North Side of West Main Street, Then and Now

The Visit Morgan County, Indiana website's Mooresville page has a photo (probably taken in 2022) that reminds us of a similar view captured on film roughly 60 years ago.

Photo courtesy of Visit Morgan County, Indiana website (ca. 2022)

(Click Images to Enlarge)

The pedestrian shown in the picture above is walking east along the north side of West Main Street in downtown Mooresville.  Compare it with this photo taken in the early 1960s, with the pedestrian walking in the opposite direction at about the same spot.

North Side of West Main Street, Downtown Mooresville (Early 1960s)

Rewind another 40 years or so to see how the north side of West Main Street appeared then.

North Side of West Main Street (July 18, 1920)

(Photo by Manley Brown)

Inexplicably, the writer of the above photo's caption stated that it captured the view "west on Indiana Street," which is impossible, because Indiana Street runs north and south through downtown Mooresville.  The view, however, IS west, but the street shown is West Main Street, looking across the intersection of Indiana Street in the center of downtown.

Manley Brown's 1920 perspective was repeated in this advertisement from the 1964 Mooresville High School yearbook, Wagon Trails.

The 1959 Mooresville High School Wagon Trails shows the north side of West Main Street in a gatefold shot.

Interestingly, in Mooresville Public Library's Indiana Room collections, there are many more photos of the north side of West Main Street than the south side.  There are about an even number of pictures showing the north and south sides of East Main Street, with comparatively fewer photos showing North or South Indiana Streets.  Perhaps aiming the camera northward was easier to capture better light, since the sun would have been behind the photographers for much of the year.

Learn some of the history of the north side of West Main Street from this digitized handout, courtesy of Mooresville Public Library's Indiana Room.

Northeast Corner Changes

In 1824, Samuel Moore constructed his general store on the northeast corner of the intersection of Indiana and Main Streets in downtown Mooresville.  Let's see how that corner has changed over the years.

Situated on the northeast corner were the following:

• Samuel Moore's general store (1824-1869);
• First I.O.O.F. building (1869-1881);
• Second I.O.O.F. building (1881-1989);
• Paul Hadley memorial park (1990-2017);
• Mooresville Bicentennial Park (2017-    )

Let's see some images, courtesy of the Indiana Room at Mooresville Public Library.

Original Plat of Mooresville, Indiana (1824)

(showing the northeast corner of Indiana and Main Streets)
(Section B4, Lots 1-2 & 15-16)

(Recorded February 21, 1825, Morgan County Recorder's Office)

After the fire (July 8, 1881) that destroyed

the first I.O.O.F. building (photo by J. P. Calvert)

(photo donated to MPL by Ernest L. Hadley [1891-1972])

Back of 1881 photo

MPL photo report for 1881 picture

I.O.O.F. Morgan Lodge #211 members parade in front of

the second I.O.O.F. building (circa 1885)

(photo by J. P. Calvert)

Second I.O.O.F. building is in the upper center

of this photo (circa 1885) by J. P. Calvert

East Main Street (circa 1890)

(Second I.O.O.F. building is at front left)

(photo by J. P. Calvert)

Second I.O.O.F. building (July 18, 1920)

(photo by Manley Brown)

2-22-22 celebration

(second I.O.O.F. building in background)

from the Mooresville Times, January 22, 1976)

2-22-22 celebration

(original photograph by Manley Brown)

Demolition of Hundley building

(just east of the second I.O.O.F. building)

(Mooresville Times, October 24, 1963)

Removal of top floor of second I.O.O.F. building

(Mooresville Times, July 23, 1964)

The second I.O.O.F. building's demolition began in 1964, with the top floor being removed; the entire second floor was removed, leaving a first-floor "sliver" remaining, so that Citizens Bank could extend its new building's parking lot in 1965-66.  The article headline (above) declares the Odd Fellows building to be 105 years old (in 1964), but that's mistaken.  The second I.O.O.F. building (built 1881) was 83 years old in 1964.  Even if the reporter had been dating to the first I.O.O.F. building (built 1869, burned down in 1881), the age would only have been 95 years old.  The reporter's error arose from the I.O.O.F. capstone (dated 1859), which was installed atop the first Odd Fellows building in 1869, and subsequently placed upon the second Odd Fellows building in 1881.  The capstone commemorated the establishment of Mooresville's I.O.O.F. chapter (Morgan Lodge #211), which was founded on July 7, 1859.  The capstone was being removed during the 1964 upper-story dismantlement, and the reporter had incorrectly assumed that the capstone's 1859 date corresponded with the building's age.

After the Odd Fellows capstone was removed in 1964, it was housed at Citizens Bank for a number of years. Some time later, it was kept at the Academy School Museum on North Monroe Street.  Since 2017, the capstone has been part of a wall in Mooresville Bicentennial Park (on the site of the Odd Fellows buildings).

I.O.O.F. Capstone

Mooresville-Decatur Times

October 21, 2017

Last day of the second I.O.O.F. remnant (April, 1989)

(photo by Jack Broyer)

Planning Paul Hadley mini-park (1989)

(Mooresville Times, July 21, 1999)

Janet (Griffin) Buckley sits atop the

"founder's stone" in Paul Hadley mini-park

with "Flat" Cauli Le Chat & "Flat" Dovydas

during Mooresville's Victorian Christmas

(December 3, 2011)

(photo by William R. Buckley)

State historical marker commemorating Paul Hadley

& the Indiana State Flag being unveiled

(August 6, 2016)

(photo by William R. Buckley)

Mooresville Bicentennial Park

(December 5, 2017)

(photo by William R. Buckley)