Bert J. Griswold was born in 1873 in Osage, Iowa, and died in Fort Wayne in 1927. A gifted illustrator and cartoonist, he came to Fort Wayne in 1902, working for the Fort Wayne Daily News and the Fort Wayne Sentinel. He later left the newspaper to establish his own advertising agency. In the course of his work as a reporter and cartoonist, he developed a deep interest in the history of Fort Wayne and Allen County. He also became a prominent advocate for the City Beautiful Movement, which worked for the establishment of local parks and boulevard improvements. Griswold wrote short columns for the newspaper about area pioneers and historic buildings, and his efforts culminated in 1917 in the publication of the two-volume Pictorial History of Fort Wayne.
The five oldest buildings in Fort Wayne, Indiana, are all listed on the National Register of Historic Places - NPS....
City Directories explain early city history often year to year changes in government, businesses, schools, and streets (including name changes) and where people were working and living each year. We have City Directories from the first one in 1858 thru the 1920s and a few 1930s and 1940s digitized online at Archive.org from the collection at the
The Genealogy Center at the
Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The library has all the directories through the present year for Fort Wayne and many other cities. You can search for words and names in each digital directory much easier than in the printed books. Most of the early history books are also digitized and many of them are on our ebooks page. Lots of interesting trivia on many subjects are on our Timeline pages.
Fort Wayne: Lost But Not Forgotten from WFWA-TV39 PBS Fort Wayne Special | 56m 52s Explore Fort Wayne's rich history of past places. Aired: 01/01/97 Rating: NR. "From the Gardner's restaurant to the old Greyhound bus station; hotels, theaters and other places are remembered fondly. Using first-person narratives along with many archival photographs and other visual records, 'Fort Wayne Lost (But Not Forgotten)' gives you and your family a look at places that might not be here phyysically, but that still hold a special place in our hearts--and our history." DVD at Allen County Public Library.
Landmarks: Remembering Fort WayneWFWA-TV39 PBS Fort Wayne Special | 56m 2s Learn about the history of past and present Fort Wayne landmarks. Aired: 03/13/00 Rating: NR. Discusses the memorable buildings--some of them now gone--in downtown Fort Wayne. Interviews with residents provide historical and architectural insight. DVD or VHS at Allen County Public Library.
An array of new developments is also making new marks on the city. They include but are not limited to: The Pearl, a mixed-use space on Main Street; The Riverfront at Promenade Park, another mixed-use facility; new additions to the Riverfront; The Wedge, a mixed-use residential building; Star Financial Bank headquarters; The Lofts at Headwaters Park; Lutheran Downtown Hospital; and The Bradley hotel.
Fort Wayne was founded in 1794 and was incorporated as a city in 1840âDowntown and other parts of the city have expanded and evolved over the years. They have formed and are still forming a cohesive whole.
But that’s not to say that the city’s growth has been or should be without strategy. It is not an accident that many older buildings in Fort Wayne have stood the test of time, that new developments are being built to last, and that there is synergy between old and new.
Reminder: Our "Vanished Landmarks" lecture, presented by ARCH Board President, Karen Richards, is tomorrow at the Downtown Library, Globe Room, 11a.m. Come hear about downtown mansions, Fort Wayne parks, former breweries, and more; this is a lecture you will not want to miss.
People complain so much about parking and then get upset when buildings are demolished for parking. It canât be both ways. Posted May 17, 2022 is one of nearly 100 comments and 400 Likes to this image posted May 16, 2022 by
Randy Harter, Fort Wayne historian and authoron True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook.
Labeled 1889 buildings downtown posted May 16, 2022 by
Randy Harter, Fort Wayne historian and authoron True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook Several of you (as well as myself) have lamented over buildings that are being razed in Fort Wayne to build something we feel is less desirable or needed at the cost of the former structure. Often we are disappointed because we have a nostalgic emotional attachment to the building or business that it once housed. And, sometimes it just appears to us that the building should be able to be rehabbed for its next use rather than leveled as the current owner or developer feels is appropriate. Other times weâre dispirited based of our perception due to our being the outsiders looking in without all the facts that only owners, contractors and developers have at hand. As recently mentioned by some of you, some buildings canât be practically saved due to age and condition regardless of how they appear. As a longtime student of local history I among many of you have at times felt betrayed when a wonderful old building suddenly disappears. However, to impinge the reputation of those that are doing the razing and rebuilding simply due to they being able to afford to do so makes little sense as in many cases our city is fortunate to have their generous support across a wide range of meaningful local causes.
