L3Harris Fort Wayne once again played a role in the launch of Earth's newest weather satellite Tuesday! Read about the part the company developed, learn about the satellite, and discover future satellite technology on the way by clicking below. #15Fury
January 9, 2013 Lafayette Place Historic District on Fort Wayne’s south side was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Lafayette Place is bounded roughly by Lafayette Street on the east, Calhoun Street on the west, McKinnie Avenue on the north and Pettit Avenue on the south. The Lafayette Place Historic District is significant in architecture, landscape architecture and community planning, the ARCH news release said. Read more Lafayette Place neighborhood named to National Register of Historic Places It was one of three districts nominated by local group ARCH that received listing approval by News-Sentinel staff reports, January 19, 2013.
Lake Shore Hotel
Was located at the intersection of Cass Street and Wells Street just North of the Wells Street Bridge. Photo posted August 8, 2019 by Hofer Davis Surveyors on Facebook.
Landmark Building
In 1924, on 8 acres of land the Fort Wayne Hospital and Sanitarium, at 1640 Spy Run Avenue was established by Doctor Stamets. See biography of Henry Stamets, M.D. in Indiana, One Hundred and Fifty Years of American Development, Volume 3. The building is now the Shepherd’s House. Lonnie Cox the executive director of the Shepard's House posted a Comment stating: The building you're talking about is now the Shepherds House property, a transitional living center primarily for veterans suffering from alcohol/ drug issues many with symptoms from PTSD and some non vets with the same. When we bought the building it was called the Landmark and served as an office building. It was originally built as the "Knight Mansion", a very prominent, in today's dollars, billionaire family. The Knights were the parents of movie star Carole Lombard's mother, in fact somewhere there's an old newspaper article describing the beautiful wedding of her and Carole's father in the parlor, which is now our office. At some point later it was turned into a holistic hospital. I'm not sure of the date but it was eventually bought by contractor J. R. Miller and Nancy ("Honeytree") Miller who upgraded the building to code then sold to Greg Pelosi for office space, which it remained until we bought it. I had heard that at one time there was a horse racetrack where the apartment buildings are next door that extended all the way down to the river. There was a lot of historical action going on around that area in the old days...the old house across the street was the home of Fort Wayne's first mayor, the whole area was the battlegrounds with the early Indian tribe and also many Indian burial grounds throughout. when it was discussed September 14, 2018 on You are positively from Fort Wayne, if you remember... Archived group only visible to existing members on Facebook.
Lanternier-Vesey Flowers
On Crescent Avenue, now closed, could trace its history in Fort Wayne back to 1854. Before the Allen County Courthouse downtown was built, before the old City Hall building on East Berry Street was even a notion, before the Cathedral was planned and even before Lindenwood Cemetery took in its first grave, there was a florist in Fort Wayne called Lanternier. Word has it that the floral business was started by a family from France, and it was at one point on Calhoun Street. In time, Lanternier bought out a florist named Vesey and eventually it ended up in a little building on Crescent Avenue near State Boulevard. Read the rest of their story Wilting business ends Lanternier’s 158 years by Frank Gray of The Journal Gazette newspaper published September 9, 2012. Lantenier - Vesey Flowers - December 23, 1914 Fort Wayne News Christmas rose newspaper advertisement when Vesey's was at 2602 Thompson Avenue fromthe original Great Memories and History of Fort Wayne, Indiana page on Facebook.
LaSalle Inn
LaSalle Inn, on Facebook, with Sion Bass House - Bed and Breakfast - the historic 1842 home of Fort Wayne’s most celebrated Civil War hero Sion Bass, has been added to the LaSalle B&B Inn. Fort Wayne’s only bed and breakfast. LaSalle Bed & Breadkfast - occupies 2 buildings: The Thomas Snook House and the Sion Bass House. Located side by side in the 500 block of W. Washington Blvd.
