Polk's Indianapolis (Marion County, Ind.) city directory, 1934, Part 2

Author:
Publication date: 1934
Publisher: R.L. Polk
Number of Pages: 1774

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STATE HOUSE

Population 1930

1920

Per cent of Land Area Per Sq. Mi.

Metropolitan District Indianapolis city

417,685

343,868 314,194 29,674

80.4

257.60

207.8

Outside city

53,524

increase 21.5 15.9

Sq. Mi.

311.75 54.15

1339.8 6725.0

364,161

1930 Population

INTRODUCTION

Indianapolis is in the center of and the capital of a state having a population of 3,238,503 in 1930, and is near the population center of the United States. It is nearly in the center of the corn belt and the wheat belt. It is in the center of the Mid-West manu- facturing region that produces thirty per cent of the nation's industrial output. In the center of the city is a magnificent circle, surrounded by a street ninety feet in width and one-fifth of a mile around, in the center of which stands a 28416 -foot massive stone monu- ment erected in honor of the soldiers and sailors of Indiana who participated in the Civil and other wars. Radiating from this circle are four wide avenues affording outlets to all parts of the city. It has been around this regularly-platted area that Indianapolis has grown from a mere village in 1821 to its present population, more than 96 per cent of whom are American-born.

Topography

The topography of the territory surrounding Indianapolis has never hindered the city's growth in any direction, resulting in Indianapolis having grown until it now covers an area of 54.16 square miles. It is a city without barriers.

Climate and Precipitation

There are less than four months in the year in which the lowest daily temperature runs below freezing. Yet summer temperatures do not range excessively high, and are rendered unoppressive by the low humidity which usually prevails. The average January temperature in Indianapolis is 28 degrees, and the average July temperature is 76 degrees. There are times during the summer when as much as 16 hours of outdoor work may be performed without artificial light. The precipitation for the year 1933 was 41.58 inches.

U. S. COURT HOUSE AND POST OFFICE

National Market

Finished goods are sold, not to square miles, but to population. So far as theoretical analysis goes, Indianapolis stands supreme as a center from which to serve the national market, either for finished products going directly to the consumer, or for semi-finished goods requiring further manufacture. Indianapolis is already famous as a center for na- tional distribution and is rapidly increasing its prestige in this respect.

This Middle Western district is the heart of the nation's manufacturing activities. Among the first 18 cities in the United States with respect to the annual value of manu- factured products, 10 are in this great section of the country. The manufacturing density of this district in relation to its area is five times the average for the country as a whole. The center of population of the United States, the center of manufacture, the corn center and others are located in the immediate center of this area. The territory as a geograph- ical unit is probably the richest and most intensified producing region in the world. Al- though representing less than 6% of the total area of the country, it contributes 30% of the total manufactured products. It has a population of 25,000,000, or 20% of the total population of the United States.

Trading Radius

Indianapolis is located in the heart of a rich buying market. Few cities enjoy such stability of commerce and industry. Its security is its surrounding farm land, where great agricultural wealth abounds and where 2,000,000 prospective buyers within two hours' ride, over 10,000,000 within a few hours' ride, and more than 60,000,000 within a radius of 500 miles can be reached overnight. The immediate trading radius includes the central portion.

INTRODUCTION

of Indiana. It extends practically 70 miles in every direction. The business of this district is so closely tied up with that of Indianapolis as to be practically inseparable. To the people living in cities in this district, whether 1,000 population or over 30,000, Indianapolis is the market place. One distinguishing feature of this district is the transportation situa- tion. A network of steam and electric railways, together with numerous motorbus lines, welds this territory in one compact unit. County seats and hundreds of smaller towns and villages around Indianapolis have direct connections with the city. The annual purchasing power of the Indianapolis trading area is estimated to be $750,000,000.

Manufacture

Indianapolis is a city of diversified industries. The products of these are motor vehicles and motor vehicle bodies and parts, meat-packing and slaughtering products, metal and ma- chine shop products, etc. The 800 industries of Indianapolis use a wide variety of raw materials and turn their finished and semi-finished products into many different lines of consumption. More than 1,200 different commodities are manufactured in Indianapolis. The city is not dominated by any one industry or one group of related industries. Diversifica- tion has long been recognized as a desirable characteristic of a city's industry.