As an example of our (for better or worse) always changing skyline, recently some members of the Fort Wayne History Roundtable labeled this wonderful view taken in 1889 from the bell tower of St. Paulâs Church on Barr Street. If youâre able to read the small print youâll see that we were only able to find two identifiable buildings in the entire view that are still standing out of the dozens in the photograph. These are the building on S. Calhoun that now house the Dash-In and its neighbor to the north that most recently housed Klinger Jewelry. As best we can tell every one of the other buildings in the photo has been razed for one reason or another, even once glorious churches. One of you paraphrased in a recent post the quote âWhen one door closes another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.â - Alexander Graham Bell I appreciate that we are a progressive city on the move, even when the moves donât always fit my pleasure. I hope you enjoy this 133 year old image.
Fort Wayne Industrial Might Gone But Not Forgotten published January 18, 2016 on Access Fort WayneRandy Harter spoke at the Monroeville Branch of the Allen County Public Library about major industrial groups who used to inhabit Fort Wayne. Filmed and edited by Dan Allen for Access Fort Wayne.
A gray weekend that was ripe for a little labeling project on this wonderful 1889 photograph taken from the Allen County Courthouse. Image Courtesy ACPL/Community Album.
A couple of other historical photos are in the comments.
For "Throwback Thursday" we share this promotional page for the development of Stellhorn Park, being a subdivision mostly occupied by the old Fairview Golf Course, now known as Donald Ross, therefore only parts of it were actually constructed. These buildings are not in their geographic locations, just shown diagrammatically. All less than a year old in 1924, hopefully by zooming you can see the names.
On February 11th, Roger Birerly shared several photos he took and questioned where they were from. He said it was easy and identified it as Fairview Golf Course.
My grandfather had platted STELLHORN PARK in 1926 and I mentioned a promotional brochure I had found in company records. I still havenât found it but look what popped up today.
The map showing all the buildings is not legible in the photo but I remember reading the actual map. Even though you canât read the names Iâm confident this group will identify many buildings by their shape like International Harvester, Lincoln Life, Hotel Keenan and others.
To sell lots in their subdivision the owners really pushed the growth of Fort Wayne in the mid - twenties. Hopefully I took other pictures of parts to share.
For "Throwback Thursday" we share this aerial photo of downtown looking South to North. That is Harrison Street in the middle of photo, with Calhoun Street to the right. Many of these buildings are now gone.
Caption to photo says:
This view from the air of the downtown district in 1940 shows area which changed very little from 1930 to 1960.
For this #waybackwednesday, take a look at these then and now photos of Fort Wayne. Courtesy of the Daniel A. Baker collection in our Community Album, the images show Harrison Street at Wayne Street. The first image, dated 1960, shows the Indiana Hotel, Lincoln Life, Keenan Hotel and the Central Building. While, the second image, dated 2017, shows the Grand Wayne Center, Embassy Theatre, Central Building and The Golden (now Proximo).
A couple of weeks ago we shared a Postcard of downtown Fort Wayne, and asked our page readers to identify the year the photo was taken. Dan Baker identified the photo taken between 1990 and 1993. For "Throwback Thursday" we share this photo from John Ankenbruck's book "Twentieth Century History of Fort Wayne". This aerial photo was taken looking Northeast from downtown in 1964. The dotted area was earmarked for redevelopment. Hofer and Davis, Inc. was involved by providing many topographical and boundary surveys in this area over the years. To list a few, we provided surveys for The City-County Building, The Fine Arts Center, Fort Wayne National Bank, Courthouse Green and Headwaters Park.
It is December 21st, the first day of winter, and for the residents of Allen County it is time to begin thinking about snow. From December to March, snow and snow storms are a common occurrence to the residents of Allen County, as they have been for many generations. These three amazing scenes show some historic landmarks in Fort Wayne and appeared on greeting cards created for Turnstone as a fundraiser in the 1990s. Have a safe winter season! #sociallyhistory
Did you know that Fort Wayne features buildings from some of the most famous architects, including names like Frank Lloyd Wright, Eero Saarinen, and Louis Kahn?