Lassus Brothers Oil
From 1925 and 2018 on their History Timeline page: Lassus Brothers Oil evolved in 1925, when August Lassus decided to sell his coal business in order to build a gas station at one of Fort Wayne’s busiest intersections. Within three years he turned the reins over to his three sons Elmer, August Jr. and William, who added gas stations around town, hired mechanics to service cars, and eventually created a wholesale fuel oil distribution division. As of June 2018, there are 36 Lassus Handy Dandy Food Stores in Northeast Indiana and Northwest Ohio, and five Lassus affiliates, providing quality fuel and convenience to the neighborhoods and communities surrounding them. Discussed December 5, 2024 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook.
Page 557 in The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River by Griswold, B. J. (Bert Joseph), 1873-1927, league baseball park on Calhoun street, north of Superior street. The Baseball field was located where Headwaters Park and county jail, formerly Jailhouse Flats, are today between the confluence of the three rivers, Superior and Clinton Streets. A wooden structure was erected at the park in 1883. Rebuilt several times, the place received a major overhaul in 1908 with new grandstands and a grass infield. After the damage caused by the Great Flood of 1913, additional restoration was required. It was readied as a host park for semi-pro Central League teams, including the Lifers when they moved up to a minor league status. That 1927 exhibition season, League Park’s grandstand was filled with more than 3,000 fans, occupying all sitting and standing room. Enthusiastic Fort Wayne fans streamed in, eager to witness high drama from Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and the other Yankee legends. The fans were not disappointed, as they sensed Babe’s charge into the annals of American history. Copied from Babe Ruth: A Big Hit in Fort Wayne by
Tom Castaldi, local historianpublished August 24, 2016 on Indiana Historical Bureau blog. The last two of Fort Wayne’s 12 major-league games were played at League Park in 1902. These American League regular-season contests were played in Fort Wayne, Indiana, by the Cleveland Bronchos in order to circumvent the Sunday blue laws in Cleveland.
Photos of a stone with a plaque about the June 2, 1883 was posted March 13, 2022 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook. A monument was funded at and placed by Poinsatte Motors. Geoff Paddock when asked where the monument plaque is now said he believes it was taken away during land prep for Headwaters Park.
Photos of a Poinsatte Chrysler Plymouth pamphlet on their 50th anniversary showing a commemorative plaque in a bolder at 200 South Clinton Street posted April 17, 2024 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook. Comments include night baseball newspaper stories June 3, 1883 Fort Wayne Daily Gazette page 8 Under the Midnight Sun and September 20, 1880 Experiment with Electric Lights The Recorder, Greenfield, Massachusetts, page 1.
WILL CLASH WITH LINCOLN LIFERS IN EXHIBITION GAME AT LEAGUE PARK
Appearance of McGraw's Famous Major Leaguers, Now In Desperate Fight for Pennant Honors of National, Will Prove Rare Treat for Fans of These Parte; Monster Crowd Predicted
Baseball fans of these their parts who have been following the fortunes of New York Giants in recent spurt pennantward will in the announcement made last night to the effect that negotiations have been closed for their appearance at League park on Wednesday, August 18, in an exhibition game against the Lincoln Lifes.
Manager Cleary has been keeping the mails and wires hot these past several weeks in an effort to make good his word given out previous to the game with the Philadelphia Athletics to the effect that if the fans showed by their support of the big time attractions that they really desired them he would exert himself to get them here. The closing with the Giants is the second big league club now booked here the Philadelphia Nationals, with Ralph Miller, local star, at third, being scheduled for League park on September 1, and there'll be others, declared Cleary, if the fans turn out in sufficient numbers at these.
August 18 1920 Giants defeated the Lifers 3-1 at League Park which is currently the west side of Headwaters Park. Attendance was 2,000
The Giants finished second in the National League that season.
The “ rest of the story “ here. There were 5 future MLB hall of famers at this game
Giants manager John McGraw
Giants 1baseman George Kelly
Giants third baseman Frankie Frisch
Giants pitching coach Christy Mathewson
Giants 2 baseman in the game who actually was a coach not a full time player Johnny Evers. You may remember him from the Cubs infield of Tinker to Evers to Chance fame.
Built in 1990, 105-117 W. Wayne Street and 904 S. Calhoun Street. The site of the Lillie Building was once home to many well-recognized local establishments including Azar’s restaurant, Greenblatt’s Furs, and M&N Shoe Store. See Lillie Building history with photos and timeline on midtowncrossing.net.
