Wells Street in Fort Wayne

Chriscrawfordphoto

Chriscrawfordphoto

Real Men Shoot Film.
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Since the beginning of the summer, I have been photographing one of my hometown's oldest and most interesting neighborhoods. The area centered on Wells Street, which was built in the 1860s, is a mix of working class residents and small locally owned businesses that was neglected for decades because of the relatively poor people who live in the area. In the last couple years some new businesses have opened and the city has begun to fix up the infrastructure too.

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The Bean Cafe & Teahouse


tricycle.jpg

In front of the building that houses The Bean. The second floor has several apartments.


paralyzed-veterans.jpg

Paralyzed Hoosier Veterans


artistry-in-ink-tattoo.jpg

Abandoned tattoo shop


buy-sell-everything.jpg

Abandoned storefront


michoacana-ice-cream.jpg

Mexican ice cream parlor


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Storefront church and appliance store


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A house on Wells Street


There are 27 photos total online, and more to come, see all of the Wells Street photos here.
 
A nice showing of your hometown Chris. I'm definitely taking some film cameras with me when I get 'Back Home In Indiana' for Christmas. I find something new or missing each time I go there.

PF
 
That would be Greensburg, Chris. Where they built the new Honda plant. I was halfway around the world once, and ran into someone in Sri Lanka who had been to Greensburg before, and he remembered the tree in the courthouse tower. And there you have it, the only two things Greensburg is known for.

PF
 
Chris, I've been watching these pop up on your Facebook page. I like 'em all. My favorite is the abandoned "buy sell everything" store. A commentary on our times and a beautifully made image, too.
 
I'm liking that "all in one church" , first some prayer then buy some appliances after the service... hard to beat that convenience!
 
Chris,
this is a really nice set of B&W images
Living near Morrisville, and Franklin Indiana, I see old towns too,
Maybe there are some images to be captured...
 
DNG said:
Chris,
this is a really nice set of B&W images
Living near Morrisville, and Franklin Indiana, I see old towns too,
Maybe there are some images to be captured...
Click to expand...

There probably are, small towns are very interesting. They seem to have a lot of older buildings, where big cities tend to be into 'urban renewal', which means demolishing anything that has any history or beauty and replacing it with some godawful monstrosity. My Wells Street stuff is actually in Fort Wayne, a city of 250,000 people, which is why it interests me. It is one of the few old neighborhoods left that hasn't been screwed up by the modern world.
 
farlymac said:
That would be Greensburg, Chris. Where they built the new Honda plant. I was halfway around the world once, and ran into someone in Sri Lanka who had been to Greensburg before, and he remembered the tree in the courthouse tower. And there you have it, the only two things Greensburg is known for.

PF
Click to expand...

Cool, I had never heard of that tree in the courthouse. i googled it. You're on the other side of the state from me. Most of my work has been in northern Indiana, especially northeast Indiana near Ft. Wayne, since I can afford to drove to the places near here without too much trouble. I should go down there and photograph that tree sometime!
 
Chris,

Fastest way to get there is take I-69 South to exit 26 (Anderson/Rt 9 Bypass/Rt 109) going south on 109 to Rt 38. Rt 38 East to New Castle, where you catch Rt 3, then turn south again to Greensburg. Or you could just get on Rt 3 in Fort Wayne, and take it all the way. If you have all day that is.

I've been by or through Ft Wayne a few times. I actually spent a night there a few years ago when one of my nieces got married in the conservatory downtown at Christmas time. It was a wonderful place to have the ceremony, and the guests had a great time going through all the displays. I wished that I could have spent some time driving around and getting to know the place a bit, but I was in a convoy of vehicles making our way back south and didn't get the chance to veer off the marked trail. How far north is Wells St from the main E/W drag?

PF
 
Last edited by a moderator:
farlymac said:
Chris,

Fastest way to get there is take I-69 South to exit 26 (Anderson/Rt 9 Bypass/Rt 109) going south on 109 to Rt 38. Rt 38 East to New Castle, where you catch Rt 3, then turn south again to Greensburg. Or you could just get on Rt 3 in Fort Wayne, and take it all the way. If you have all day that is.

I've been by or through Ft Wayne a few times. I actually spent a night there a few years ago when one of my nieces got married in the conservatory downtown at Christmas time. It was a wonderful place to have the ceremony, and the guests had a great time going through all the diplays. I wished that I could have spent some time driving around and getting to know the place a bit, but I was in a convoy of vehicles making our way back south and didn't get the chance to veer off the marked trail. How far north is Wells St from the main E/W drag?

PF
Click to expand...


The botanical conservatory is on Jefferson Blvd, a one way street going east. If you take Calhoun Street, which runs alongside the conservatory, north to Main Street then left on Main and then turn right on Ewing a few blocks west of Calhoun, it'll take you right there. Ewing crosses the river about a block north of Main and the name changes to Wells Street after you cross the bridge, so its really close, just north of the downtown area.
 
The lack of people in these gives them an eerie feeling ... like one of those old low budget science fiction movies from the fifties and sixties with car doors open, engines running, shop doors swinging in the breeze but no one around ... the aliens took them!

:D
 
Well, I was close then. I remember taking one little trip around after I found the hotel, and may have been headed up Ewing, but that was a few years ago and the memory isn't all that clear. I do remember wanting to get some shots of the cathedral downtown. That place is huge.

PF
 
farlymac said:
Well, I was close then. I remember taking one little trip around after I found the hotel, and may have been headed up Ewing, but that was a few years ago and the memory isn't all that clear. I do remember wanting to get some shots of the cathedral downtown. That place is huge.

PF
Click to expand...

The coolest thing on Ewing is the old camera store at the corner of Ewing and Washington Blvd!
 
Very nice set, Chris. I've been doing something similar with my current home town of Fort Dodge, Iowa. The town used to be known as "Little Chicago", primarily for its Chicago-style architecture, but also because it was a distribution center for liquor that was smuggled down from Canada and trucked to Chicago during the prohibition era.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/greyscale3/sets/72157625502245162/
 
Beautiful shots, Chris.

I lived in IN for a year and a half: Kokomo, a bit south from your stomping grounds, and not quite as photogenic... except for the huge sycamore stump and the stuffed giant bull that were in a park! :) Gotta see it to believe it!

Greensburg IN is a very small place. When my wife and I were grad students and went to a conference in Cincinnatti OH, we drove from Champaign IL across IN and stopped for dinner at a nice, small place in Greensburg, where they serve thousands of fried chicken pieces per week. And, of course, you gotta see the tree atop the courthouse! :)

In the midwest, you gotta have a gimmick! ;)
 
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