Trade

Indianapolis is a wholesale center of semi-national importance. In 1930 there were 449 wholesalers and distributors, and 4,920 retail establishments in Indianapolis. The territory has 37 towns of 1,000 population or more, served by these jobbers and retailers. Many of these organizations reach over the entire country. Indianapolis, although 21st in population, is 13th in volume of retail sales.

MERIDIAN STREET LOOKING NORTH FROM MARYLAND STREET

WHOLESALE

According to the data collected in the Census of Distribution taken in 1930, the volume of business done by the 449 wholesalers proper located in the city of Indianapolis during the year 1929 amounted to $278,928,925. These wholesalers employed 5,909 men and women, paid them $11,359,702 in salaries and wages, and carried a stock at the end of the year, the cost value of which amounted to $15,679,275.

In addition to the wholesalers proper there is also a large number of establishments in the wholesale field, such as manufacturers' sales branches and bulk tank stations in the petroleum industry, which operate very much like wholesalers. The total volume of busi- ness transacted by all establishments in the wholesale field in Indianapolis in 1929 amounted to $402,360,867. This volume of business was reported by 676 establishments which employed 8,682 men and women, paid them $16,912,911 in salaries and wages and carried stocks, the cost value of which at the end of the year 1929 amounted to $21,050,376.

Of the 449 wholesalers proper operating in Indianapolis, 67 were engaged in the farm products (except dairy and poultry products) business and reported a volume of trade of $137,176,221 for 1929. This constitutes 49 per cent of the total volume of business transacted by the wholesalers of Indianapolis. The farm products business is conducted by 52 live stock wholesalers, 11 grain wholesalers, 3 flowers and nursery stock wholesalers, and 1 hides and skins. The second trade group in importance is the food and tobacco products

INTRODUCTION

business. In this group there are 107 wholesalers reporting $37,889,964 net sales. Of these 107 wholesalers, 20 are engaged in the grocery business and report a volume of $11,225,092, 15 are in the tobacco products business and report a volume of $6,840,976, 5 are dairy products establishments with net sales of $1,416,979, and 67 miscellaneous kinds of whole- salers with net sales of $18,406,917. Other trade groups in order of importance are the hardware, electrical, plumbing and sporting goods business, with 41 establishments and $22,177,773 volume of sales; the chemical, drugs, and allied products business, with 39 estab- lishments and $20,253,114 net sales; and the automotive business, with 24 establishments and $12,674,561 net sales.

Of the total 676 wholesale establishments of all types covered in this Census report, 449 are classified as wholesalers, 119 as manufacturers' sales branches, 34 as brokers, 31 as manufacturers' agents, 28 as selling agents, 11 as bulk tank stations, 3 as chain store warehouses, and 1 as a district sales office.

Among the 449 classified as wholesalers, 352 are wholesale merchants, 63 are commis- sion merchants, 20 are cash-and-carry wholesalers, 6 are wagon distributors, 5 are drop shippers, 1 is a cooperative marketing association, 1 is an export merchant, and 1 is an importer.

Of the 676 establishments of all types engaged in the wholesale trade in Indianapolis, the largest volume of business is reported by the 72 establishments operating in the farm products (except dairy and poultry products) business, with a volume of $145,549,384, or 36.17 per cent of the total. The next largest volume is reported by the 158 establishments in the food and tobacco products business, with a volume of $90,976,053, or 22.6 per cent of the total. The hardware, electrical, plumbing, and sporting goods business is third in importance, with 72 establishments and a volume of $35,994,736, or 8.9 per cent of the total. Fourth is the chemicals, drugs, and allied products business, with 56 establishments and a volume of $23,582,904, or 5.9 per cent of the total.

The largest sales per establishment are reported by chain store warehouses, with an average of approximately $7,400,000; commission merchants rank second, with average sales per establishment of $1,979,191, while brokers rank third, with $721,133 average sales. Aver- age sales for all establishments in the wholesale field are $595.208.

NORTH ILLINOIS STREET LOOKING NORTH FROM WASHINGTON STREET

RETAIL

1930 was below normal, yet retail business in Indianapolis aggregated the vast sum of $220,000,000 plus.

Indianapolis has a population of 364,161, but commercially the city represents a market vastly greater than the Census enumeration indicates because of the thousands of shoppers attracted to the city daily from a large number of communities within a 100-mile radius.