The Summity city is a mecca for influential architecture; join Elizabeth and Tony as they check out some of the highlights!
Episode 114: Architectural Styles 2019 June 17, 2019
by Granite Ridge Builders on YouTube.
Architectural styles are steeped in history, and Between the Studs showcases some spots around Fort Wayne that feature them: traditional, craftsman, modern, and more! Todayâs show displays the distinctive elements of each home and shows how you can combine them to make your own unique style.
Episode 157: American Architectural Styles posted August 17, 2021 by Granite Ridge Builders on YouTube Buckle up - the Between the Studs cast is talking American architectural styles! This episode is a crash course on the storied history of architecture in the United States. 30 Styles in 30 Minutes in chronological order.
Episode 164: Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception published November 10, 2021 by Granite Ridge on YouTube
The first five minutes of this half-hour video shows various archetectural style buildings around town and some of the early history. It then focuses on the architecture and history of the Catholic Cathedral of The Immaculate Conception. Their description states: Did you know Fort Wayne is full of architectural gems? Join us as we explore some of downtown's historical treasures! Each one is unique and features varied architecture for all interests.
Episode 174: Electricity published May 22, 2022 by Granite Ridge Builders on YouTube From houses to cars, electricity is changing the way we live ... and has been for over a century! The Between the Studs cast is talking all things electric, with a little help from our friends at SweetCars: don't miss the all-electric Porche Taycan Turbo!
Around the 13:00 minute mark it discusses the History of Electricty in Fort Wayne is discussed with the magnet wire industry of Dudlo, Phelps Dodge, Rea Magnet Wire, Farnsworth, Magnavox electronics and more!
Researching the History of Your House published by on October 25, 2018 on YouTube
Presented by the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library. Discover the various resources available to learn about the history of your house and the people who lived there. This session will help you with ideas for researching houses both in the city and rural areas.
Fort Wayneâs ghost signs (SEE THE THOSE STILL STANDING TODAY) by Daniel Beals posted April 7, 2022 on YouTube Take a car trip throughout the city, and youâll probably pass a couple. Maybe you wonât even notice the fading signs on popular restaurants like Club Soda, Trubble Brewing, or Welchâs Ale House. âA ghost sign, I think could be characterized as a faded sign painted on the side of an older building,â ARCH, Inc. Executive Director Connie Haas Zuber told us. Though ARCH typically protects and preserve historic buildings across Fort Wayne, they shared with ABC21 guidelines on the art that also adorns them. âWe think of it as a ghost, because we donât see a living business that is associated with it any more,â she continued. âBut itâs really still a pretty good sign, and itâs on a building that is obviously still standing, either in use or ready to be used by somebody.âCopied from the video and 21Country: Fort Wayneâs ghost signs Celebrating and preserving the cityâs past by Daniel Beals posted April 7, 2022 on 21AliveNews.com. Ghost signs and ads were discussed several times on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook.
SAH Archipedia is an authoritative online encyclopedia of the built world published by the Society of Architectural Historians and the University of Virginia Press, is a free, open-access site, and contains histories, photographs, and maps for more than 17,000 structures and places.
Heritage Trail on ARCH ( Architecture and Community Heritage) web site - almost 50 Historical Markers with photos and information! Also need to look at Projects tab and more.
History Journal by The Journal Gazette newspaper started posting almost weekly stories in November 2018. It was previously known as Throwback Thursday with stories from their archive of newspapers going back to the 1800s and a collection of photo negatives beginning in the early 1940s. A History Journal indexed by decade was published January 26, 2020 by Corey McMaken.
History of FortWayne.com has hard to see links to several pages of interesting history with historic and more recent photos from the early 2000s archived web site on oocities.
Indiana State Parks on Facebook in an August 24, 2022 post stated: Historically, Indiana contained prairies, deciduous forests, and a variety of wetland types. These natural plant communities were home to 62 species of mammals. Today these habitats remain, but in greatly diminished, fragmented parcels quite unlike the vast expanses of earlier days. Now, 55 mammal species are known to inhabit the state. One such native species was the American bison. This historic photo shows bison at a state park. Today you can see them in a natural setting at Ouabache State Park. Find out more about Ouabache at on.in.gov/ouabache.
