Polk's Indianapolis (Marion County, Ind.) city directory, 1942, Part 3

Author:
Publication date: 1942
Publisher: R.L. Polk
Number of Pages: 2252

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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.

Foreign Trade

A survey of foreign trade reveals that Indianapolis firms are doing business in every corner of the world and that the total volume of business, imports and exports, runs into many millions of dollars. While Indianapolis exports a tremendous quantity of merchan- dise, manufactured articles and raw materials, certain articles predominate. Among these are automobile accessories, meat products, metal products and machinery, drugs and pharmaceuticals, food products, flour and grain. Imports come from many countries.

Building

New building and electrical construction in Indianapolis totaled $15,676,165 in value for 1941. During the year there were 17,907 permits issued.

Assessed Valuation

The assessed valuation of property in Indianapolis on which taxes will be paid in 1942 is $523,786,450.

INTRODUCTION

Taxes

Indiana revised its plan of taxation recently and the result of the changes should be substantial reductions in property taxes to more than offset the new taxes levied by other means.

Indianapolis, for instance, has a total property tax rate this year of $3.25 on each $100 of assessed valuation.

A gross income tax has been levied, amounting to one-fourth of one per cent. on industrial and wholesale business, and one per cent. on individual incomes.

In addition, the owner of intangibles has been greatly benefited by enactment of a special plan of taxing intangibles at 25 cents on each $100.

Greater dependence also is being placed upon other sources of revenue, including taxes upon the sale of alcoholic beverages.

The Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce maintains a department which has for several years participated with the local officials in formulation of their fiscal programs, helping to guarantee balanced budgets along with economy programs that have helped Indianapolis avoid the financial pitfalls that have greatly disturbed many other large communities, leaving huge tax bills for past expenditures that eventually must be met, and can only be met through great burden upon their taxpayers.

ADMINISTRATION AND EQUIPMENT BLDG., INDIANA BELL TELEPHONE CO., INDIANAPOLIS

Telephone Service

On Jan. 23, 1933, the new headquarters building of the Indiana Bell Telephone Co., 240 N. Meridian St., was opened to the public, climaxing a two-year building program which included the moving of the old main building to a position at 15 W. New York St. Today the most modern in telephone equipment is available to businesses and homes in the com- munity; and adequate toll facilities reach in all directions, affording speedy and economical communication.

Over fourteen hundred trained telephone workers are employed by the Indiana Bell organization in Indianapolis. The total number of telephones in service in the city is 111,799.

Recreational Features

The Indianapolis park system is a major asset in a program of community develop- ment. Indianapolis ranks high among the larger cities in the standing of its parks and recreation facilities. In the 3,211.37 acre system there are 32 parks and 63 playgrounds.

Since 1930 the six municipal golf courses have been self-sustaining. The City of Indianapolis has been recognized by the United States Golf Association as maintaining one of the finest municipal golf layouts in the country.

An important adjunct of the park system is 69.67 miles of beautiful boulevards bordered with lawns, trees and shrubs, maintained by the park department. The 63 public play- grounds, five swimming pools including one of the largest outdoor swimming pools in the country, two river beaches, eight community houses, 75 tennis courts, and numerous base- ball diamonds are of tremendous significance in the safety and recreation of the city's population.

The eight community houses show a yearly attendance of 250,000 to 300,000.

INTRODUCTION

Theatres and Amusements

Indianapolis has 57 motion-picture houses, 2 legitimate theatres with a seating capacity of 3,500, and 2 burlesque theatres. Two large amusement parks afford lively entertain- melt in the summer months. A motor speedway and baseball park are amusements en- joyed by many thousands of persons.

Education

The educational facilities of Indianapolis provide excellent training in almost any line. With 86 public grade schools, 7 high schools and 30 parochial schools and academies, In- dianapolis offers splendid educational advantages to more than 70,000 students each semes- ter. Butler University, including Teachers College and College of Religion, Indiana Central College, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana University School of Dentistry, Indianapolis College of Pharmacy, Indiana Law School, St. Agnes Academy, Park School, Tudor Hall, Ladywood School, Orchard School, St. John's Academy, Normal College of the North American Gymnastics Union, John E. Herron Art Institute, Indiana State School for the Deaf, Bogue Institute for Stammerers, Board of Industrial Aid for the Blind, Indiana State School for the Blind, and other special schools in music, arts and business training are located in Indianapolis. The school city of Indianapolis is governed by a commission elected by the citizens. The commission elects a superintendent to have executive control over the school system, and a business director to have similar control of fiscal affairs. Indianapolis is the home of the largest extension branch of the State University, through which is offered training in practically every phase of university work. Butler University,