It perhaps will be a revelation that retail business is really "big business," when the volume of business is considered, and also that Indianapolis retailers give employment to 23,153 men and women.

It is the "pulling power" from outside cities that contributes largely to the great volume of the Indianapolis retail trade.

The report in part follows: "The bureau reports 4,920 retail stores, with a total annual business of $220,456,834, a yearly payroll of $28,381,795, and the full-time employment of 23,153 men and women. The reported number of employees does not include those working

INTRODUCTION

part-time, although the payroll of part-time employees is included in salaries and wages. Merchandise in stock at the end of 1929 showed a cost value of $26,643,212.

"The total of 4,920 stores includes 3,543 single-store independents, 217 units of two-store multiples and fifty-eight units of three-store multiples. There are also 472 units of local chains, 176 units of sectional chains and 396 units of national chains. Sales of these three types of chain organizations and four branch-system units aggregate $57,364,211, or 26 per cent of the total retail business, while sales of the single-store independents amount to $140,875,037, or 64 per cent. These figures are based upon reports received in 1930 covering the year 1929.

Food Group Takes Lead

"Leased departments reported by department stores and included in the figures sub- mitted by them are not counted as separate establishments. Those reported independently by their proprietors are shown as separate establishments. There are twenty-four units of leased department chains in Indianapolis.

"The food group takes the lead in this report, with the automotive group second and the general merchandise group third in order of sales.

"Food stores total 1,757 and report sales of $47,246,271, or 21 per cent of the total retail business. Of this number, 1,150 are grocery stores, with sales of $33,731,645, and 236 are meat markets, with sales of $6,337,514. Fresh meat departments are operated in 839 of the grocery stores and several of the meat markets have developed a side line of groceries. Of the 1,150 grocery stores, 707 are.single-store independents, with sales of $14,517,895; 249 are local multi-units, with sales of $9,088,304, and 194 are units of sectional and national chains, with sales of $10,125,446. Many bakeries which manufacture their own products are included in the census of manufactures and do not appear in this report, but sixty-three stores selling bakery goods are reported.

MURAT TEMPLE, A.A.O.N.M.S.

Large Auto Totals

"The automotive group, with 769 establishments, does a business of $42,326,052, or 19 per cent of the total retail business. Receipts in fifty-nine motor-vehicle establishments amount to $25,535,745, and sales in 112 accessory, tire and battery stores, to $3,882,446. A total of 392 filling stations is reported, with aggregate sales of $8,743,327 in gas, oil, tires and other accessories. This merchandise is also sold in 188 garages, whose total business of $2,726,088 includes receipts from repairs and storage as well as from sales. Of the 392 filling stations, eighty-two are single-station independents, seventy-seven are local multi- units, and 233 are units of sectional or national chains.

"The general merchandise group, which includes department stores, dry goods stores, general stores and variety, 5-and-10, and to-a-dollar stores, report sales of $41,511,701 in 197 stores, employs the full-time services of 5,721 men and women, and pays $6,282,434 annually in salaries and wages. The twenty-one department stores report sales of $32,- 445,360, while 132 dry goods stores, twenty-one general stores, and twenty-three variety, 5-and-10, and to-a-dollar stores report total sales of $9,066,341. Inventory for the group as of the end of the reporting year totals $7,608,472. Of the forty-four variety stores and general stores, 30 are single store independents, with sales of $510,248, and fourteen are multi-unit organizations, with sales of $5,795,398.

INTRODUCTION

INDIANAPOLIS PUBLIC LIBRARY

Millions for Apparel

"The apparel group of 263 stores reports a business of $16,848,309, employs 1,981 full- time workers, and pays $2,273,187 in salaries and wages annually. This group consists of sixty-three men's stores, twenty-six women's specialty stores, fifteen clothing stores, forty- six millinery shops, seventy-four shoe stores, two fur stores, one hosiery store and thirty- six other apparel and accessories stores. Of the seventy-four shoe stores, twenty-nine are single-store independents, six are local multi-unit organizations, and thirty-nine are units Of sectional or national chains.

"The furniture and household group totals 124 stores, employs 2,065 full-time workers, and does a business of $13,174,589. Furniture stores sell $10,418,060 of this total in seventy- eight stores, while twenty-two household appliance stores account for $1,908,333 of the balance.

