Irvington Historic District of Indianapolis, Indiana

Irvington is a wonderful community that is located five miles east of downtown in the western edge of Warren Township.  Irvington was originally platted as an independent suburban town in 1870 but was annexed into the City of Indianapolis in 1902.  What made this area unique from other parts of Indianapolis was its winding and picturesque streets.  Its name being chosen because the area along Pleasant Run was reminiscent of Washington Irving's "Sleepy Hollow."

It is interesting driving down the residential streets.  They are tree-lined and the street is quite narrow compared to today's standards.  The brick is exposed with just reminants of the tar that was once put over them.  (So they are uneven and bumpy in areas.  That just adds to the charm of this area.)

Irvington is roughly bounded by Pleasant Run Parkway on the north; the northern edge of the B & O Railroad right-of-way, except Rawles Terrace between Audubon Road and Ritter Avenue, on the south; the west curbline of Arlington Avenue on the east; and the western lot line of 5330 Ohmer Avenue, to the west curbline of Ohmer Avenue, to the east curbline of Butler Avenue, to the north side of the Conrail right-of-way, and to the east curbline of Emerson Avenue on the west.  (Boundaries pulled from http://www.indygov.org/ website.)

From 1875-1928, Irvington was the home of Butler University.  Butler transformed Irvington into a college community atmosphere.  While most of the original buildings of the campus are gone with the exception Bona Thompson Memorial Library.  (Butler was moved into its present location when it ran out of room to expand in Irvington.)

Irvington is both architecturally and culturally significant to Indianapolis and Marion County.  The area contains excellent examples of every major American architectural style from 1870-1950, including Italianate, French Second Empire, Victorian Gothic, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival.  However, Irvington is perhaps best known for its fine collection of Arts & Crafts architecture, including the only known example of a Gustav Stickley designed house in Indiana.  There is a 147 page PDF file available called The Irvington Historic Preservation Plan. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Irvington is a very active community.  Through-out the year there are several festivals and events held that bring friends and family together to learn more about this community.  You will find that there's a very active Garden Club as well as the Irvington Public Library and many of the area churches.  The Irvington Garden Club presents annual events to show local gardens, homes, and art. The Irvington Home Tour also allows the public to see the inside of several historic homes.  (See post on up coming Home Tours Love Gardening & Tours? Upcoming Greater Indianapolis Home & Garden Tours for June 2007)  You also will want to look for the Halloween Tour in October as well as the the 5 mile run in Pleasant Run that takes place in October as well.  (Picture of the very tall home is of the Benton House on Downy Ave.)

Two places you might want to visit while in this area:  Pleasant Run Golf Coarse and Ellenberger Park,  The park has several of things that you can do there.  You will find a skating rink as well as a pool.

Want to read what Irvington Community Bloggers have to say?  Visit http://historicirvington.blogspot.com/.

This map show the boundaries of the Community as well as where some important landmarks are located.

In researching this area for this post, I ran across an interesting article H. H. Holmes in Irvington.  It seems that there's a home on Julian Street that is "haunted" and it's a part of the Indiana Haunted House Tours that take place in October of each year. For more information, visit http://www.indianaghosttours.com/.

Look for my post of the Irving Theatre.  A place that brings all types of music acts to the area.  Considering a move to Indianapolis Area?  Visit www.cyndisloop4indyhomes.com for more information.