WORLD WAR MEMORIAL BUILDING

INTRODUCTION

with its present daily enrollment of approximately 2,800, likewise offers extension courses. Indiana Central College is the third distinct institution of higher learning in Indianapolis. The John E. Herron Art Institute ranks high among the country's institutions for the development of the artistically inclined. Its art school is constantly training young artists to continue the work of Indiana's leaders-Adams, Forsythe and Steele. The Indianapolis Public Library contains 656,644 volumes. Twenty-one branches are maintained at conve- nient locations throughout the city. The business branch, in the down-town district, gives special information service to business men.

Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music is affiliated with Butler University and offers exceptional opportunity for the study of music.

The Indianapolis public school system also maintains a department of special educa- tion through which the organization and administration of special classes are offered for retarded children, crippled children, children with defective eyesight, and hospital cases.

The Children's Museum is considered a valuable supplement to the regular public school curriculum.

BUTLER UNIVERSITY

"The University of the City of Indianapolis"

Butler University operates under a special charter granted by the Indiana Legislature in 1849. This charter defines the purposes and scope of the institution as follows:

"To establish, found, maintain, and perpetuate an institution of learning of the highest class, for the education of the youth of all parts of the United States, and especially of the states of the Northwest; to establish in said institution departments or colleges for the instruction of the students in every branch of liberal and professional education; to educate and prepare suitable teachers for the common schools of the country; to teach and inculcate the Christian faith and Christian morality as taught in the sacred Scriptures, and to pro- mote the sciences and arts."

This charter went into effect Jan. 15, 1850. The organization of the corporation was completed and the first board of directors elected in 1852. Funds were subscribed by mem- bers of the Christian churches and citizens of Indiana, and the University opened its doors Nov. 1, 1855, as North Western Christian University, on College Ave., Indianapolis. The College of Liberal Arts, opened at that time, has since had an uninterrupted existence.

In 1873 the board of directors decided to move the University to Irvington, then a suburb of the city, and in 1875 instruction of the college classes was begun in the new location.

In recognition of the benefactions of Ovid Butler, the name of the institution was changed from North Western Christian University to Butler University, Feb. 28, 1877. This change did not affect any chartered obligations of the corporation or its purposes, all of which have been determined by a legislative act and by the recorded resolutions of the board of directors.

By resolution of the board of directors, April 8, 1896, the name "Butler College" was adopted in lieu of "Butler University," to designate the under-graduate academic depart- ment. The legal name of the corporation, however, remains unchanged.

At the triennial election of directors, June 17, 1909, the stockholders voted to make the newly-elected board of twenty-one directors self-perpetuating. This action was taken under a statute enacted by the Indiana General Assembly in its session of 1909.

In 1923 it became evident that the growth of the institution would soon require new and larger buildings. The board of directors decided to secure a new site that would provide adequately for future development. As a result of that decision, Fairview Park, a beautiful

INTRODUCTION

tract of 246 acres in the northern part of the city, was purchased. The buildings on the new campus are: The Arthur Jordan Memorial Hall, the Field House and Gymnasium, and the Stadium. These buildings are modern in every way and are admirably adapted to the purposes for which they were designed. The Arthur Jordan Memorial Hall is named in honor of Arthur Jordan, of Indianapolis, who contributed a million dollars toward its con- struction.

Labor

In a large measure Indianapolis labor is thoroughly American. The typical factory employee is reliable, capable and efficient. He is economical and thrifty. He owns his own home, sends his children to school and college, and is himself interested in education. In considering the supply of labor in Indianapolis, one should have regard not only for the supply afforded by the city proper, which is abundant, but also for that of the surrounding territory. On every side are suburbs and small towns with motorbus and interurban service at regular short intervals. Improved roads lead in from every direction. People from points 15 to 20 miles out, work in Indianapolis. The potential labor supply from these sources is great. The relations of employer and employee are strictly harmonious, and conditions are in every way conducive to economical operation. A population 84% native white, 13% Negro, and only 3% foreign-born, affords an abundant supply of skilled and unskilled workers, both male and female.

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument

The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, located in the heart of the city, is recognized as one of the finest pieces of colossal sculpture in the United States. It was built in the years 1887-1901, at a cost of approximately $600,000. It is 284 feet high and is the second tallest monument in the United States.