"The lumber and building group, with 221 stores and yards, reports 1,236 full-time em- ployees and a total retail business of $12,547,700. This group includes lumber yards, and hardware, electrical, heating and plumbing and paint and glass stores. Planing mills and similar establishments which manufacture building materials are included in the census of manufacturers and do not appear in this report.

Other Large Classifications

"The 584 restaurants and other eating places in Indianapolis employ 2,108 full-time workers, and do a business of $9,013,618. This volume of business is exclusive of meals served in dining rooms operated by hotels and boarding houses and of lunches served in drug stores. The total payroll of the 584 restaurants and eating places is $1,493,296.

"Other large business classifications shown in detail in this report are drug stores, coal, wood and ice establishments and radio and music stores."

Transportation

The geographical location of Indianapolis, and the topography of the surrounding region, have operated to the city's advantages as a transportation center. The location of Indianapolis places it in the pathway of the country's great east-west traffic flow, and the absence of any hazards of land formation has made the unhampered development of trans- portation facilities possible. Sixteen steam railroad lines lead in every direction from In- dianapolis. Companies having one or more lines serving Indianapolis are the C. C. C. & St. L. (Big Four), Baltimore & Ohio, Illinois Central, C. I. & L., Nickel Plate and Pennsylvania. The Belt Railroad in Indianapolis has direct connection with sixteen entering lines, and insures rapid interchange of traffic from one to another. It swings around the east, south and west sections of the city, and provides switching facilities for hundreds of acres of ex- cellent factory-site property. All switching and wheelage charges are absorbed by the rail- roads, so that the Indianapolis manufacturer, whether he is located on the Belt or on an individual railroad line, can ship or receive goods via any one of the sixteen lines without cost other than the regular freight charges as established by the Indiana Public Service Commission and the Interstate Commerce Commission.

One hundred thirteen railroad passenger trains arrive and depart from Indianapolis daily. Seventy interurban passenger cars arrive and depart each day.

INTRODUCTION

Five electric railway lines enter the city, and are of distinct value to its manufacturers in their contact with the Middle Western market. Rapid freight service has been featured by the interurban companies, and covers points in Ohio and Kentucky, for first, second and third-day delivery.

There are more than 70 motor truck lines operating out of Indianapolis, giving sched- uled package freight delivery service and having also the facilities for special contract work.

Indianapolis has developed an excellent system of motor coach transportation. It is estimated that 160,000 passengers ride the street cars and buses each day in Indianapolis. To provide for the comfort of passengers and to facilitate traffic in the city, Indianapolis Railways has embarked upon a complete modernization program. By the end of 1934, Indianapolis will have the largest trackless trolley system in the United States, with forty- two miles of trackless trolley route. One hundred forty-three trackless trolley cars were built in the United States during 1933 and the first two months of 1934. Of this number, 95 were for Indianapolis. Eighy-seven new street cars have been built in the United States since 1931, and of this number, 75 were built for Indianapolis.

Automobiles

The average number of persons entering Indianapolis by passenger automobile per day is estimated to be 25,000. In 1933, 104,614 licenses were issued for passenger automobiles in Marion County. Excellent city paving and connecting hard roads have made automo- bile and truck transportation an important factor in local distribution.

Aviation

Indianapolis is directly in the line of the safest, swiftest, most direct and most economi- cal airway between the East and the West. There are five landing fields adjacent to Indianapolis. Privately-owned, Hoosier and Capitol Airports; Governmental, Schoen Field at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Mars Hill, which is the National Guard field, and the Indian- apolis Municipal Airport.

MUNICIPAL AIRPORT

The Indianapolis Municipal Airport ranks among the largest and best equipped in the entire country. It is located six and seven-tenths miles southwest of the center of the business district of the city, and can be reached in from fifteen to twenty minutes. It is just south of the main east and west thoroughfare through Indianapolis, which is U. S. National Highway 40. The port consists of one thousand acres and is one and one-half miles across from east to west and one and one-quarter miles across from north to south.

