Indianapolis comes by its nickname “The Crossroads of America” honestly. Indianapolis was once a lattice of railroad tracks moving passengers and cargo across the nation. At its heart was the Indianapolis Union Station, the first of its kind. It no longer acts as a train station, but the building remains as one of the […]

Monon 16 has always been a place of diversity. The school and churches in the neighborhood created a foundation for a community unique to the rest of Indianapolis. People were attracted to the area by the prospect of railroad jobs, as many trains came through the neighborhood. Many of the immigrants were fleeing adversity in […]

Teen Works’s song House of God highlightS the influence that New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church has had over the Monon 16 neighborhood throughout the years. Now known as one of the oldest African-American churches in Indianapolis, it was always a beacon of hope for the African-American community. During the time when Jim Crow laws segregated […]

The Paul Laurence Dunbar Library operated as an Indianapolis Public Library Branch from 1922 to 1967 within John Hope School #26. Lillian Haydon Childress Hall was an educated African-American woman who attended college in Kentucky, and afterwards was the first African-American to graduate from her library school. She acted as the first branch manager for […]

John Hope School #26 closed its doors in 2007, but in its heyday it was a cornerstone of the Monon 16 community. Alumni of the school claim that their time at the Indianapolis Public School was influential throughout their adult lives. The students took shop and home economic classes on top of their regular English, […]

Long before the comida rica of Festiva, Monon 16 housed a variety of local flavors. Baked goods, fresh fish, and deli meat are just a few of the fares you could enjoy back in the day. It was a simpler time then, when you could grab a bologna sandwich at the corner store for less […]

Mystery tends to wrap itself around old, abandoned buildings. We wonder what they were built for, who occupied them, and how they could be repurposed in the future. We find ourselves stuck on the antiquated features that were so cutting edge at the time of their construction: horse- shaped hitching posts, towering, brick smokestacks, and […]