Four epochs in the history of Indiana are commemorated by bronze statues of repre- sentative men of the times occupying positions around the monument between the con- verging points of the intersecting streets. These are the period of the Revolution, represented by a statue of George Rogers Clark; the War of 1812 and the battle of Tippe- canoe, by a statue of Wm. Henry Harrison; the Mexican War, by a statue of Gov. James Whitcomb; and the Civil War, by a statue of Indiana's great "war governor," Oliver P. Morton.

War Memorial Plaza

The City of Indianapolis, Marion County, and the State of Indiana have joined hands to provide the wonderful Memorial Plaza, which includes five city blocks in the heart of the state capital.

The main Memorial building is faced with selected Indiana limestone, with granite steps and walk. A World War museum is located in the basement of the building, and rooms on the first floor provide ample space for patriotic meetings. On a base of pink granite in the middle of the south stairway to the Memorial Shrine Room stands the largest sculptural bronze casting ever made in America-Henry Hering's "Pro Patria."

Perry Stadium

Perry Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis American Association Baseball team appropriately named the "Indians," is one of the outstanding parks of this character in the country, having been constructed at a cost of approximately one-half million dollars .. This stadium is considered the best illuminated field in the country for night baseball,; which has been featured for the past several years.

The Children's Museum

One of the foremost children's museums in the United States is located in Indian- apolis. Since its inception in 1925, when a very few curios were displayed in a barn at Delaware and Fourteenth Streets, the Museum has grown until it enjoys a membership well in excess of 10,000. Approximately 25,000 objects are attractively displayed in the thirty- room home at 1150 N. Meridian St., where the institution has been housed since 1927.

The Children's Museum has been of great value to the public schools in the many ways it has supplemented and strengthened the courses.

Postal Receipts

The post-office receipts for 1941 were $4,998,559.

Mail Service

There are 60 mail trains in and 61 out of Indianapolis every 24 hours. There are 8 electric mail trains in and 4 out daily. Supplemented with this service are 8 "star route" trains in and 7 out each day, leaving early in the morning with mail to be delivered within a radius of 50 miles to stations not accessible to regular mail train routes for early morning delivery. The "star route" service is used each day except Sunday.

The air mail offers splendid advantages for those desiring quick communication.

Parcel Post

Low-cost parcel post delivery can be had from Indianapolis. The first three or four zones, in which the rates are cheapest, cover the greatest concentrated business territory in the United States. The first three postal zones of Indianapolis embrace all the states adjoining Indiana except a small portion of northern Michigan. The fourth zone includes nearly all the next bordering states. The fifth zone extends from Maine to Colorado and from Canada to Florida.

Homes

Indianapolis has long been recognized as a city of homes. According to the 1930 Census, 41.6% of the 98,610 families living in Indianapolis owned their homes. A 1941 post- office survey showed that there were at that time 104,725 residences and 15,275 apart- ment units in Indianapolis, or a total of 120,000 residential units.

Streets

Streets of Indianapolis are wide, well-paved and level. All down-town streets are 90 feet wide, and Washington St., which is the leading business street, is 120 feet wide. The movement of automobile traffic has been facilitated by the designation of preferential speedways for passenger cars only. Heavy traffic thoroughfares have been established also, though not for exclusive use. The purpose is to provide through trucking routes from one section of the city to another, and at the same time to divert this heavy traffic from the thoroughfares having heavy passenger car traffic.

INTRODUCTION

INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the foremost motor race-course in the world. The annual Decoration Day Five Hundred Mile Race attracts drivers and more than 125,000 spectators from all parts of America and Europe.

National Headquarters

More than forty organizations maintain national headquarters in Indianapolis. The American Legion, International Typographical Union, Barbers' International Union, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Knights Templar, United Christian Missionary Society, National Retail Hardware Association and many others have chosen Indianapolis after an exhaustive investigation of cities of the United States. Twenty-three insurance companies serve their clients from Indianapolis. Greek letter organizations realize the advantages of a central location and six are at this time serving their membership from this city.

General

Indianapolis is located near the center of both the corn and wheat belts of America. This fact has made Indianapolis the fourth largest corn market in the United States and also one of the leading wheat centers. The Indianapolis Board of Trade is one of the six largest grain markets in the country. The supervision of a business involving $40.000,- 000 a year is entrusted to this organization. The following were handled through Indian- apolis in 1941: 5,497,000 bushels of wheat, 24,862,000 bushels of corn, 6,218,000 bushels of oats and 322,000 bushels of rye. The principal agricultural products of the territory surrounding Indianapolis, in addition to wheat, corn, oats and rye, are dairy products, beef, mutton, pork, fruit, potatoes, poultry and eggs, hay and canning vegetables. Produce and fruits are raised extensively in the districts surrounding Indianapolis, and furnish raw materials for canning factories and packing and preserving plants.