Lima Road
People sometimes wonder why it's called Lima Road, also known as Indiana State Route 3? Looking at a map it shows Lima Road goes north from Fort Wayne through Kendallville to Howe, Indiana. Shortly after 1834 the town was settled in an area known as Mongoquinong by the Potawatomi Indians a name given to the prairie in northeastern Indiana. Sometime after 1834 it became know as Lima, an 1876 atlas map shows the name as Lima, and sometime before 1884 was renamed for John B. Howe a local banker. So Lima Road north out of Fort Wayne used to go to Lima, now it goes to Howe, Indiana.
Was headquartered in Fort Wayne until 2008. Lincoln National Bank founded in 1905, received written permission from the late president’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln, to use Lincoln’s image as its logo. The The Journal Gazette newspaper was founded in 1863 to provide an editorial voice in support of Abraham Lincoln and the ideals for which he stood. Abe Lincoln grew up in Spencer County, Indiana from age 7 to 21 from Abe Lincoln's enduring Hoosier legacy at 150 years published April 14, 2015 in The Journal Gazette newspaper now on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
They completed their new building in 1923. The Abraham Lincoln “Hoosier Youth” statue, cast in Belgium, was unveiled in 1932. See early photo posted August 11, 2017 on Fort Wayne Food Tours.
For decades Indiana’s tallest building. Construction of the Lincoln Tower began in October 1929 and was completed in November 1930. At 22 stories and 312 feet tall, it was Indiana’s tallest building. Lincoln National Bank and Trust was chartered as The German American National Bank in 1905. During World War I, anti-German sentiment was running high and therefore on May 31, 1918, the German American National Bank became Lincoln National Bank. Shortly after Lincoln National Bank and Trust was formed, President Charles Buesching commissioned a skyscraper to serve as headquarters for the new bank. Buesching considered it to be a monument to the German immigrants who settled the Fort Wayne area at the turn of the 20th century and formed the backbone of his investors, depositors, and customers. Buesching himself was a German immigrant. Read more on Lincoln Bank Tower on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
For "Throwback Thursday" we share this picture of the groundbreaking for the Lincoln Tower Building. If you look closely, in the upper left you can make out the Allen County Courthouse Building. BTW..Hofer and Davis Inc. provided many surveys of the bank including surveys by Carl A. Hofer in 1960 and 1985, by William S. Davis in 1991 and Hans C. Hofer in 2005.
It's #waybackwednesday! This photo of the German American National Bank in Fort Wayne is dated 1907. At this time the President was S. M. Foster, Theo. Wentz, 1st Vice Pres., H. C. Berghoff, Cashier, C. F. Pfeiffer, 2nd Vice Pres., Geo. Waldschmidt, Asst. Cash. Capital $200,000.
Flashback Friday! The Lincoln Tower in Fort Wayne, IN, was built by Hagerman, then known as The Buesching-Hagerman Company. Construction began in late 1929, and the building opened in November 1930.
A local history collector recently gifted us with photos of the construction. The photos are dated, allowing us to see the progression of construction.
A number of buildings have changed or left us since this image was taken from atop of the Lincoln Tower in 1966. At extreme left-center are houses and buildings sitting on the block bounded by Washington, Jefferson, Lafayette and Barr where the Sheraton Hotel would be built three years later in 1969. The Sheraton was rebranded as the Holiday Inn in 1980, and became the Lamplite Inn, a senior-living community in 2011.
Above that block is St. Mary’s church at the southeast corner of Lafayette and Jefferson — sadly lost on September 2, 1993 due to a lighting strike and the resulting fire. The Gothic Revival church was built during 1886-87 of red brick and sandstone and had been placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Across the street from the church sits St. Mary’s School, erected in 1902-3 which included a gym, bowling alleys and library. Closed in 1963, it reopened as an experimental inner-city school in 1964, and then became Fort Wayne’s first Montessori pre-school in 1968. The building was razed in 1969 and is now Burger King’s parking lot.
