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Strange Neighbors: Woodruff Place & the Women's Prison
As the city aims to redevelop the site of the former Women's Prison on the near eastside, did you ever wonder how a prison came to be the next-door neighbor to one of Indy's most elegant neighborhoods? The answer might surprise you.
Libby Cierzniak
Apr 157 min read
March 26, 1913: A high point for White River but a low point for Indianapolis
On March 26, 1913: Entire city blocks submerged in water. Families trapped in their attics, calling out frantically for help.
Libby Cierzniak
Mar 265 min read
January 10, 1825: The day the legislature finally came to town
The legislature voted to move the capital to Indy in 1821. But state lawmakers were in no rush to move to the mosquito-infested town.
Libby Cierzniak
Jan 105 min read
The Strange Disappearance of Fletcher Wagner
Fletcher Wagner was a promising young man with a brilliant future. Then one day, he vanished from his dorm at Harvard law school.
Libby Cierzniak
Sep 14, 202312 min read
What lies beneath: Secrets of the Statehouse basement
Beneath the majestic rotunda of the Statehouse lurks a cavernous netherworld. Welcome to the Statehouse basement.
Libby Cierzniak
Feb 22, 202312 min read
A big stink over Sellers farm
At first blush - or perhaps more appropriately at first flush - Amos Sellers and Bill Hudnut appear to have little in common. The former...
Libby Cierzniak
Oct 18, 20227 min read
When is Indy's real birthday? A 200-year-old controversy.
Was Indy born in 1820, 1821 or 1836? A brewing "birther" controversy surrounds our city's official birthday.
Libby Cierzniak
Jan 6, 20216 min read
1920: Indy prepares for a flood of first-time female voters
111 years ago, a 70-year-old woman from Indianapolis named Mary E. Nicholson made history as one of the first females – if not the...
Libby Cierzniak
Nov 1, 20206 min read
From Vice President to Vice Squad: The Story of a City Lot
Spring break 1968. Girl Scouts Gone Wild. Or at least that's how I recall one memorable day when I was 11 years old and our Girl Scout...
Libby Cierzniak
Oct 11, 20208 min read
The Things We Leave Behind
There are a lot of great reasons to buy a house in the historic Old Northside. But "the ghost dog made me do it" is not one of the them.
Libby Cierzniak
Dec 17, 20196 min read
Out of the darkness & into the Circle of Lights
High atop the Monument, Victory was veiled in darkness until 1916, when two rival power companies staged a spectacular light show.
Libby Cierzniak
Nov 30, 20195 min read
The day the H-Bomb hit downtown Indy
On April Fool's Day 1959, the city approved a plan to demolish 200 buildings in the heart of downtown Indy. It was the Project H bomb.
Libby Cierzniak
Nov 12, 20198 min read
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