The Union Stock Yards in Indianapolis is one of the largest markets of its kind in the country. Following are stockyard receipts for the year 1941: Hogs, 2,267,493; cattle, 321,068; calves, 152,464; sheep, 358,440.

One of the largest army posts in the country, Fort Benjamin Harrison, covering 2,415 acres, is located six miles northeast of the Indianapolis city limits.

Indianapolis has three daily newspapers, one of which publishes a Sunday edition. In addition to this, a daily commercial newspaper, several weeklies and a number of regular neighborhood publications are published here.

Four radio stations carry the "Voice of Indianapolis" to the world. WIRE, WFBM, WISH and WIBC are, from a civic standpoint, outstanding achievements for the city. A census in 1938 showed 115,670 radios in Marion County.

A large municipal market helps to reduce the cost of living in this most ideal residence city.

Funds for the maintenance of the city's charities are secured through the Community Fund.

The achievements of such Indianapolis personages as Benjamin Harrison, James Whit- comb Riley, Meredith Nicholson, Booth Tarkington, Thomas R. Marshall, Charles W. Fair- banks and Albert J. Beveridge speak well for the city's culture and its spirit of endeavor. Indianapolis long will be remembered as the birthplace of many cherished poems known all over the United States as the work of James Whitcomb Riley, the beloved Hoosier poet.

Indianapolis is characteristically a city of sociability. Pervaded by the well-known spirit of Hoosier hospitality and culture, this city stands high as a social and cultural center.

INTRODUCTION

Nine Indianapolis clubs own their own buildings. Four of these are conveniently located in the down-town district. Each of these serves a particular function in the city's social life and is supported by a substantial membership.

Eight country clubs, located in private estates, maintaining swimming pools, golf links and tennis courts, add to the social life of the city.

The slogan, "The Crossroads of America," is appropriate. Within sixty miles, to the southwest, is the center of population of the United States. At a less distance, to the northeast, is the center of manufacture. The nation's east and west traffic must traverse the plain extending from the Great Lakes on the north to the Ohio River on the south. A large volume of this through traffic, both automobile and rail, passes through Indian- apolis. The National Road and the Dixie Highway cross here.

Distances from Indianapolis to Surrounding Large Cities

Chicago

183 miles

Cincinnati

110 miles

Cleveland .284 miles

Columbus, Ohio 181 miles

Detroit 276 miles

Louisville 111 miles

St. Louis

242 miles

MARION COUNTY COURT HOUSE

Miscellaneous Facts-Indianapolis (1941 figures, unless otherwise specified)

Airports

Altitude. 739 feet

53.62 square miles

(Above figures do not include Indianapolis Municipal Airport).

Distance north and south, 12.68 miles; east and west, 9.28 miles

Assessed Valuation (1942) . $523,786,450

Automobiles-Passenger (Marion Co., 1941)

136,571

Banks-Number of (3 national, 6 state, 6 trust) 15

Bank Resources (15 banks) $421,980,000

Bank Deposits (15 banks) $385,708,000

Area (34,316.8 acres)

INTRODUCTION

Bank Clearings (11 banks)

$1,287,249,000

Boulevards-Miles of 69.67

Building and Loan Associations-Number of. Resources

$55,556,063

Building and Electrical Permits-Number of (1941) Value Building and Electrical Permits .. $15,676,165 875

Buses (entering and leaving the city daily)

Carloadings (outbound)

148,491

Carloadings (inbound)

228,850

Churches, all denominations-Number of.

350

Climatic Data-Average January temperature 28.4 degrees Average July temperature. 75.7 degrees

Clubs-Luncheon

Clubs-Country

Electric Service Meters

146,103

Fire Hydrants-Number of.

6,193

Gas Mains

1,770 miles

Gas Meters

100,000 15

Golf Courses (18-hole) 5 municipal, 7 private, (9-hole) 1 municipal, 2 private Grain (handled through Board of Trade), Bushels-Wheat, 5,497,000; corn, 24,862,000; oats, 6,218,000; rye, 322,000; soy beans, 1,296,000; barley, 33,000 Hospitals (major) 1 U. S., 2 state, 1 city, 6 general. 10

Hotels 64

Latitude 39 degrees, 46 minutes, 10 seconds

Library-656,644 volumes-21 branches.

