Layn' It Down I and II

Both of these shots are in the same location of this previous post in the South Meridian/Concord neighborhood of Indianapolis... This area demonstrates some of the best graffiti that Indianapolis has to offer. Historically German, this working class neighborhood on the south side of Indianapolis is home to Sacred Heart Church, Vollrath Tavern, Concord Neighborhood Center, and several historic buildings and row houses.

These photos have been geotagged in Flickr and may be accessed by clicking on them...

Talbott/Pennsylvania and Morris

This section is not too far from the Sacred Heart area on the south side.

This mural runs from Talbott all the way to Madison...

Meridian and McCarty

Shapiro's is located on the southwest corner of the intersection...

On the Southeast corner of the intersection...

On the Northwest side of the intersection, the building says Gill Saw Service...

Taking a peek inside, and the condition is worse than the outside... This is definitely worth a view in large.

Shapiro's is a long time Indianapolis icon, and quite a tasty one at that...

Meridian Street Row Houses

On South Meridian Street in the Sacred Heart area is a stretch of old row houses that are in rough shape. With plentiful houses and other mixed use buildings in this area, the potential of this area could be great.

Indianapolis Architecture - Sacred Heart Church

One of the architectural jewels of the south side; I will have to do a future post on the inside in the future, its quite amazing. If memory serves, I believe it was built by German immigrants (like much of the architecture on the south side) in the 1870's.

Union and Palmer

Adjacent to Sacred Heart Catholic Church...

Click here to map it

In Front of Sacred Heart Church

On Union Street in the South Meridian area...

More South Meridian Eye Bitters

A little more exploration of the South Meridian / Sacred Heart area. On this occasion, I went and explored the west side of Meridian Street, near Bluff Road. There are two things that should be noted:

1. The first is that there are some shots that contain profanity; you've been warned :)
2. The second is that spacing between the captions and photos are a little off (one of Blogger's more pleasant idiosyncrasies)...

It was a beautiful that day...


Because Green Nuts and Popcorn would violate copyright laws...


Over Meridian Street, dated 1931...




Some of the cool doors and entry ways on these buildings...






I was able to get some shots of the inside of this place...

Very Inviting...

Turn around an be greeted with a gigantic sinkhole full of e-waste...

The rear of this building (facing Bluff Road)

On the other side(west) of Bluff Road...

The intersection of Bluff and Meridian is a fork that happens on the other side of this bridge...I wonder if the abandoned matresses were a trade-up that the proprietors of the nearby matress store didn't intend on?

Behind the Vollrath

The Vollrath is a south side pub, like yesterday's post, is also near Sacred Heart. If you walk around the actual building, there are plenty of interesting things lurking in the darkness...

Well, at the very least, nobody dumped a bucket of pig blood on my head...


Graffiti a'plenty...


Mmmm, stale...


This pedestrian overpass goes over the Madison Avenue expressway to the Bates-Hendricks neighborhood...

Some lovely industrial refuse...

Hey there little brown field calico...

Looking over Morris Street

I recently 'found' myself walking along the Pennsylvania Railroad south of downtown, near the Sacred Heart area. I love taking elevated shots like this; you get a great view, nobody to step into your shot, and a low chance of encountering an inquisitive law enforcement representative. You may come across someone else walking the rails, but there's a mutual sense of don't ask don't tell and everyone walks away minding their own business...

Looking West

Looking East

Meridian and Wilkins

On the south end of downtown, close to Morris Street.

I have included a link to this photo's location on google maps. There have been some requests to do this, so I will be including these on more of my shots.

Click here to map it

Indianapolis Neighborhoods - Concord / South Meridian

This neighborhood is kind special to me; my family has a lot of history here. My Great Grandparents lived here, my grandparents were raised, married, and buried here, and my mom was born here. When I was a child, this area was quite blighted and decayed; today, it is a charming urban neighborhood with different classes of people. Unfortunately, the one thing that hasn't changed is the occasional industrial smell that graces the area with it's presence.

On Meridian Street; now a parish hall of Sacred Heart.


There's something these older structures have that is missing in newer ones.


Same here...


And Here...




Union Street


Minnesota Street...These types of classic houses are plentiful here.


My great grandparents lived here for years, my great aunt lived in the house to the right.

Meridian and Morris; my mom was born here. Time has not been kind to this place.

Nothing rings in an architectural movement like cinder blocks.

East down Karcher Street. In places where the pavement is cracked, you can still see the brick that was paved over.

The sign says it all.

View of Sacred Heart Steeples from Karcher Street.

Chase Tower in the distance from Union Street.

Look up periodically, there's always something to see.

Sacred Heart

Some blighted row houses. Wouldn't those be pretty cool after little (or maybe a lot of) renovation?

View of the Indianapolis Skyline from South Meridian.

I took many more pictures of this neighborhood that are not posted on this blog. If you are more interested in this neighborhood, check out the South Meridian Neighborhood set on my Flickr page.