I drive around a lot, and one of my favorite games is is trying to guess what places used to be. The other day in Elwood, that instinct kicked in hard when I came across Tops TrueValue Home Center. One look was all it took: beneath the signage, it was unmistakably a former Marsh Supermarket.
Marsh opened its Elwood store on June 18, 1958. Built by Glaser Construction of Muncie, the 15,000-square-foot building was as modern as they came: the store’s interior featured pastel colors and Harold Hancock, a Greensburg artist, was responsible for food-themed murals that festooned the place1.
Marsh’s Elwood store underwent a sprucing up in 19722, then a complete remodel in 1986 which added a new exterior, thirty feet of new frontage, and enlarged produce displays3. After Marsh purchased Carter’s Supermarket in 20014, it relocated to a much larger store on State Road 37.
Anderson-based TOPS TrueValue Home Center opened in the former Marsh Supermarket in 20015.
Sources Cited
1 New Marsh Market Opens Wednesday (1958, June 16). The Elwood Call-Leader. p. 1.
2 Marsh Elwood…Completely Remodeled…You’ll Love The Change! (1972, October 4). The Elwood Call-Leader. p. 4.
3 New Look (1986, October 17). The Elwood Call-Leader. p. 1.
4 Marsh to purchase Carter’s (2001, June 29). The Elwood Call-Leader. p. 1.
5 New Look (1986, October 17). The Elwood Call-Leader. p. 1.
I remember that Ted, I visited that place regularly because I lived in Frankton for twenty years, between Elwood and Anderson,
You really get around! Anderson is where my brother and I were raised.
That’s awesome! Being from Frankton, you may remember the old wooden depot there. Someone with the state saw my post about it a year or two ago and contacted the present owners to try and get it listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Tell ’em Pat Summerall sent you! I wondered how long it has been since that old sports broadcaster did the Tru Value ads. Turns out he died in 2013, so at least that long.
I’m too young to remember those, I think, but the YouTube rabbit hole was fun!
I was going to guess “A&P”, but clearly a supermarket. I’m not familiar with Marsh, but I do love running across older supermarkets that have those food-themed murals. I am suspecting that those are long gone from this former Marsh location; and are not likely to have been replaced with hardware-themed murals (although that would be interesting).
Marsh was a local chain that operated about a hundred stores in Indiana and Ohio, with a straggler in Naperville, Illinois at its peak. Family-owned for seventy-five years, then sold to private equity before it went bankrupt about a decade ago. For most of its life, it was headquartered in my hometown. The big warehouses are still here.
I, too, love the food murals! I remember well when Marsh had them, some even into the 90s. I’d prefer the hardware murals, though. If they’re not a thing, then they should be.