The Library of Congress has a Web Archive - it manages, preserves, and provides access to archived web content selected by subject experts from across the Library, so that it will be available for researchers today and in the future. Websites are ephemeral and often considered at-risk born-digital content. New websites form constantly, URLs change, content changes, and websites sometimes disappear entirely. Websites document current events, organizations, public reactions, government information, and cultural and scholarly information on a wide variety of topics. Materials that used to appear in print are increasingly published online. This site provides general information about program activities, information for researchers who are interested in using the web archives, and information for site owners who might be included in the archives. See Indiana search, Allen County, Indiana, or Fort Wayne search.
Tree Canopy Growth Fund on Facebook in an August 25, 2022 post stated: Did you know there’s a Native Trees of Indiana River Walk on the Purdue University Fort Wayne campus? This 1.25 mile path flows through PFW’s vibrant campus along the St. Joseph River so you can appreciate the native trees of Fort Wayne. On the walk, you’ll see over 100 native trees. Learn more about the river walk: Native Trees of Indiana River Walk. See Trees on our Places page.
Did you know there are more Mail Pouch Barns documented in Indiana than any other state?
Mail Pouch Barns can be found in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and California (Ontario, on Jurupa and Turner) although an increasing number have fallen into dilapidation or have been demolished. The barns, usually hand-painted in black or red with yellow or white capital lettering, read as follows: "Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco Treat Yourself to the Best." Sometimes they are surrounded on the left and right by a thin vertical blue border.
Initially, barn owners were paid between $1 and $2 a year for the advertisement, equivalent in 1913 dollars to about $20â$40 today. But more importantly, they received a much desired fresh coat of paint to preserve the integrity of the wood. Mail Pouch painted their message on one or two sides of the barn (depending on viewability from the roadway) and painted the other sides of the barn any color the owner wished. Many of the barns were repainted every few years to maintain the sharp colors of the lettering.
After World War II, many of the barns were painted by Harley Warrick of Belmont County, Ohio. He once estimated that he had painted 20,000 barns in his life, spending an average of six hours on each. Warrick claimed that he always began each barn with the "E" in the word "Chew". Other barns were painted by Mark Turley, Don Shires, and several others. Their initials remain preserved on some of the barns with the date of the painting. These initials can be found on the blue border surrounding the front side, or nearer to the roof.
The Highway Beautification Act of 1965, which sought to restrict the vast number of local advertisements that were being placed near highways, exempted Mail Pouch barns since they had been deemed historic landmarks.
In 1992, the owner of Mail Pouch Tobacco at the time, Swisher International Group, decided to suspend the use of barn advertisements when Warrick retired.
In the heyday of barn advertising (c. 1900-1940) many companies paid farmers to use their barns as roadside ads, with other tobacco products (such as "Beech Nut" tobacco) and local feed and grain stores being the most common, but Mail Pouch was the only product advertised in so widespread and consistent a manner in this fashion.
Todayâs Throwback Thursday takes us to a former filling station on East Pontiac and Hanna streets. Small-scale gasoline stations were designed to fit in with residential neighborhoods. Some oil companies fashioned their stations to look like English cottages.
Filling stations dotted Fort Wayne along busy corridors and on major routes, such as The Lincoln Highway.
This stationâs design was created by Standard Oil of Indiana and the design was also used in other states, like Michigan and Iowa.
This station has a clean design and sleek glazed buff-colored bricks that were used to convey the sense of cleanliness to appeal female drivers. How a station looked on the outside was often a sign of how clean the inside was, especially the restrooms.
A twin of the Pontiac gas station in downtown Lafayette. It was an automobile and auto-related memorabilia museum for many years.
Fort Wayneâs distinction of being the âPump Capital of the World,â helped fuel the building of several stations in the city. Fill âer up!
It's #waybackwednesday!! Take a look at these Fort Wayne then and now photos from our Community Album, courtesy of the Daniel A. Baker Collection. The first photo shows Walgreens circa 1956. The store was desgined by A.M. Strauss was built in 1944. Businesses (l-r) are Rose, Thrifty, Koerber, King's A & I, Rosenbaum's, and Cousins.
