Hoosier History Live is an independently produced new media project about Indiana history, integrating podcasts, website www.HoosierHistoryLive.org, weekly enewsletter, and social media. Its original content comes initially from a live with call in weekly talk radio show hosted by author and historian Nelson Price. You can hear the show live Saturdays from noon to 1 pm ET at WICR 88.7 fm or stream the show live at the WICR HD1 app on your phone, or at our website.
March 16, 2024
Sites along U.S. 40 in Indiana, then and now
From a massive former factory on the eastside of Indianapolis that's been repurposed into two charter schools to a 1950s-style diner in Plainfield and a former Masonic Temple in Greenfield, sites along U.S. 40 in Indiana will be in Hoosier History Live's spotlight. We also will explore a bygone barbershop that was owned by a formerly enslaved African American entrepreneur as well as two early automobile manufacturing plants , one of which is set to become a music venue.
Stretching from Richmond to Terre Haute, U.S. 40 bisects the state and follows the route of the National Road, which was completed across the Indiana wilderness during the 1830s. Its designation as U.S. 40 came in the 1920s. That's also when P.R. Mallory opened a massive factory on the highway (which enters Indianapolis as East Washington Street) that eventually employed thousands of Hoosiers who made electronic components and dry cell batteries. After sitting vacant and decaying for more than 30 years, the plant (the birthplace of the Duracell battery) has been repurposed as the home of Purdue Polytechnic High School and Paramount Englewood Middle School.
It's among the historic sites – current, bygone or repurposed – that Nelson and his guests will "cruise by", although they won't leave the radio station. He will be joined by two board members of the Indiana National Road Association:
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David Steele of Indianapolis, a business and civic leader who has crusaded for six Indiana Historical Bureau markers. Along those lines, the Indiana National Road Association has erected 15 interpretive panels along the U.S. 40 route in Indiana.
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And Bob Hunt of Greenfield, who is retired from Eli Lilly & Co. With his wife Beverly, Bob renovated a former Masonic Temple that was considered one of the largest lodges in the state when it opened in 1895. The historic building on U.S. 40 now is a banquet and event center in Greenfield owned by Bradley Hall Events.
We will explore the former Masonic Temple as well as Oasis Diner in Plainfield, which opened in 1954 and is one of the few remaining original, stainless-steel diners on U.S. 40. The Oasis had closed in 2008 and was in danger of being demolished, but was moved to a new site on the highway and restored in 2014. The popular diner is known for Hoosier dishes, including tenderloins.
Two former factories that built luxury cars in the early era of the automobile are on U.S. 40 in Indianapolis. Only one building remains of the Duesenberg Motor Company complex that made cars in the 1920s on a 17-acre site. Most of the Cole Motor Company factory, founded by native Hoosier Joseph Cole, remains. Plans are underway to repurpose part of the Cole factory into a music venue, loft-style apartments and retail outlets.
Other landmarks on or just off U.S. 40 in Indiana include the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown and, in Terre Haute, the Vigo County History Center, which is housed in an 1895 building. It initially was owned by a company that produced workman's overalls during an era when Terre Haute had a booming garment industry.
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