My niece came down for Labor Day. Taking her home meant heading through Defiance, Ohio, and I’d heard Reddit rumors of an irresistible dead mall there. Naturally, there was no way I was driving through town without stopping to investigate! What I found, though, wasn’t the retail graveyard I’d expected. Reddit was wrong.
Continue reading “Northtowne Mall in Defiance: Reddit was wrong”
Downtown Muncie’s tallest building is also its most unusual. Every year, incoming Ball State students and Muncie transplants wonder about the 165-foot monolith at 329 East Jackson Street, curious about the unusual shape of the top of its tower. Although the original iteration of the building dates to much earlier, the building’s tallest part was completed in 19701 to house microwave antennas as part as AT&T’s Long Lines network. Recently, I finally found some photos of them in action.
Continue reading “I finally found photos of Muncie’s microwave horns”
Every now and then, I stumble across a building that refuses to reveal its story. For a long time, the gym that remained from the old Cadiz School in Henry County, Indiana, was one of them. I wanted to learn more about it, so I dug through newspapers, plat maps, and public records. I reached out to local historians and even emailed the building’s current owners! Still, it took the commenters on a random social media post by a Henry County historical group to finally answer the questions I had.
Continue reading “At last! More information about the old Cadiz gym”
I came across the hamlet of Boundary City when I was hunting for old schoolhouses in Jay County. Situated at the crux of Boundary Pike and Treaty Line Road, not much of the community exists today. Little more than an old schoolhouse and church hint at the place’s story.
Continue reading “Welcome to Boundary City, Indiana”
I’ve driven through and poked around Delaware County’s unincorporated community of Granville, Indiana, for years. By now, I’ve gotten my passport stamped at nearly every attraction the little place has to offer: the landmark flowing well, the old schoolhouse, and the metal truss bridge just east of town. One stubborn blank spot remained on my Granville checklist, though: I could see the Granville Cemetery, but I just couldn’t get to it!
Continue reading “Delaware County’s Granville Cemetery”
The interior of Marion’s Five Points Mall has been closed since 20191, but yesterday, city officials declared Planet Fitness -the mall’s last remaining tenant, which featured an exterior entrance- permanently shuttered due to hazardous structural conditions2. The building had deteriorated to the point that closing the gym was necessary for public safety3! With Planet Fitness gone, Five Points Mall is now completely vacant for the first time since the complex burst onto the scene as North Park Plaza in 19614.
Continue reading “Planet Fitness has closed. Five Points Mall is empty.”
I’ve visited half of Ohio’s historic courthouses. Each has left an impression for its own reasons, but none have quite matched the sheer presence of the Lucas County Courthouse in downtown Toledo. Of all the courthouses I’ve seen across the Buckeye State, it’s easily the most imposing! The massive building dominates its surroundings .
Continue reading “Ohio’s Lucas County Courthouse in Toledo (1896-)”
If you’ve ever driven U.S. 33 between Fort Wayne and Goshen, you may have noticed a cluster of log cabins tucked alongside a curve just southeast of tiny Benton. They’re easy to pass without much thought, but travelers were meant to stop a century ago. Together, they’re the old Log Cabin Inn, an early tourist court built to take advantage of one of America’s most important roads.
Continue reading “The Log Cabin Inn on the old Lincoln Highway”
A little over six months after new owners announced plans to demolish Muncie Mall, the wrecking crew has finally reached one of its most important pieces. Sears, an original anchor that stood at the mall for more than half a century, is coming down. After months of waiting, wondering, and watching work creep around the edges, the demolition of Muncie Mall is suddenly very real.
Continue reading “Down goes Sears: Muncie Mall’s original anchor is being demolished”
Mounds State Park in Anderson, Indiana, is an awesome place for history lovers. The 290-acre property features ten 2,000-year-old Adena and Hopewell earthworks believed to align with celestial events1, a brick homestead built in the 1840s or 50s2, and even the remains of an amusement park3! That’s all well, good, and even intriguing, but my favorite spot is Mounds’ artesian well. It’s finally flowing freely again.
Continue reading “The flowing well at Mounds State Park is back in action”