At upper extreme right is St. Paul’s on Barr between Lewis and Jefferson. Constructed in 1889, a basement fire destroyed the church 14 years later in December 1903. The base of the church was able to be saved and the magnificent building was replicated on the same foundation less than two years later in 1905. Three previous Lutheran
churches had occupied this site dating back to the first having been built on these grounds in 1839.
Moving down Barr we come to the YMCA at the southwest corner of Barr and Jefferson. This $300,000. building, completed in 1919, had previously been the site of Hope Hospital, a precursor to Parkview Hospital. In 1985, the today’s Central YMCA was built just to the south of the pictured building and the old building was razed becoming a parking lot.
Moving west from the “Y” stands the Neoclassical Revival Masonic Temple. Designed by local architect Charles Weatherhogg, it was completed in 1926 as a replacement for the imposing Masonic Temple Theatre that had burned down in 1923 at the northeast corner of Clinton and Wayne Streets (site of today’s Citizen’s Square). The new ten-story Indiana Bedford Limestone edifice cost over $1M to build. To its right at the southeast corner of Washington and Clinton is the Scottish Rite Cathedral. This Gothic Revival sandstone building was designed by the Fort Wayne architects Mahurin & Mahurin and was completed in 1909. Featuring a 1,200-seat auditorium, it was razed in 1960 and is now a parking lot.
Coming north across the street is Indiana Bank and the attached City Parking Garage with its circular ramp. Built in 1957, this building replaced the First Presbyterian Church which had been at that site from 1886 until 1956 when they moved into their new building at 300 W. Wayne at Webster. Three additional stories were added to the building beginning in 1966. Indiana Bank merged with Peoples Trust Bank in 1983 forming the resulting Summit Bank. This building is now the Archbishop Noll Catholic Center.
A tip of the hat to then 16 year old Greg Mitchell for capturing this wonderful image in 1966, and now letting me share it
with you 52 years later.
Randy Harter is a Fort Wayne historian, author of three books on local history, and the history/architecture guide for Fort Wayne Food Tours.com
The German-American National Bank was chartered in 1905 on Court Street, the former site of which is now part of the Courthouse Green. The founders, Samuel Foster and Ohio banker Theodore Wentz, set upon the venture of becoming at that time the ninth bank in Fort Wayne. Just 14 years later in 1918, as a result of World War I’s strong anti-German sentiment, the bank changed its name to the patriotic sounding Lincoln National Bank, capitalizing on the thriving insurance company right down the street — also founded in 1905, and Samuel Foster was also the president.
In 1928 Lincoln National Bank merged with the Lincoln Trust Company (formerly the Strauss Brothers Commercial Bank) to become Lincoln National Bank and Trust Company. The following year in 1929, Charles Buesching, who as a teenager had been employed by the bank as messenger boy, became president of Lincoln and commissioned a skyscraper a mere half block away at 116 E. Berry for the institution’s new home. Ground broke in August, 60 days before the stock market crashed in October 1929. Despite the nation’s financial catastrophe, work continued on the $1.2M building, which was completed the following year in 1930. Adjusted for inflation, that would equate to nearly a $20M building project today. Lincoln not only survived the depression, but thrived, becoming the area’s largest bank of that era.
The 22-story building at a height of 312 feet dwarfed all other buildings in town and in fact reigned as the tallest building in Indiana until the 1960’s. Designed by the Cleveland firm of Walker and Weeks, it was based in part on elements of the Tribune Tower in Chicago. Local architect Alvin M. Strauss was hired as the associate architect for the project. The still beautiful art-deco building incorporates Indiana Limestone, Vermont marble, Italian travertine marble, Milford granite, Terra Cotta, hand wrought bronze and bronze panels, remaining unquestionably one our city’s architectural gems.
After losing money for several years, Lincoln Bank was acquired by Norwest Bank out of Minneapolis in 1993. In 1995 Norwest moved the former Lincoln offices to their new headquarters at 111 E. Wayne at Calhoun streets, and then in 1998 they merged with Wells Fargo. While Norwest was the larger of the two banks, the feeling was that nationally Wells Fargo had a stronger name, and so our Lincoln/Norwest Bank was renamed Wells Fargo in 2000.