The next photo shows the building in 2017 after a remodel.(l-r) Wells Fargo parking garage, Pint-N-Slice, Dash-In, Klingler Jewelers, the law offices of Hayes and Hayes (810 South Calhoun); and the law offices of Leonard, Hammond, Thoma & Terrill (800 South Calhoun).
Historic house research is a lot like detective work. Youâll need patience, perseverance, and time. Luck also helps. The story of a house builds as you follow leads, cross-check facts and track down sources to learn about the owners, architects, and builders. The work may take you to the Internet, libraries, city and county offices, historical societiesâperhaps even on scouting trips to meet descendants of former owners. If your curiosity is deep, you may be able to build a fascinating house biography.
an Nuys Farmhouse in Johnson County (photo 2) by Paige Wassel; Johnson County Atlas excerpt (photo 3); 1887 Indianapolis Sanborn Map courtesy Indiana University Indiana Spatial Data Port (photo 4).â
This former service station on Broadway is an outstanding example of an Art Moderne style commercial building. This style of architecture became popular c.1935-c.1950. Often confused with Art Deco style, it focuses on streamlined horizontal forms and smooth curved surfaces. Decoration is minimal, generally glass blocks and portal windows. The building is currently empty but once housed Tek Ventures, a maker’s space. The structure had been a service station since 1930. The first proprietor was Harold C. McMahon. By 1931 William H. Barter had taken over the business but sold out in a year. By 1932 Widney & Brouwer Super Service and Fill Station was the name, and it eventually became Brouwer Battery and Tire Service, which it stayed well into the 50’s. ARCH is proud to present this edition of Throwback Thursday, part of its work as the historic preservation organization serving the greater Fort Wayne area, made possible by ARCH members and donors. Thank you.
The 2023 commemorative poster focuses on the archaeology of early Indiana industry. Archaeologists have recorded and investigated various industrial sites, some from the early 1800s, in our state. Information regarding these locations has helped us understand early Hoosier efforts at brick and tile manufacturing, redware production, and more. The poster highlights some of these sites and the archaeological investigations which have taken place.
Free posters (folded and unfolded) are available at the DNR Central Office lobby in the Indiana Government Center South complex in Indianapolis. You can pick up a folded or unfolded copy Monday through Friday between 8:30a - 4p ET. You can also pick up a poster from DHPA staff when attending Archaeology Month events. You can also request to have folded posters mailed to you (limit of 5 per person) by emailing ajohnson@dnr.IN.gov.
Capturing the world around us has been a goal of humanity since the beginning of time. This ranges from the prehistoric cave paintings to modern digital images. In the late 19th century, real photo postcards played an important role in documenting Fort Wayne’s history. Unlike the inexpensive printed picture postcards made just after the turn of the 20th century, real photo postcards were produced from actual photographs. These photographs were printed with a stiff paper backing, and included a printed stamp location box on the reverse, making them both a postcard and actual photograph in one. Images ranged from everyday life to disasters and events of local note. Real photo postcards exploded in popularity when Eastman Kodak introduced the 3A Pocket Folding Camera in 1903. When the 3A was introduced, it opened up an opportunity for anyone who could afford one to record their family or an event, and mail the resulting image to others. Today we share some of the postcards from our collection, both real photo and photo. #sociallyhistory
To learn more about real photo postcards, read “Fort Wayne ‘Real Photo’ Postcards,” in our latest issue of the Old Fort News, available at the History Center or at the below link: Fort Wayne âReal Photoâ Postcards
Green rooftops offer many environmental and social benefits for city-dwellers, but will Fort Wayne be seeing more of them in the future?
Who wishes they had some carpenter aunts to help with their #preservationprojects and weekend chores?
HEARD ABOUT THE HABS/HAER/HALS COLLECTION? Did you know that the NATION'S LARGEST ARCHIVE of historical architectural, engineering, and landscape documentation IS THE HABS/HAER/HALS Collection in The Library of Congress? Yep!
By visiting the online collection, you can access publication-quality downloads of measured drawings, black & white and color large format photographs, and written historical reports on more that 40,000 historic sites at NO COST!
NEW: Journey back in time with the Allen County Historic Sites pass!
Access the free mobile pass: VisitFortWayne.com/HistoricSites
to help with their #preservationprojects and weekend chores? 