A $160,000 hangar and administration building houses the following: Control tower, weather bureau, office space for operators, restaurant, Western Union and Postal Tele- graph air mail office, chart room, emergency hospital, ticket office, waiting room and other facilities for handling the public. The hangar is approximately 100x300 feet and is the first unit of a series of hangars and buildings to be constructed in the future. Two con- crete runways are two thousand feet long and one hundred feet wide, running north and south and southwest and northeast. The third is eleven hundred feet long and one hun- dred four feet wide, running southeast and northwest.

The Government maintains a radio beacon station, which is located in the extreme southeast corner of the field. The United States Weather Bureau has installed complete weather forecasting equipment including upper air observation. They are able to give hourly weather reports for all parts of the United States.

The north portion of the airport (107 acres) has been set aside for the development of aviation industries. Industries located on this ground will have the use of one of the outstanding airports in the country. This industrial ground is served by railroad, inter- urban, bus and truck lines and is close to one of the best laboring communities in the city.

The Indianapolis Municipal Airport is owned, managed and operated by the City of Indianapolis. The field is for the use of any and all licensed operators of aircraft. Ac- tivity in all phases of aviation is encouraged.

Banks

During the year 1933 the bank clearings for Indianapolis banking houses, members of the Indianapolis Clearing House Association, were $490,245,000. Deposits, $134,237,000. Resources of all Indianapolis banks are $161,328,000.

INTRODUCTION

Building and Loan Associations

There are 51 building and loan associations in Indianapolis, one of which is the largest in the Middle West and the second largest in the country. This major institution has a capitalization of $47,000,000.

Dividends paid in 1933 by the Marion County Association in Indianapolis totaled $2,402,623.

During the ten-year period, 1921-1931, the building and loan associations of Indianapolis financed either the building or the purchase of 38,991 homes. During that period the associations lent $180,400,543 for the following purposes:

Building of new homes, $25,833,358; purchase of homes and investment property, $94,349,482; refinanced matured mortgages and renewals, $42,448,248; taxes, Barrett Law, etc, $252,561; repair or improvement of property, $6,043,418; business building repairs $4,347,653; churches, $1,695,766; business purposes, $4,365,693; and defraying hospital and doctor bills secured by first mortgages on homes lived in by owner, $1,064,364.

Churches

There are 283 churches in Indianapolis, representing all denominations and nation- alities.

Electricity

The local power company has over 126,500 customers. Direct current is available in the downtown business district, known as the "mile square." All other sections are sup- plied with alternating current.

The rates of the Indianapolis Power & Light Co. governing the use of domestic and commercial service compare favorably with those of comparable cities, and due to the wide diversity of the manufacturing institutions on its system, the rates for industrial services are low.

Gas

One of the important requirements of industry is an adequate supply of a refined and controllable fuel. A gas service of excellent quality is furnished in Indianapolis. A total of 73,229 customers was being served with gas in Dec., 1933. There are 865 miles of gas mains in Indianapolis. Rates are: First 10,000 cubic feet, $0.95 per 1,000 cu. ft .; next 40,000 cu. ft., $0.90; next 15,000 cu. ft., $0.85, etc. - Special schedule for consumers of larger quan- tities.

Water

The capacity of pumping units serving the water distribution system is over 185,000,000 gallons a day. The normal pressure for the downtown district is from 55 to 62 pounds. The sources of supply are White River and extensive deep wells, with Fall Creek as an available source in case of need. The water supply is passed through a sand and gravel filter bed and is finally thoroughly purified by chlorination. The cost of water varies in accordance with consumption. 70,825 water meters were operating in Dec., 1933.

Coal

Reached by three railroads in three hours from Indianapolis, are 20 beds containing more than 40 billion tons of bituminous coal. Proximinity of these inexhaustible supplies to water sources enable development of generating plants and systems to convert the coal at its source into electric power for industries. The freight rate on Indiana coal into Indianapolis is more than one-half less than on coal from eastern Kentucky or West, Virginia.

Factory Sites

Indianapolis has in reserve a vast area for industrial expansion. Many acres are avail- able. These districts are interwoven with a network of railroads, including the belt system, affording a great centralized industrial transportation system. Raw materials, transporta- tion, power, labor and market are available in this city.

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Polk's Indianapolis (Marion County, Ind.) city directory, 1934, Part 2

Author: Publication date: 1934 Publisher: R.L. Polk Number of Pages: 1774

Author:
Publication date: 1934
Publisher: R.L. Polk
Number of Pages: 1774