Pendleton Historical Museum Collection

The Drawings + Documents Archive is pleased to announce the release of the Pendleton Historical Museum Collection, an online collection documenting the rich architectural history of Pendleton, Indiana, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Archive recently collaborated with the Pendleton Historical Museum to digitize some of their material that relates to the built environment of the small town in Madison County located 30 miles northeast of Indianapolis.

The collection contains the complete text of the 1880 book History of Madison County, Indiana, as well as historical images of the downtown commercial district, residences, schools, churches, library, rail transportation, and Falls Park.

The town, like many other small towns in Indiana, finds its historical architecture threatened. One of the schools depicted in the collection, the 1936 Pendleton High School built by the WPA and located at 301 S. East Street, was just last week slated for demolition by the school board in order to create a parking lot in its place.

For more information on Pendleton, Indiana, please see the Pendleton Historical Museum's website http://www.pendletonhistoricalmuseum.org/

Images: Downtown business, ca. 1910 and Pendleton High School, 1936. Pendleton Historical Museum Collection.

School 78, Indianapolis

We're excited to see the article in the Indianapolis Star describing the Indianapolis Public School Board's approval on Tuesday to make School 78, 3734 E. Vermont Street, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's East District headquarters.

Designed by architects Edward Pierre and George C. Wright in 1925, the building is a great example of early 20th-century school architecture and the Police Department and IPS should be commended for saving it. Why are we so excited about this particular school? The archive maintains the original ink on linen plans, which we've been using in class visits this fall since news arrived about its potential sale. Groups of students have been encouraged all semester to envision its possibility for adaptive reuse and came up with a range of possibilities--from a charter school to a corporate office. A police department headquarters wasn't exactly on the list, but it should make a perfect fit.

Image: IPS School 78, detail of cartouche, 1925, Pierre & Wright Architectural Records Collection, Ball State University Libraries, Drawings + Documents Archive.