Industry in Riverside: Progress and Pollution

Nothing more clearly demonstrates the dual nature of the industrial sector in Site 0153 more clearly than this juxtaposition above. Scroll to the right, and an old photo shows the area as a booming factory to be proud of. Scroll to the left, and is becomes apparent that this factory's legacy is an abandoned building and an broken billboard audaciously claiming to have "a reputation you can stand on". This irony, given the fact that industry in the area has polluted the groundwater underneath everyone's feet, succinctly summarizes the history of industry in Site 0153.* It has been a source of both progress and pollution to Indianapolis residents. 

When this area northwest of downtown Indianapolis was first settled by Hoosiers, industry came first (The Polis Center, n.d.). When a local street car company extended its transportation route up to miles north of the circle in 1863, businesses were drawn increasingly to the area. In 1873 alone, for example, "Udell Ladder Works, the North Indianapolis Wagon Works, and the Henry Ocow Manufacturing Company all established a presence in the [northwest] area (The Polis Center, n.d.). Combined with the construction of the central canal, this area was soon a small industrial hub, leading to its plotting in North Indianapolis in 1873 (The Polis Center, n.d.). 

This industry was a major driver of development throughout Indianapolis. When the railroads were built through Indianapolis, population increased four-fold from 1850 to 1870 (Scarpino, 1994). The access to manufacturing jobs and opportunities sustained a growing population, even as it polluted the land around it. Residents around manufacturing in Indianapolis recall "If you rocked on the back porch all morning and then went in for lunch, when you went out again after lunch you had to clean the chair thoroughly again" (Scarpino, 1994). This air pollution wasn't a problem in Riverside because anti-smoking ordinances were passed by the time it was populated by residents, but industries continued to pollute in other ways, including the possible use of Volatile Organic Compounds that now inhabit Site 0153 (Scarpino, 1994; IDEM, 2018). 

It wasn't until the turn of the 20th century that residences began to follow industry into Riverside area. According to a commemorative booklet published in 1916, “only a few years back, Riverside Park with all the land eastward to the Canal was nothing but farmland. A mere half dozen houses were about all that could be found in the whole section” (The Polis Center, n.d. ). In one section of Site 0153, this narrative is confirmed by an 1889 map, where only a railroad and a few industries are shown built across Gent Avenue (then Post Avenue) (Freeland, 2018).

Fig 2. - 1889 Map of Center Township (Courtesy of Indiana State Library)

Looking a specific plot of land in Riverside illustrates the way that industry and residences coincided  through the early 1900's. When the electric railway made this area accessible to the rest of the city, Richard Ward bought the plot of land at 1701 Gent Avenue and built his residence in 1916 (The Polis Center, n.d.; Freeland, 2018). Then he built a garage on the same plot, naming it "Just Right Auto" in a 1923 advertisement (Freeland, 2018). In 1925, Hypes & Gropp Metal Spinners, a small recently organized company, began to operated at 1717 Gent Avenue, just in Mr. Ward's backyard (Freeland, 2018). Soon, other industries began to operate on the same block until five of the six plots were occupied by industry in 1933 - Richard Ward's house was the only remaining non-industrial use on the site. 

This increasingly dense industry took a negative toll on residential property value. According to the 1937 Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) maps, the land around 1700 Gent Ave was a "blighted area" and "railroad tracks" were a detrimental influence on future property values (Nelson & Winling et. al, 2018). Driven by the industrial degradation of the area combined with blockbusting practices enabled by HOLC, white flight of the area spiked heavily in the 1950's (see "For Sale Signs Sprouting Like Dandelions"). The Riverside neighborhood changed drastically from 1950-1960 from a heavily Caucasian to a heavily African American neighborhood, but the strong industrial base remained. This apparent racial inequality which resulted in African Americans being disproportionately exposed to pollution resulted not from malicious or intentional industrial siting. Rather, it stems from African Americans' inability to leave the blighted areas due to the racist financing policies of HOLC. 

Once the neighborhood underwent rapid racial change in the 1950's and 1960's, disinvestment in the area followed. While the strong industrial base remained, retail shops withered and entertainment areas closed (The Polis Center, n.d.). By the 1980's, even some of the industry had left abandoned buildings throughout the region (Patriot Engineering and Environmental Inc, 2004). 

But despite this economic disinvestment, the community has remained resilient and shows plans to continue to thrive in the future. To learn more about them, you'll have to wait for the next blog. 

*To their credit, neither Perry Manufacturing or Perry Scaffolding have been identified as site 0153 contributors specifically. 

Sources Cited (by order of appearance)

1. The Polis Center. (n.d.). UNWA - Narrative History. [online] Available at: http://www.polis.iupui.edu/RUC/Neighborhoods/UNWA/UNWANarrative.htm#5f [Accessed 17 Nov. 2018].
2. Scarpino, Phillip. The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, 1st. Ed. "Urban Environment". Indianapolis: The Polis Center of Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, 1994.
3. Indiana Department of Environmental Management. (2018). Site 0153 Potential Responsible Party (PRP). [online] Available at: https://www.in.gov/idem/cleanups/pages/site0153/map.html [Accessed 17 Nov. 2018].
4. Freeland, S. (2018). HI Mailbag: 1701 Gent Avenue. [online] All Things Indianapolis History. Available at: https://historicindianapolis.com/hi-mailbag-1701-gent-avenue/ [Accessed 17 Nov. 2018].
5. Robert K. Nelson, LaDale Winling, Richard Marciano, Nathan Connolly, et al., “Mapping Inequality,” American Panorama, ed. Robert K. Nelson and Edward L. Ayers, accessed November 28, 2018, https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/#loc=13/39.7865/-86.1605&opacity=0.8&city=indianapolis-in&area=D26&sort=53&text=bibliograph.
6. Patriot Engineering and Environmental, Inc. Site investigation Report. Indianapolis, Indiana. 2004