As for the Lincoln Tower, in 1998 John Tippmann, Sr. acquired it and had it widely refurbished. Tippmann and a group of local investors that included Keith Busse, Don Schenkel, Craig Hartman, Mike Mirro, Maury O’Daniel, Rick Tomkinson, Pete Eshelman and a few others formed Tower Bank in 1999 and moved into Lincoln Bank’s former tower offices. Tower Bank was then acquired in 2014 by Old National Bank, of Evansville, who remain in the Lincoln Tower at 116 E. Berry Street to this day. (Image courtesy ACPL)
Randy Harter is a Fort Wayne historian, author, and the guide for Fort Wayne Food Tours.
All right everybody, it's hard to believe it has been a month since the record setting "mega viral" posting regarding last month's Safety question! So here we go again with our latest Hofer and Davis,Inc. LAND SURVEYORS "Riddle of the Month" This picture was taken in 1929 by A.K. Hofer, company founder, of a high rise under construction in downtown Fort Wayne. What is the name of this building?
These poor pictures are of the plaque located across the street from the Lincoln Tower. The bank was originally started as the German-American Bank of Fort Wayne in 1905. The bank changed its name in 1918.
On Goshen Road. Often listed as 1422 which is a short distance west of the location shown in the maps below. Perhaps 1422 was the mailing address of the office rather than the location of the movie screen? See more Drive-ins.
The Lincolndale Drive-In was located near Franke Park. It opened on September 11, 1953 with George Montgomery in “Jack McCall Desperado” & Sterling Hayden in “Flat Top”. It was operated by United Film Booking Services. It was closed on September 8, 1979. From Lincolndale Drive-In at Cinema Treasures. Comment: rivest266, rivest266 on April 24, 2024 at 7:43 am. Closed September 8th, 1979, and the owners moved its screen to the new Lincolndale Drive-In in Warsaw in mid-1980. Article posted. [ article not found ]. Lincolndale Drive-In US 30 East, Warsaw, IN lipalarp, lipalarp on May 4, 2011 at 7:32 pm. My father built and owned the Lincolndale.He bought the Lincolndale Drive-in in Fort Wayne and the Peru Drive in and combined the best of the equipment to build the Warsaw Lincolndale. It died with his death.
Today, Mayor Tom Henry, city officials, and developer Barrett & Stokely held a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the construction of The Lofts at Headwaters Park. Read more: http://bit.ly/41jh1IB
Today, Mayor Tom Henry, city officials, and developer Barrett & Stokely held a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the construction of The Lofts at Headwaters Park.
The Genealogy Center just added "Log Cabins in Allen County, Indiana" collection into our digital library!
Pictured: The 1849 Log Cabin on the grounds of the Swinney House (listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981). The Log Cabin on the property is much like the one the Swinney family lived in before the stately house was built in 1845. It was laboriously moved, piece by piece, from Huntington County, and is used for historical activities and presentations.
Demise of an Old Log Cabin torn down August 31, 2012 by Sue Downey, page 106, published in the Allen County Lines June 2013 issue in the Members Only section on ACGSI.org is one of over 100 "hits" when searching for "log cabin" on the site.
The House that Nathan Coleman Built by Patricia Prascsak. Nathan Coleman is one of Allen County’s early settlers arriving about the year 1827, coming from Shelby County, Ohio mentions a log cabin built on his property on page 52 of Allen County Lines December 2014 issue in the Members Only section on ACGSI.org is one of over 100 "hits" when searching for "log cabin" on the site.
