Downtown Indianapolis

Originally named Pratt Street after a prominent person in the neighborhood, Julius Pratt, who resided at 569 N Pennsylvania. In 1931 city council voted to rename the street to 9th as part of a street renumbering initiative. Originally, 10th was intended to be the lowest numbered street.

Our neighborhood was partially platted by James Morrison, developer and landowner. It's why homes in this 200-block of 10th & 11th streets list "Morrison's Addition" as their subdivision. An 1887 article in the Indianapolis Journal concerning a real estate boom shares, "Morrison's addition is also a favorite, and the unsold lots are going very rapidly. The two lots sold yesterday were bought by Arthur Jordan, who paid for them $2,300." Per details above, the street was originally named St. Mary street and by 1901 it was renamed to 10th street.

Prior to the 1900s, 11th Street was named Morrison St, after the landowner/platter W.H. Morrison mentioned in the 10th Street history. 

When Alexander Ralston made the plat for the town of Indianapolis in 1821, he named all but five streets (Washington, Meridian, Market, Circle, and Short) after states. If you're scratching your head, Washington didn't become a state until 1881 so that street was likely named after the President, not the state. Long story, short, there's no interesting backstory to the name of this street, except that it's named after a state. Same goes for bordering streets Delaware and Pennsylvania. Today, Alabama is the primary artery through our historic neighborhood, a favorite for cyclists and pedestrians, for its connection to the Cultural Trail.

North Delaware St used to be residential and full of stately homes. By 1941 there's evidence of massive lot clearing along Delaware for commercial use, so it's seen the most change of any street.

Fort Wayne Ave has always been heavily commercial. Fort Wayne and Central Ave followed a path previously used as a state road to the city of Fort Wayne, Allisonville & Fall Creek Free Gravel Road. St. Clair is believed to be named for Arthur St. Clair, first governor of the Northwest Territory (present day Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan & Wisconsin). There is a historical marker about him by Central Library.

It's been touched on a bit already but Rev. Edward F. Sorin, founder of the University of Notre Dame, platted Sorin's subdivision in 1850 and named St. Joseph and St. Mary streets. St. Mary was renamed to 10th street by the turn of the 20th century. As you stroll along St. Joseph, you're seeing the closest glimpse of the beginnings of the neighborhood with several structures dating to the early 1860-70s inclusive of the Israel Traub store and Bals-Wocher home at the ends of the block. Our neighborhood's name comes from this street.

 Indianapolis has experienced several population booms over its history. By 1920, there was a big need to offer more housing, particularly affordable options. Pennsylvania street is the best example in our neighborhood of this shift in needs. Formerly it was lined with single-family homes. Starting in the early 1900s, families were choosing to have their family homes demolished and replaced with income-producing properties, drastically changing the landscape by the 1920s. They aimed to capitalize on the boom in apartment and multi-family housing construction in the city. The Lodge is the first example of this conversion. The Sylvania and The Cathcart (on 9th) are also examples. The Calvin I. Fletcher house is the last remaining example of the street's former life.