Thomas Park Avondale

12 stops in the South Side of Muncie

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Thomas Park Avondale

Muncie, Indiana 47303, United States

Created By: Ball State University

Tour Information

The Ross Community Center collaborated with Ball State University’s Public History Program to create a walking tour documenting sites or cultural significance in the Thomas Park-Avondale neighborhood of Muncie. This project was done as part of the Ross Center’s 50th anniversary celebration.

The director of the Public History Program, Dr. Wendy Soltz and students enrolled in HIST 240: Introduction to Public History worked with Jacqueline Hanoman (Director of the Ross Center) and several community volunteers during the spring of 2024 to research 12 important sites throughout the neighborhood. Students also interviewed local community leaders of the Thomas Park-Avondale neighborhood. Department of History MA student, Kegan Mixdorf, conducted additional research, worked to edit the walking tour text, and added narration.

The tour is roughly three miles long and takes around one hour to complete.


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What You'll See on the Tour

Location: Bounded by W. 10th Street, S. Pierce Street, W. 9th Street, and S. Birch Street (Rose Park); 1110 W. 10th Street (Ross Center)  Year Built: 1917 (Rose Park); 1974 (Community Center)  Current Use: Public Park and Community Cen... Read more
Location: 809 W. 8th Street  Year Opened: Unknown, after 1911.  Current Use: Demolished, Planned site for new crisis center  The Workman’s Bar was opened on the site of an old barber shop sometime after 1911.[1] The bar served as South... Read more
Location: 900 W. 8th Street  Year Opened: 2016  Current Use: Corner Store and Music Venue  The Common Market is a combination general store, restaurant, and music venue that was opened on June 14, 2016 by Mike Martin and Cory Gipson in t... Read more
Location: 920 W. 8th Street  Year Built: 1935  Current Use: Planned adaptive reuse as Avondale Arts Co-Op     The Plank Family, including brothers Burle and William Plank, emigrated from Russia in the early 20th century.[1] Once establ... Read more
Location: Lot bounded by W. 8th Street, S. Perkins Avenue, W. 2nd Street, and S. Elliot Street.  Year Opened: 1919 (Muncie Products Company), 1935 (Chevrolet-Muncie)  Current Use: Demolished, Planned site of solar farm  The Muncie Chevro... Read more
Location: 1314 W. 10th Street  Year Built: 1920-1921  Current Use: Church    The deed to the land where the Avondale United Methodist Church now stands was signed to the Trustees of Avondale Methodist Episcopal Church on November 12, 18... Read more
Location: W. 9th Street & S. Port Avenue  Year Opened: 1967  Current Use: Vacant  Jack Gommel opened Gommel’s Meat market in 1967 after he purchased a local butchery.[1] The original location of the market was a half block east at ... Read more
Location: 1917 W. Memorial Drive  Year Opened: 1956  Current Use: Vacant  B&K (Bergerson and Kenefick) Root Beer opened in 1956 as part of a midwestern chain of root beer stands which was started in 1940 in Wabash, Indiana and had ov... Read more
Location: Bounded by Rochester Avenue, W. Memorial Drive, W. 15th Street, and S. Kathy Drive.  Year Opened: 1935  Current Use: Park  Thomas Park opened in 1935 during the height of the Great Depression.[1] Named in honor of Reverend Eddi... Read more
Origin: South-east Muncie  Mouth: The White River in Yorktown  Buck Creek begins in southeast Muncie and marks the southern border of the Thomas Park-Avondale neighborhood before emptying into the White River.[1] It was named after Buckho... Read more
Location: 1110 W.  Memorial Drive  Year Built/Established: 1960/1974  Current Use: The Friends of Muncie Public Library  The Webb-Hunt branch of the Muncie Public Library was named after Webb Hunt, who was the principal of nearby Lincol... Read more
Location: S. Pierce Street intersections of 9th and 11th Streets.  Year Constructed: Late 19th Century  Current Use: Integrated into current street layout   The Muncie Driving Park was a horse driving track built sometime after the Civi... Read more

 

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