Students and teachers reunion who attended this log cabin school house in 1850-1860. The schoolhouse is located 1 1/2 miles from Wallen on the corner of Wallen Rd and Fritz Rd. The picture was taken in around 1900 but was part of a newspaper article in 1910. Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel article: Allen County District Schools and Some Pioneer Teachers. Article included picture of former students of "A Pioneer School House of Allen County, built in 1839". Joseph D. Griswold is last row; third from right. His brother, R. Ashley Griswold is in back row; second from left. Rebecca Ann Opliger-Ervin in in front row; second from left............Upper Row ( left to right.............John Sunderland, R. Ashley Griswold, Luther C. Pratt, Joseph Sunderland, Joseph D. Griswold, August Racine, Samuel Karriger.......Lower Row ( left to right ).....Mrs. John Schuler ( Martha Zern ), Mrs. Rebecca Ervin ( Rebecca Ann Opliger ) Mrs. David Petit ( Lena A Racine ), Mrs. Christian F. Hostman (Cecilia M. Racine), Frederick Racine, Celia Racine, Mrs. Sophia Boschet, Mrs. John Cook ( Mary Malinda Moore ), Mrs. Ann E. Maring ( Ann Elizabeth Griswold Petit Maring ) Ida Racine.
September 21, 2019 post of the News-Sentinel Guest Column: Allen County courts history dates back 195 years by Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana on Facebook. The first line from article that is no longer online says: Our first Allen County court was held in a primitive log cabin tavern at the corner of Superior and Barr streets.
The Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society historic marker: Barr And Columbia Where Allen County Began states: The first meetings and elections were all held in Alexander Ewing's log tavern, known as “Washington Hall,” located on the corner of the muddy intersection of Barr and Columbia streets. Ewing's Tavern was the first to be built in Fort Wayne, with a rival tavern being constructed shortly thereafter by William Suttenfield on the opposite corner. The first circuit courts in the county sat alternately in each tavern until a courthouse could be built. The first grand jury sat at Ewing's Tavern in August, followed by the first session of the circuit court and the first election of justices of the peace.
History of Besancon France & Besancon, Indiana Researched & Written by Michael R. Morow Presented by Mary Jane Novosel to the Rosary Sodality Feb.23 2019 in Besancon Historical Society The Chronicles ISSUE 69 Volume 2 Winter 2019.
On a cold winter night in the 18th century, the bed warmer must have been a welcome tool. This bed warmer propped against the wall has a brass chamber, which held hot coals. The long, wooden handle allowed the filled warmer to be placed between the sheets and moved back and forth across the bed. It provided the comfort of slipping into a warm bed in the days before there was central heating.
Object: rope bed
Location: 1813 Lewisburg Log House [ Ohio ]
Time Period: est. 1800-1860 (if you are able to help us narrow this time frame, please leave a comment below!)
Today Helga and Anastasia are checking out our handmade rope bed! “Rope beds were invented in the 16th century and fell out of fashion quickly after the invention of the coil spring mattress in 1865” (Sleep Tight, Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite – A Myth DebunkedLibraries Indiana University Bloomington shows a similar rope bed ). After reading the attached article from IU Bloomington, the collections team came to realize that “good night, sleep tight” — a common phrase attributed to tightening ropes on rope beds — is actually a myth! We apologize to everyone we told this to! Everyday we come to learn more and more phrases attributed to various objects and practices which aren’t true! History is constantly being revised, and it’s okay to make mistakes in your research!
Today's "What's It Wednesday" post is a two-for-one, since I apparently messed up and didn't schedule last week's draft post to be published. The first picture is a rope bed from the 1830s–1840s, with the mattress pulled back to show the ropes. The other two photos show some of the books from Henry and Gustave Wyneken's personal libraries (F. C. D. Wyneken's son and grandson, respectively).
At least eight Lustron houses were built in Fort Wayne. Between the years of 1948 and 1950, the Lustron Corporation produced porcelain- enameled steel, prefabricated houses in response to the post-World War II housing shortage in the United States. Despite being heavily funded by the federal government, inadequate start-up cost estimates, production and construction problems, and design deficiencies eventually resulted in the failure of the Lustron Corporation after producing just 2,680 houses. Approximately 187 of those were built in Indiana. Copied from April 18, 2018 Facebook post by ARCH ( Architecture and Community Heritage).These steel-and-ceramic dwellings still stand, more than 60 years later by Patrick Sisson in Lustrons: Building an American Dream House by Aria Danaparamita at National Trust for Historic Preservation. Lustron Homes, the ‘50s prefabs that were ahead of their time published October 10, 2016 on Curbed.com. Sometimes confused with Sears homes. They came with an assembly manual and a serial number. See Rebuilding a Prefab Home in the Indiana Dunes One family’s journey to resurrecting a mid-century Lustron for their vacation home. Posted on February 28, 2019 by Indiana Landmarks.
