Mooresville (Indiana) Local History Treasure Trove: Walking With Dillinger

Take a walking (or driving) tour around Mooresville, Indiana to see John Dillinger-related points-of-interest around town. Click the images (throughout this article) to enlarge.

Can't make the walk/drive? Watch this video slideshow below.

John Dillinger's Mooresville Footprint

by Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library

DILLINGER’S HOMETOWN HOLDUP

(SELF-GUIDED WALKING TOUR)

Starting from Mooresville Public Library, follow famous bank robber and Mooresville resident John Dillinger’s footsteps during and after his botched attempted robbery of Frank Morgan, owner of the West End Grocery on West High Street, on Saturday, September 6, 1924. (Watch this video to learn more about this robbery attempt.)

Stop #1: Behind the First Christian Church on South Jefferson Street (between Harrison & High Streets)

Between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Saturday, September 6, 1924, Frank Morgan, proprietor of the West End Grocery (at 135 West High Street, where Morz/Pedigo Plumbing is located today) was walking home after closing the store. Suddenly, John Dillinger jumped from the shadows behind the First Christian Church holding a pistol and demanded money from Morgan. Unbeknownst to Dillinger, Morgan had taken the day’s proceeds to his house earlier in the evening and was not carrying much money at the time of the robbery attempt. Morgan and Dillinger scuffled, causing Dillinger to drop his firearm, which discharged harmlessly into the air. Dillinger then struck Morgan with a metal bar (something like a “blackjack” criminals sometimes used in muggings), opening a gash on Morgan’s head. Morgan, who was a Freemason, shouted a Masonry call of distress, to which fellow Masons throughout the neighborhood promptly responded. Dillinger panicked and fled east down Broad Alley. Dillinger’s accomplice, Ed Singleton, who was awaiting Dillinger in an automobile down the street (on South Jefferson close to High Street), raced off when he heard the errant gunshot.

Stop #2: Lindley Block, 1 West Main Street, Downtown Mooresville

Dillinger escaped along Broad Alley and made his way to Moore & Pearce, a pool hall in the basement of the Lindley Block (1 West Main Street, on the southwest corner of Main and Indiana Streets in downtown Mooresville). There, he asked customers and employees if “Mr. Morgan was all right” after being attacked. No one there had heard about Morgan’s injuries, since news of the event had not yet travelled downtown. Subsequently, several persons present wondered how Dillinger had known Morgan was hurt.

Lindley Block (first building on left) as it appeared in the Nineteen-Teens.

The building burnt to the ground on December 27, 1925

(Photo courtesy of the Mooresville Times, December 10, 1981, page 10a)

Moore & Pearce advertisement from the 1923 White Lick Review

(Mooresville High School Yearbook)

Dillinger went home to the family farm on Old State Road 267 (North Monroe Street at Northridge Drive) and confessed to his crime. His father recommended that his son turn himself in to Mooresville town marshal Greeson, which John voluntarily did. Frank Morgan required eleven stitches to sew-up his head wound, and at Dillinger’s trial, the judge rendered a harsh sentence (2-12 years on the first count, and 10-20 years on the second count, with $100 fines for each count) because John had severely injured Morgan and had carried a firearm during the robbery attempt. Dillinger’s accomplice, Ed Singleton, who retained an attorney (Dillinger did not), received a much lighter sentence in a separate trial. Dillinger was remanded to the Indiana state reformatory at Pendleton. During his incarceration, Dillinger, embittered by the severity of his sentencing, mingled with hardcore criminals who taught him tricks of the criminal trade and shaped his unlawful ambitions.

John Dillinger Mug Shot (ca. 1924)

DILLINGER AROUND TOWN

(MOORESVILLE, INDIANA)

There are three other locations in Mooresville significant to John Dillinger’s story: His family’s farm, Harvey Funeral Home, and the town ball park.

Drive-By #1: The Dillinger Family Farm

John Dillinger’s family farm was located on Old State Road 267 (North Monroe Street at Northridge Drive), as shown on the map (above). PLEASE NOTE: The Dillinger family farmhouse is a private residence. Please DO NOT DISTURB the residents or owners, and please do NOT take any photographs of the premises without express permission from the residents or owners.

(Above) Dillinger Farm (image courtesy of Evelyn Frechette)

(Below) John Dillinger outside the family farmhouse, holding a

Thompson submachine gun and, purportedly, the wooden gun he carved

to escape from Crown Point jail (photo 1934)

Drive-By #2: Harvey Funeral Home

Harvey Funeral Home was located on the southeast corner of Indiana and Harrison Streets in downtown Mooresville, where Marco's Pizza is now situated (as of 2024) and where Family Video used to be located. After John Dillinger was shot by FBI agents in Chicago in July, 1934, his remains were returned to Mooresville before burial at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis. Hundreds braved the 103° F. heat wave to see Dillinger’s body at Harvey Funeral Home on July 25, 1934 (see photo below). The line of onlookers circled the block twice.

(Above) John Dillinger’s Body at Harvey Funeral Home, July 25, 1934

(Below) Unloading John Dillinger’s remains at Harvey Funeral Home

Drive-By #3: Mooresville Town Ball Park

Approximate location of the Town Baseball Park

Bradley Brick Company began in 1904

(Mooresville Times, March 11, 1904)

William "Tommy" McElwain outside the old

Bradley Brick Company office on East South Street

Mooresville historian Clara Richardson wrote in her History of Mooresville, 1824-1974 that the Bradley Brick Company, which was located south of East South Street (east of the railroad tracks), was purchased by the Wooley Company. When Chester E. Lawrence owned the business, he sold a parcel of land to the Town of Mooresville to be used as the Town Baseball Park. It was there that Mooresville’s semi-professional baseball team, the Walkovers, played their home games. In 1924 John Dillinger was a member of the Walkovers’ team roster, playing shortstop and second base. Dillinger also played the same positions on the Martinsville Athletics (see images below), another semi-professional baseball team. (Dillinger is indicated by the arrow.)