Thomas Taggart Memorial

 

This is the Thomas Taggart Memorial located in Indianapolis midway between West 16^th Street and West 30^th Street at 2326 East White River Parkway East Drive. Thomas Taggart was mayor of Indianapolis and also served in the United States Senate. As mayor of Indianapolis he began the Indianapolis park system. When I was a boy I was always afraid to ride my bike past the memorial in the evening because I mistakenly believed that Thomas Taggart was actually buried there.

Indianapolis Railway and Bus Station

This is a view of the Indianapolis railway and bus station at Market and Illinois Streets taken in 1953. Originally it served as the Inter Urban station. Later it served as a street car station then latter a trolley station and finally the bus station. When I was a child my mother I would catch the street cars here to go shopping in downtown Indianapolis. When I attended Indiana University at Bloomington, I would catch a Greyhound bus here to go back to IU. This corner is now occupied by the Hilton Hotel

Former AFNB Branch

This is a view of the interior of the Irvington Branch of the American Fletcher National Bank located on the southeast corner of Ritter Ave. and East Washington Street - probably taken the the late 1960s. AFNB was purchased by Bank One which was in turn purchased by Chase Bank. The building originally (many years ago) housed the Irvington State Bank. It is now an antique mall. I was assistant branch manager here from 1968 to 1971. Note the silverware display on the left side of the picture. We used to give silverware away whenever a customer opened a new account. Now you get nothing except higher fees.

Sullivan Lake

This is a view of Sullivan Lake as my father, mother I knew it in our respective childhoods. We all spent many of our childhood days in this same place, but (of course) separated by the years. It was much larger than it is now. When Interstate 65 was built, the lake was nearly eliminated. It is now just a shadow of what it was when we were young.

In the winter it was a popular place the ice skate. My aunt Billie took me there, along with my cousins David and Danny, many times to skate.

Sullivan Lake Bridge

The bridge in the foreground is located in the 3300 block of Cold Springs Rd. in Indianapolis near Marian College. The stream that eventually forms Sullivan Lake passes under the bridge at that point. In the background you can see a small waterfall. When the stream is low, you can walk across the dam at that point. In the summer (without my mother’s knowledge) I would play on that dam; as my father had when he was a boy.  As you can see, it is a very beautiful place.