There is an August 2, 2010 Indiana MPS Lustron Houses in Indiana 28-page document in the National Archives Catalog for the NRHP National Registry of Historic Places National Park Service. For anyone wondering why Lustron quit making houses, on page 7 of the 28 page document it states: Standlund had projected the plant could produce 100 houses per day, but even at its best, the plant produced only 26 per day, and 50 per day were needed just to break even. On page 10 it states: it is estimated that approximately 187 Lustrons were built in Indiana, about 180 of which are still standing. It is known that, according to Lustron shipping records, 142 houses had been shipped to locations in Indiana by December 31,1949. ... The majority of Lustron models built in Indiana were the 2-bedroom, Westchester Deluxe, which is not surprising since this was the best-selling model for the company. ... Two Indiana Lustron homes are individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) [one in Chesterton, another in Indianapolis]. Page 17 shows floor plans and a photo of a 2-bedroom Westchester Deluxe model. Fort Wayne, IN (photo by Jill Downs).
#66 - 415 West Maple Grove near Fairfield and Hoagland on the south side of the block. The Lustron registry listed it in 2008 as blue-green. Google Street View map
#67 - 2510 Oakridge Road, Serial Number: 1723, off of State (Brookview Terrace) is listed in the National Register. It's a contributing house in the Brookview--Irvington Park Historic District. From Creager Smith April 29, 2022 comment on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook. The Lustron registry listed it in 2008 as gray with a 1 car garage. Google Street View map.
#68 - 3214 Parnell Avenue The Lustron registry listed it in 2008 as blue-green. Google Street View map.
#69 - 1133 Somerset Lane, Serial Number 1721, off Parnell. The Lustron registry listed it in 2008 as gray. Google Street View map.
#70 - 4105 Webster Street, between W. Rudisill and Lexington. The Lustron registry listed it in 2008 as tan. Google Street View map.
#206 4127 Rosewood Drive, Serial Number 835, on corner of Aboite Center Road and Rosewood Drive was disassembled for removal to Ohio. Unknown if reassembled. The Lustron registry listed it in 2008 as tan. Google Street View map.
Why people thought steel houses were a good idea posted Mar 29, 2022 by Vox on YouTube
Shared May 13, 2022 by Heritage Documentation Programs, NPS on Facebook It was supposed to be the future of housing. What went wrong? Why aren’t homes made of steel? In the late 1940s, one company posed that question. Lustron was a prefabricated home that was supposed to be the future of housing. So why did it fail? For just a few years — 1947 to 1950 — the Columbus, Ohio-based Lustron represented the future of housing. Using a steel frame and porcelain enamel-covered steel panels, Lustron made homes in a factory and shipped them around the country. Vox’s Phil Edwards visited a Lustron home just outside Dayton, Ohio, to experience the unusual features, like magnetic walls, for himself. This home’s quirks weren’t relegated to the materials. Through a combination of government funding sources, an attempt to reinvent the production cycle for home, and a unique distribution plan, the Lustron home helps explain how housing does — and doesn’t — work in America. See the video YouTubepage for suggested publications for more information.
Moved to West Jefferson Boulevard in 1992. By March 5, 2001 the last of the old hospital was torn down. Lutheran celebrating 30 years of doing heart transplants by Jennifer L. Boen was published July 13, 2015 in the
The News-Sentinel newspaper. Old 1920s Lutheran Hospital was on Fairfield Avenue. Oakdale History: Lutheran Hospital Lutheran Hospital, 1913, Demolished 2000 is a good history with timeline by the Historic Oakdale Neighborhood Association. Photo of 1905 cornerstone posted May 26, 2018 on Facebook by Wunderkammer Company.
Lutheran Hospital - by
Randy Harter, Fort Wayne historian and authorwho gave permission in 2017 to repost his articles.
