Huntington, Indiana, Population 17,450 according to the 2000 census, is the seat of Huntington County.

 

Around 1970 Huntington, like many towns hoping to revitalize dwindling downtown retail activity, created a pedestrian mall on two or three blocks of Jefferson Street, the main downtown business street. I'd be hesitant to say the mall finished it off, but few traces of the mall remain.

 

 

 

 

 

Huntington takes great pride in being the hometown of former Vice President Dan Quayle. Whenever he visits, Nick's Kitchen is the gathering place for Mr. Quayle, his hometown friends and the press.

 

Downtown has retained quite a few handsome upper-level facades and some beautiful cornices.

 

 

 

I wonder what hides under that metal cladding. I like the jewelry store entrance and marquee a lot.

 

 

This is nice; it looks like canal era.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Huntington was served by two Class I railroads, the Wabash, now Norfolk Southern, and the Erie, later Erie Lackawanna. The Erie Lackawanna didn't make the cut with Conrail and mostly died in 1976; a couple of short lines tried but couldn't make a go of it. Prior to 1916 the Chicago Bluffton & Cincinnati ran parallel with the Erie. It was an ill-starred venture from its beginning, and after it shut down its rolling stock was loaded on a ship for France for use in WWI. The ship was torpedoed in the North Atlantic, and all that remains of the CB&C is somewhere on the bottom of a cold ocean.

 

The Detroit - Kansas City main line of the former Wabash Railroad, now owned and operated by Norfolk Southern. Many freight trains pass through Huntington every day, but the Wabash Cannonball doesn't run here any more; this was one of the passenger lines that Amtrak declined to pick up in 1971.

 

 

Freight house, now a pizza parlor.

 

Passenger depot.

 

The Huntington County Courthouse was designed by Vincennes, Indiana, architect John W. Gaddis and built 1901-1906.

 

 

 

 

 

It's a well-maintained, handsome building outside and in, and the stained glass and decorative painting are intact and restorable. I like to imagine what a stunning beauty this courthouse could be if restored and made bright again.

 

 

 

The stained-glass dome over the rotunda is lavishly detailed, and deserves some illumination to show it off.

 

 

 

This row of buildings extended across a bridge to the left. I remember being in one, an antique shop, in the mid seventies. One of the buildings collapsed and I think some others were declared unsafe. The bridge has been replaced, and the buildings are gone.

 

 

Odd Fellows times two.

 

 

 

 

 

The railroad and the river give downtown some angled streets that add character.

 

 

The LaFontaine, now senior apartments, was Huntington's finest hotel back in the day; the Wabash Depot was just a scant block away, and the interurban between Fort Wayne and Lafayette with connections to Indianapolis stopped right out front.

 

 

Well-kept Romanesque City Hall is right across the street from the LaFontaine.

 

 

 

 

You'd best behave!

 

I like the Public Library's industrial motif. Gallery roofs help to distribute natural light to interior areas.

 

Mmmmmmm!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fort Wayne's Wolf & Dessauer had a department store in Huntington in the fifties & sixties.

 

 

To become senior housing.

 

Former home of Our Sunday Visitor and other Catholic publications.

 

 

 

 

Heading north out of downtown, Jefferson Street rises sharply. St. Mary's Catholic Church and Sts. Peter and Paul, just a couple of blocks away, have a commanding view of the downtown.

 

Some grand old houses look over downtown from the hill.

 

 

 

It looks like someone is seriously working on this one. It stood vacant and boarded up for many years, but now most of the plywood is gone, replaced with new windows and even some beautiful stained glass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saint Marys.

 

 

Saints Peter and Paul.

 

1868 Jessie Davies house - one of the finest Italianate houses I've seen, in a prime location at the corner of Poplar and Tipton Streets overlooking the town.

 

 

 

Very nice, Rob.  When I stopped in Huntington a couple of years ago, I didn't really know what to expect but really found myself underwhelmed with the condition of downtown.  Such a fantastic collection of buildings, but most seemed to be empty and starting to look shabby.  In your pictures, it looks like things might be improving some.  Seems like some of the buildings have been repaired and repainted and, in general, downtown looks in better condition than I remember.  Hopefully that is the case because it really seemed like there was so much potential in Huntington. 

Great work Rob.

I love that court house.

I remember this place (I'm guessing from dfly's photos) and am quite impressed once again. Makes me think of Marion, Ohio.

 

GREAT TOUR!!!

Fantastic!

Something very Indiana-y about it. I like it.

Impressive, clean looking town. Thanks for the visit.

i liked the movie theater.  i'm into those lately.

Interesting town.

I always see the highway exit signs for Huntington, but never been there.......nice little burg.

 

Dan Quayle LOL

 

That is one cheesy memorial. Natural gas, light it up!

That is one cheesy memorial. Natural gas, light it up!

 

That was my reaction too, but I'm not surprised when I encounter cheesiness in Huntington. After all, it's Dan Quayle's hometown.

 

Some evidence of the town's German heritage survives, but there's a lot of Appalachian Scots-Irish all over the place.

Very cool!