The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-02-21

run in from the northeast and east come
over Ohio street TO relieve the congestion
in the heart of the city il will tend to
bring a great many people In on this
thOroughfare. 1t is also thought that some
of the city street-car lines, such as College
avenue, Central avenue and North Ala
bama street will be sent around this way
instead of going TO Washington street as
they do now If the car lines run down
Ohio street the roadway Will have TO be
widened 10 sixty feet instead of forty. as
il is now go that double track can be
passage of vehicles. Grass plots, which now
border the street. will in time be done
away with. and the sidewalks brought flush
with the curbs, as is done with all of the
downtown streets.
THE FEDERAL BUILDING.
The greatest thing in influencing the
change of Ohio street from that of offices
and residences. and pushing it forward as
a business street, is that the new federal
building will have its frontage here and will
take up one side of whole square. AS this
will be one of the future sights of the city,
for the building that is being erected is
one of the finest in the country, it will
draw sightseers, besides being in itself a
business center. There will be a great
amount of business transacted in this
building, and this will bring many people
in that locality, thus naturally aiding all
until the government building is completed,
because the progress that has been made in
the construction OF ii this winter has been
remarka BILE and il will be completed long
before il was believed by many Indianap-
oils people would be the case. With such
an imposing building as it will be, and with
large spacious grounds, drawing, as it will,
hundreds of people every day, this street
will be an extraordinary busy place.
Ohio street is one of the oldest thorough
fares in the city, and the two squares
MI a. nDdprOniOp change have
ways been known as doctors row." for
every prominent physician in the city has
had an office somewhere along this street.
Just why physicians focked TO this dis
trict has never been clearly known, but
ever since it has been in existence it has
been lined with doctors offices. AS ii is
now these have disappeared into the two
large buildings which were erected in re-
cent years and fitted up for the convenience
of physicians. Formerly these offices oc-
cupied ground floors in the small one or
two-story buildings which were known to
every person in town.
Some of these buildings are old land
marks. This is especially true of the row
which has been recently torn down TO make
room for the Federal building. The most
notable of these was the large brick resi-
dence which stood at the corner OF Meridian
and Ohio streets. 1t built in 1861, the
first year of the civil war, by DR.. Charles
Parry, who lived but a few months after
moving into IT, His widow and stepson,
DIR. Mansur Wright, who survived him,
lived in this residence until the death of
II.
hands of DIR. Herman Pink, who occupied
| ii for a number of years. After he left the
4, place it was used for doctors offices by
! number of physicians. AT the time this old
residence was built it was one of the hand
| soonest in this city, and was located in
| prominent residence district.
OLD BUILDINGS VANISH.
/, The oldest building on the street has also
been torn down by the government, and
{ was the low frame structure where the city
! dispensary was located for a number of
years. This was one of the Oldest land
| marks in the city, of which there are so
| few now left to remind the older citizens of
| the days when Indianapolis was in its in
| fancy. This old building had been standing
| for sixty-six years. and was erected in 1886
| by DR.. John E. Mcclure, who occupied it
| as a residence. After DR.. Mcclure sold il
| it passed through several hands, and was
| finally bought by Horace Basset, who was
| then clerk of the United States District
| Court. Mr.. Basset's residence was at the
| northwest corner of Pennsylvania and Ohio
streets, which location of late years was
| occupied by a large block. Mr. BaSSet
| rented out the Mcclure property, and
| among his tenants was Or. p. II. Jameson,
| who moved into il as his residence in 1851,
| and he remained there for three years. after
Mr.. Basset finally sold it to the late Steven
| b. Tomlinson, who was the founder of Tom
| linson Hall, and this piece of property was
| left to the city as part of the bequest for
| the hall The city used it as the dispensary
| for more than twenty years. At the time
| this building was constructed the city was
| little more than a country town, having
| about 1900 inhabitanes. The census of 1910
! showed there were $500 people here.
! 1t was into this old house DR.. z. H. Jane
1 son moved shortly after he was married
+, so that old building had many pleasant
| memories for him, and as he watches ii
| being torn down il is like parting with an
| old friend. He endeavored to get enough
| lumber out of ii to make a cabinet as a re-
| membrance, but he was unable to find any
| that was suitable.
| About the only landmark left to remind
| the old citizens Of earlier days is the res
| idence of William Mansur. which is the
south side of the street, and is now occupied
| son-in-laN of David b. Gully. whose resi-
| dence situated just east of that of
! Mansur's, and was on the corner of the
f. alley. Mr.. Gully was one OF the prominent
f, citizens here in the early days, and had
J much TO do in founding the common schools
| of this city. Where the Newton Claypool
1 building now stands was one of the finest
| residences in the city about 1866. 1t was
| owned by E. S. Alvord, who was very
| wealthy, and whose family was at that time
| among the social leaders here. He finally
| sold the place and returned to the East.
| The school board bought il, and the public
library was located where Alvord's resi-
| dence stood; part of his residence being
| incorporated into the library building. The
school board occupied this site until it
1 erected the new building ut the corner or
| Meridian and Ohio streets.
Many of the old citizens say that il is
| hard for them to look at Ohio street and
| realize it is the thoroughfare they used to
| know in their younger days. They say that
| the passing away of this street is like the
| dying out of the old friends whom they
| knew in their youth. The reason they feel
thus toward the old thoroughfare is that
| IL was about all there was left of the town
| to remind them of the earlier days, and
soon it will only exist in their memory.
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