This article was written for and is courtesy of Fort Wayne Reader newspaper where it was published February 3, 2018.
The Lutheran Hospital Association was organized by area Lutheran congregations in 1903 under the leadership of its director, the Reverend Philip Wambsganss. The association then purchased the former 21-room brick residence of Judge Lindley Ninde on Fairfield at Wildwood Avenues and remodeled it to accommodate 25 patient beds with the resulting dedication being held on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1904. Three months later an addition was already in the planning that would bring the hospital’s size to 75 rooms by 1906. In 1953, the original structure was entirely replaced when a $3-million project allowed for the construction of an entirely new hospital with a capacity of over 300 patients, which was dedicated in 1956. Over the years a number of further facility expansions continued to take place on the hospital’s 12-acre site.
In 1981, the hospital, landlocked on Fairfield Avenue, purchased substantial acreage at I-69 and US 24 with the intention of someday constructing a new hospital at that location. Six years later, in 1987, the announcement was made that the first phase of the new facility’s construction was ready to commence. At a cost of $92million, the new Lutheran Hospital was completed in 1992 and the final move from Fairfield Avenue to 7950 W. Jefferson Blvd took place.
In 1995, Quorum of Brentwood, TN bought Lutheran for $137millon. This sale resulted in the emergence of The Lutheran Foundation , which has invested and grown the proceeds since, thus far disbursing over $162million to faith and health & wellness based activities over a 10 county area in Northeast Indiana. Even with these distributions, in 2016, the Foundation held assets of over $200million.
The sale of Lutheran Hospital to Quorum did not include the hospital’s old 425,000 sq. ft. facilities on Fairfield Avenue, for which the foundation strived to find a new use. Finally, with no buyers in sight, the old hospital was razed in 2000, the grounds landscaped, and then reborn as Lutheran Park and Gardens in 2006. The only building left standing on the former hospital grounds, the original Duemling Clinic (small rectangular building pictured at the southwest corner of Fairfield and Home Avenue) is now The Lutheran Foundation’s offices.
After buying Lutheran, Quorum went on to purchase St. Joe Hospital in 1998. With St. Joe’s purchase came Dupont Medical Center, which had been built in 1990 on the 125 acres at I-69 and Dupont Road that St. Joe had purchased in 1984 for future healthcare expansion. From this site later evolved Dupont Hospital, whose groundbreaking then took place in 2000. Dallas-based Triad Hospitals then acquired Quorum (who owned a number of hospitals and health care facilities in addition to Lutheran/St. Joe/Dupont) in 2001 for $2.4billion. Then in 2007, Community Health Systems (CHS) of Franklin, TN purchased Triad, which included Lutheran Health Network, for $5.1billion, and who as of this writing remains the current owner.
(ca. 1985 Image Courtesy HPC/ACPL) Image is posted on both articles linked above.
Join us on Jan. 29 for a celebration of 25 years since Lutheran College of Health Professions became part of the University of Saint Francis! An open house from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Doermer Family Center for Health Science Education showcasing Indiana’s first fully immersive learning laboratory will be followed by a 7:30 p.m. lecture by Mike Schatzlein, M.D., former CEO of Lutheran Health Network at the Robert Goldstine Performing Arts Center. For more information, visit go.sf.edu/futureofhealthcare.
Lyric Theatre
Opened October 12, 1908 at 1014 South Calhoun Street as a home to vaudeville acts and movies. By 1929 it was operating as the Riley Theatre a burlesque place. Around 1942 it was renamed Wayne Theatre and was still open in 1955, but had closed by 1956, then was torn down in the 1960s. The downtown Hilton Hotel now stands on the site. From a colored postcard Wayne Theatre 1014 S. Calhoun Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802 with comments on CinemaTreasures.com. A Lyric Theatre postcard is at CardCow.com. page 26 of the book Fort Wayne by Randolph L. Harter.
An open house from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Doermer Family Center for Health Science Education showcasing Indiana’s first fully immersive learning laboratory will be followed by a 7:30 p.m. lecture by Mike Schatzlein, M.D., former CEO of