Live Stock Receipts-Hogs, 2,267,493; cattle, 321,068; calves, 152,464; sheep, 358,440

Longitude 86 degrees, .09 minutes, 45 seconds

Manufactured Products-Value, 1939. $294,511,708

Manufacturing Establishments, 1939

818

Metropolitan District Population (1940)

455,357

Monument-Soldiers' and Sailors'-Begun, 1887; completed, 1901; cost, $600,000 -284 feet 6 inches in height

Motion-Picture Houses

Park Acreage

3,211.37

Parks and Playgrounds (32 parks, 63 playgrounds)

Population

386,972

Post-Office Receipts (1941)

$4,998,559

Radio Broadcasting Stations-WIRE, WFBM, WISH and WIBC.

Radio Sets (1938, Marion County)

115,670

Railroads-6 systems

16 divisions

Residences-Number of in 1941 (104,725 houses; 15,275 apartment units) 120,000

Retail Stores-Number of in 1939 5,208

Schools-Public and parochial.

123

Sewers

634.44 miles

Sidewalks

673.72 miles

Street Car and Bus Lines (route miles of)

229.28

Street Lights-Number of 8,957

Streets 851.81 miles

$3.25

Telephones (January, 1942)

111,799

Theatres (legitimate, etc)

Trains-Passenger, entering and leaving city daily

150

Transient Population (estimated)

30,000

Union Station-all tracks elevated, covers 7 acres

Water Mains 719.18 miles

Water Meters (December, 1941)

83,618

Wholesalers and Jobbers-1939 census, number of. 487

Tax Rate (payable in 1942; Center Township)

17,907

Clubs-Down-town

INTRODUCTION

FACTS ABOUT INDIANA

Area: 36,045 square miles; ranks 37th in area among the states.

Indiana in 1816 became the nineteenth state.

State Flower: Zinnia.

State Tree: Tulip Tree.

State House built 1878-1888, at a cost of $1,980,969.

Vital Statistics-Births, 65,681; deaths, 39,530 (1941).

Population (1940) : 3,427,796; ranks 11th in United States.

Distribution: Males, 1,640,061; females, 1,598,442; native whites, 2,981,002; foreign-born whites, 105,898; Negroes, 111,982 (1930 Census).

Number of Families (1930 U. S. Census), 843,066.

Industry: Number of establishments, 4,337; number of wage-earners, 277,467; value of products, $2,227,648,011 (U. S. Census of Manufactures, 1939).

Products: Iron and steel products, automobile bodies and parts, railroad equipment, foundry and machine shop products, pharmaceuticals, hosiery, clothing, food and meat prod- ucts, radios and radio parts, etc. Chief industries: steel manufacture, photo-engraving, and manufacture of motor vehicles (1930 census).

Assessed Valuation of Taxable Property (1939) : $3,852,141,743.

Roads: 75,757 miles of roads (9,878 miles in the State Highway System, of which 8,686 miles are high-type paved).

Agriculture: Number of farms, 184,549; acreage, 19,800,778.

Center of population of United States near Carlisle, Sullivan County, Indiana (1940).

Prominent Indiana Statesmen: President Benjamin Harrison, Vice-Presidents Thomas R. Marshall, Charles W. Fairbanks, Thomas A. Hendricks and Schuyler Colfax, Senators Albert J. Beveridge and James E. Watson; Senator and Postmaster-General Harry S. New.

Present Governor-Henry F. Schricker (D).

THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

The one organization in a community which upholds the ideals of good citizenship, right living and active co-operation among individuals and organizations making up the city's life is the Chamber of Commerce. It surveys the community with a telescope to see the whole at once, and at the same time, with a microscope, to search out the details. It encourages and co-ordinates individual efforts, and takes its prominent place in all worth-while community activities. The Chamber of Commerce is the guide, philosopher and friend of the home city and the community. With this background in mind, any community must thoroughly realize that the efforts of community upbuilding tend toward evolution. It, therefore, becomes of the utmost importance to each of us to realize that the Chamber of Commerce is an organization through which public-spirited citizens in a community may express themselves collectively on questions of community welfare and through which they may make their collective desires effective. Cities do not happen- co-operation builds them. In business, as in life, he gets most out of it who gives most to it. The dividends are based on the investment.

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Polk's Indianapolis (Marion County, Ind.) city directory, 1942, Part 3

Author: Publication date: 1942 Publisher: R.L. Polk Number of Pages: 2252

Author:
Publication date: 1942
Publisher: R.L. Polk
Number of Pages: 2252