memories” … Read More