Historical Perspective: Edgewood Grove neighborhood platted 100 years ago
Rob Robbins
Historical Perspective: Edgewood Grove neighborhood platted 100 years ago
By Mike McCormick Special to the Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
Architects and contractors in Terre Haute were excited in April 1911 — 100 years
ago — by what financial institutions were referring to as “a healthy building
season.”
Plans and specifications for the Fairbanks-Failey building at
719-725 Wabash Ave. had been amended and architect William Homer Floyd said that
bids would be received by May 1.
Crawford Fairbanks originally announced
that he would erect a two-story commercial structure. However, in late March, he
decided to build a six-story edifice, later known as the Tribune
Building.
Contractors in charge of the work at the new Davis Park School
as well as the renovation of St. Joseph Church had a large force of brickmasons
on the job. Both buildings were expected to be completed in September.
At
116 S. Fifth St. — across the street from St. Joseph’s Church — Otto A. Toelle
planned to remodel an old two-story brick building he recently had acquired to
accommodate his successful plumbing and heating business.
Work on a new
two-story chapel erected at 1212-1214 Wabash Ave. by undertakers James N. and
Harley Hickman was nearly finished.
Plans by Frank Prox Co. to erect
three factory buildings on the old Mason property along the riverfront west of
South First Street depended largely upon the company’s ability to find suitable
tenants to occupy its existing facility on North Ninth Street.
Because of
the company’s rapid growth, Frank Prox was being forced to seek new quarters.
The proposed new buildings will be constructed of iron and steel and will have
immense floor space, requiring an outlay of more than
$100,000.
Construction of the new northside high school on Maple Avenue,
recently named Garfield, was temporarily delayed as school board factions worked
out their differences.
The anticipated cost of the high school, including
its power plant, was $94,945, not including furnishings. The general contractor
was Ryan & Hayworth of Montezuma.
Property owners on South 16th
Street and South 19th Street were carefully watching the proceedings of the
Board of Public Works regarding the opening of those streets. The board seemed
to favor opening South 16th Street between Poplar and Crawford streets and
opening South 19th Street south of the new Davis Park School.
James W.
Thompson, principal of Acme Coal & Lime and Wabash Sand & Gravel, put
together plans and specifications for a new five-room business block to be built
on the north side of Wabash Avenue between Water and First streets.
A
building permit was issued in early April to Terre Haute Heavy Hardware Co. for
construction of a large reinforced frame warehouse at 13th Street and the
Vandalia Railroad. William H. Yingling was one of the principals in the
firm.
Extensive remodeling was being done on the Kaufman Block at Seventh
and Wabash. Basement rooms were extended under sidewalks on Wabash and Seventh
streets and the Seventh Street frontage was being divided into five rooms
fronted by plate glass.
The Terminal interurban depot, now Terminal
Restaurant, was nearing completion.
The contract to design a new heating
plant and laundry room at the Glenn Home for Dependent Children was awarded to
architects Dickinson & Padgett for $10,000.
With all the construction
under way, the biggest news during April still might have been the announcement
that the plat for “Edgewood Grove Beautiful” was filed in the office of Vigo
County Recorder Frank Hoermann on April 12, 1911.
Published in several
Terre Haute newspapers during April, the plat divided William Riley McKeen’s
land on the south side of the National Road across from the fairgrounds into 324
residential building lots.
An effort was made to save the trees that made
McKeen’s Edgewood Farm, which included Deer Park, such a beautiful tract. Many
were more than 100 years old in 1911. Every tree in the grove was
numbered.
Edgewood Realty Co., under the direction of Charles S. Hernley
and Samuel E. Gray, announced that they would construct sewers, concrete
sidewalks and gravel streets throughout the subdivision. Lots ranged in price
from $450 to $1,600.
Hernley, recognized as one of Indiana’s top real
estate promoters, relocated in Terre Haute to initiate a sales campaign,
effective April 24. Full-page ads lauding “Edgewood Grove Beautiful” were found
in local newspapers, reading in part:
“The opening of Edgewood Grove
beautiful marks an epoch in the history of Terre Haute. Look at the plat. See
the streets, avenues, boulevards, parkways and playgrounds. Nothing ever laid
out like this before in Terre Haute, and this is the first and last opportunity
to buy lots with trees on them one hundred years old. This is the finest
addition to any city in the middle west . . . .”
“No business house will
be allowed in the addition and the cheapest house that will be erected will cost
$2,000,” Hernley told the Terre Haute Star.
Professional baseball seemed
to be the primary spectator sport in April 1911. The Terre Haute Miners of the
Central League had a busy preseason home exhibition schedule with games at
Athletic Park against the Chicago Cubs of the National League, Chicago White Sox
of the American League and the St. Paul Saints of the American Association,
among others.
Eight Miners players later played in the major
leagues.
Unfortunately, the Cubs game — with local hero Mordecai Brown
expected to start for the visitors — was rained out. The Miners lost to St.
Paul, 9-8, and the White Sox, 8-3.
The theater and vaudeville fare was
spectacular, as usual, with daily shows at the Grand Opera House and the
Varieties and Billiken theaters. On the heels of Sarah Bernhardt’s appearance in
“Camille” in late February, “Ben Hur” and Trixie Friganza were among the April
headliners.
During the week of April 16, Marx Brothers & Co. appeared
at the Varieties in the comedy “Fun in High School.” The entourage included
Chico, Harpo and Groucho Marx, their mother Minnie and their Aunt
Hannah.
~Catherine Pulsifer~