Note: A version of this blog post will appear in an upcoming newsletter for the Butler-Tarkington Neighborhood Association.
The topic of this article is courtesy of the City-County archivist Jordan Ryan. Jordan is the first archivist for the combined city of Indianapolis and Marion County since Willard Heiss served in the role from 1961-1985. The idea for this post came when Jordan sent me an image of a large, castle-like tower which, according to the photo’s caption, was located near the intersection of 46th and Meridian. I began to research the structure in an effort to confirm that the caption was correct. And indeed, it was. The tower, shown above in a copy of the image that Jordan had sent me, was part of a proposed development called Meridian Heights—or Meridian Heights Place, as it appears on some maps, and the tower had stood in the middle of what would be Meridian Street.
The Meridian Heights development was conceived when Meridian-Kessler and the area that is now Butler-Tarkington were still outside the city limits of Indianapolis and was in a mostly rural or agricultural condition. I have previously written on this blog about the Blue family, who owned large swaths of land in Butler-Tarkington, mostly between Illinois Street and Sunset Avenue and south of 46th, and who operated large fruit and berry farms, a common practice in the area. But in the late 1890s the city was inching closer, and enterprising developers began to make plans to subdivide the land into neighborhoods. Meridian Heights was one of the very early planned developments in this area.
The area was planned at a time when Meridian Street terminated at its intersection with 46th Street. The development was planned north of this line, and would stretch eastward to Pennsylvania Street, and westward to Illinois Street. The northern extent would stop at 48th Street, which never materialized as a full street as the area developed.
The plat for Meridian Heights was formally filed in June of 1898. The plats for Meridian Heights depicted a series of winding, gravel roadways, with large, one-acre lots for residences, and small parks interspersed throughout the development. A revised plat was filed later in August. The revised plat was the same as the previous, except that it noted that the “Meridian Drive” within the development would possibly be dedicated to public use. The plat below is the original filed in June. The file online is separated on two pages, so I had to reassemble them which led to some lines not quite connecting on the right third of the image. Illinois Street is on the left of the image, while Pennsylvania is on the right. 46th is at the bottom, and the "T" with Meridian is at bottom middle of the image.
Architect John Stem was retained to help design the development. His plan included a pair of large cobble stone gateway arches northeast and northwest corners of 46th and Meridian, acting as the entrance to the development, along with a lodge and, mostly notably, a castle-like cobble stone water tower which would be constructed near the middle of the development, a short distance north of the intersection of Meridian and 46th Street.
This tower, reportedly 70 feet tall (some reports indicate it was 100 feet tall), was the centerpiece to the proposed development, and was intended to provide water for future homes and provide irrigation for the many gardens, park areas, and fountains planned for the development. The arches, tower, and proposed lodge were to be constructed of cobblestones, and would hopefully help attract potential buyers to the new addition. In the summer of 1899, the tower was nearly completed, and a newspaper report indicated the lodge was well underway.
However, sales seemed slow. The 1901 Baist Real Estate Atlas for the area shows no residences in the new development, although the winding series of roadways was in place. By 1903, county officials had begun discussions about extending Meridian Street northward from 46th Street and Meridian Heights up to the Central Canal. This would take the roadway straight through the elegant curves and large lots of Meridian Heights. Further, the Meridian Heights tower was in the path of the route northward.
In August of that year the Indianapolis News reported, under a headline which read “Meridian Heights Curves,” that the Marion County Commissioner had received a recommendation from a review board that Meridian Street be opened through the middle of the development. The newspaper noted that the extension of the street would “mean a complete disarrangement of the plans of the designer, which called for a system of boulevards winding through the park-like addition.” The project would also likely result in the development being replatted. However, the property owners, including architect John Stem, made it known that they would sue to stop the project. The Indiana Journal took a relatively neutral view of the proposed extension, stating that “[u]nless North Meridian Street is to be made a speedway, it is difficult to see what difference it makes to anybody else on the street whether it runs through Meridian Heights on a straight line or makes a circle around the stone tower.” This attempt for the Meridian extension eventually failed, and the issue was attempted again in 1904.
This time the County Commissioners again ordered that Meridian Street be opened through the development, but were delayed by an appeal from architect Stem, one of the founders of the development. Joseph E. Bell, a future mayor of Indianapolis, and an owner of land in Meridian Heights, stepped in and urged a quick hearing on Stem’s appeal, and raised money to pay for the damage assessments on properties impacted by the extension. Said Bell, “[t]he opening of Meridian Street affects me more than any other one person in Meridian Heights, as the opening runs through three lots owned by me, but I realize that the original plan under which Meridian Heights was laid out will never be carried out… .” Soon thereafter Stem dropped his appeal, and Meridian Street was extended through the subdivision and northward to the canal.
Despite this extension, the Meridian Heights Tower appears to have remained in place for several years. The image at the top of the blog shows the tower after Meridian was extended. Note the utility poles running northward, and the tower's position just to the left of the roadway. The tower was reportedly demolished in 1912. However, newspaper advertisements for real estate in and around Meridian Heights would continue to reference the tower as if it were there well into the decade. The stone arches flanking each side of Meridian Street on the northside of 46th Street seemed to have survived longer. A report in the Indianapolis News in 1947 shows an image of the arch located on the northwest corner of 46th and Meridian, today part of the Governor’s residence, as still standing, although it appears heavily overgrown (image below). A longtime resident of the area, who is a regular at the Chilly Water Taproom / Hoagies and Hops, recollected the northwest corner arch was still in place when he was kid in the 1950s.
The name Meridian Heights continued to appear on maps for the area, although in some cases it was modified to Meridian Heights Park. More homes were built, and the network of roadways slowly was removed, closed off, or morphed into driveways for new homes. Aside from Meridian Heights still being on property records, there is little evidence of the former development. However, there is one significant piece, located just south of 49th Street on the eastside of Illinois. Here there is an odd street sign which says 48th Street, along with a “Dead End” sign, which appears to lead to a driveway.
In fact, this is a short stretch of roadway which weaves its way behind the houses on Illinois Street, before terminating into driveways for a few other houses which are located along this short stretch of road. The map below shows the route, highlighted in yellow, which matches with the upper left corner of the Meridian heights development in the plat and Baist map shown earlier in this blog post. The red square is the original boundary for the development. This is one of the last remnants of the roadway system originally developed for the Meridian Heights development.
Sources
Indianapolis News: August 9, 1900, April 18, 1903, May 23, 1903, August 3, 1903, August 7, 1903, August 4, 1904, August 12, 1904, November 18, 1904, September 9, 1905, May 3, 1913
Indianapolis Star: August 4, 1903, July 31, 1947, September 27, 1953, April 4, 1999
Sanborn Map and Baist Atlas Collection, IU Indianapolis, University Library
Marion County Covenant and Plat Collection, https://www.indy.gov/activity/search-real-estate-records-online
MapIndy, https://maps.indy.gov/MapIndy/