One of the more bleak mid-sized Indiana towns, but there are some spots that are hopeful. It's an old GM town. The automaker pulled out around 1992, closing all of its plants. There are still some GM remnants in town, but mostly just grass fields and empty promises of industrial parks to be built stand where GM used to be. NPR reported GM employed over 25,000 people in Anderson at 20 different plants at its height. The auto industry is a cruel mistress, and it's clear that Anderson is still picking up the pieces to some extent. Nowadays, it's home to some great underutilized historic buildings a stone's throw from the suburban building boom craze going on in Noblesville and Fishers. It's pretty striking to go from one to the other, especially heading out along SR 109 to see the old Anderson Mound Mall commercial corridor on the way out. Makes me wonder when, not if, this town will make a big comeback. Nobody build buildings this high of quality anymore, it's a gold mine for somebody with the right vision and capital to make redevelopment happen.

 

Info on GM in Anderson:  https://www.npr.org/2009/07/15/106655302/skeletons-of-the-auto-industry-linger-across-u-s

 

The "Art Alley". I was on a time crunch, apologies for the lack of pictures of said artwork. All of it is on the building on the LH side

 

Need more parking? I doubt it. But in case you want it, you won't be fighting for a spot in here.

 

Very curious what this used to be. Now it's one of the most regal insurance agencies in the USA. Not that the insurance agency occupying it cares.

 

Believe it or not, this is only one of two 10+ story tall buildings in this town of 55,000 residents:

 

Ornate church? Sure. Crazy to see what society used to build, right next to a cheap-o new build office building ruining the view a bit.

 

Ferda boys, I guess?

 

Kinda forgot how much Indiana loves their limestone. This is a great reminder. Gorgeous church.

 

Out-of-place little cottage right in the heart of downtown. Wonder what its history might be? In the foreground is the bus station / library building. 

 

An ill-placed parking lot taking up what could be an awesome town square with an amphitheater. 

 

Left side is the bus station, right side is the library. This is a new build, the library is not open yet. It's the only new building, from what I could tell, in at least a 5-block radius.

 

This is probably the cool people's entrance to the FOE. Squares go in the front.

 

A little bit of Anderson grit

 

A gorgeous building that I'm thankful did not get cladded.

 

Gives 1950s vibes... greasers, bops on the jukebox, muscle cars parked along the street. Maybe it's the ice cream parlor style awning that's doing it for me.

 

Who the f*** puts a GARAGE DOOR facing MAIN STREET literally in the center of town? Apparently these people, that's who. 

 

Guns, ammo, an unfortunate self reflection, and of course the garage door in the reflection... maybe the gun store would have done better if they didn't paint their building blue.

 

First time I've seen a motivational statement on a street sign. IDK how to feel about it. Probably doesn't matter since no one is downtown to pay attention to it anyways.

 

The one section of a block taht gives some hope this could be a pretty mid-sized town. Faces a nice little park. 

 

IDK how this was dedicated in 2002, would anybody familiar with the city help me understand? Either way, they did a decent job.

 

This sign makes the Daytonian in me happy

 

Again, so much potential here. Also, interesting use of Meridian Street as a name. Is Anderson's original city plan inspired by Indianapolis?

 

Sculptures in a small park, historic church, an American flag. Neat little spot in the center of town.

 

I'm finding it hard to believe this town was founded this late... 1865. Crazy.

 

The historic theater in town. Not going to lie, I like it. 

 

This place is trying. Looks like it could be fun. Definitely a mom & pop. Right on Main St, next to the closed gun store that was painted blue. Hope they do well, downtown Anderson in 2024 would be a harsh place to try and make it. I would have bought something here myself but they were closed when I was in town for this quick trip.

Edited April 18, 20241 yr by SWOH

A gun shop on MLK Jr. Blvd. Lord...

You’re right, I didn’t even think about that lol. Shows what they really care about… 

Isn't it weird that Columbus' MLK is only 1/4 mile long? In other towns businesses wind up on MLK without thinking because their MLKs are much longer.

4 hours ago, GCrites said:

Isn't it weird that Columbus' MLK is only 1/4 mile long? In other towns businesses wind up on MLK without thinking because their MLKs are much longer.

 

Cincinnati's MLK was made fairly long in part to help with wayfinding.  But there were proposals to make it much longer - like 10+ miles long by renaming Hopple, Westwood-Northern Blvd, and all of Madison Rd. after MLK in one long swath across the center of the county. 

 

Anderson still has a good cluster of buildings along Meridian Street, but it is amazing how much has been demolished in the city. The entire courthouse square--the courthouse itself and surrounding blocks--were all demolished. There's a good summary here:

Embracing the Wrecking Ball: The Demolition of Anderson, Indiana (1950-1980) | Bloomington Fading (wordpress.com)

 

 

Wow, demolishing that courthouse is absolutely criminal. Horrible shame.

 

Call me crazy, but with Noblesville/Fishers growing as fast as they have been, ~20 minutes down the road from Anderson, it seems like it'll come back. But it's going to be a herculean effort to make that comeback happen. I was truly surprised by it. Still felt comfortable, but definitely got more Trotwood / west Dayton vibes than even the Lima vibes I was expecting. Maybe it's the fact that it's also basically a food desert in large parts, and they opened a GFS grocery store there just like they did in Trotwood, I'm not sure. 

THanks for these shots. Anderson is probably more like Flint, Gary, or Youngstown than Lima or Dayton - it was never a large city, but at its peak was home to twenty General Motors plants employing 25,000 people. By 2000, all those jobs were gone. I've driven through the neighborhoods of Anderson, and it doesn't look quite as bad as Gary or Youngstown, but Flint is a good analogy.

 

I am not convinced at all that the city will recover because of Indy's northward expansion - take a look at Pontiac, MI or Waukegan, IL - Anderson might eventually be surrounded by new suburbs, but the city probably won't recover without a major annexation or new jobs - very unlikely in a run-down town with only a small religious college.