page_title: Bates–Hendricks
section_title: Neighborhood history
hierarchical_section_title: Bates–Hendricks / Neighborhood history
caption_attribution_description: English: Vintage postcard of Turner Hall in Indianapolis, Indiana.
context_page_description: The Bates–Hendricks neighborhood is situated just south and east of the downtown commercial district of Indianapolis, Indiana. The Fountain Square business district is just to the east.
  Access to the neighborhood from the north is by way of East Street, while Terrace Street off of Madison Avenue enters the neighborhood from the west and Prospect Street offers access from Fountain Square.
context_section_description: Madison Avenue, the western boundary of the neighborhood, is the old Mauxferry Road. This was the first road built into Indian territory to service the new capital of Indianapolis. It was surveyed in 1822 and completed in 1824. It was the road used to move the tools of government from Corydon (the old state capitol) to Indianapolis. It also served as the stagecoach road to reach the steamboats on the Ohio River before the railroad era.
  In October 1900, pharmacist John A. Hook opened the first Hook's Drug Store at the corner of Prospect and East Streets. Although that building no longer exists, Hook's grew to be a chain of over 160 stores throughout Indiana, and after several mergers, became part of the CVS Pharmacy chain.
  The Sanders-Childers House at 1020 E. Palmer Street is the oldest house in Indianapolis. It is a two-story brick farmhouse constructed around 1820 by William Sanders. The original portion of the house sits at an angle to Palmer and Barth streets because those streets were not laid out until later. Alterations were made at various times, including a modernization in the 1920s by Frank R. Childers, who was the Marion County Recorder from 1927 to 1930. The former Abraham Lincoln School #18 across the street at 1001 E. Palmer Street was built in 1901 and is on the site where a group of Delaware Indians had a sugar camp until 1820.
  The Southside Turnverein building at 306 E. Prospect Street in the northwest corner of the neighborhood was constructed in 1900 by the Southside Turnverein, a German-American gymnastics club. The architects were Vonnegut and Bohn, who earlier had designed Das Deutsche Haus, now known as the Athenaeum, in downtown Indianapolis. Anti-German sentiment resulting from World War I led to the German-American community distancing itself from German culture and a decline in the Turners movement, but the building remained a center for the community. On October 4, 1960, for example, it was the site of a campaign speech by Senator John F. Kennedy. In 1977, the Turnverein sold it to Tony Elrod. He turned the second floor into a basketball court and the building became known as the Madison Avenue Athletic Club. However, the deterioration of the building led to its being placed on the Indiana Landmarks' Ten Most Endangered list. The owners of Point Comfort Underwriters purchased the building in July 2016 for $950,000 and undertook a complete renovation of the building; the project was led by Ratio Architects. The building reopened on November 9, 2018, and now serves as the headquarters for Point Comfort.
caption: Southside Turners building in 1908
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