The Blackford Subdivisions on IU Indianapolis Campus

On April 1st, 1835, Isaac Blackford purchased three land parcels on the southwest corner of North and West Streets. Covering 27.42 acres, the properties— known at the time as Lots 152, 153, and 154 — stretched as far west as today’s Blackford Street on the West and New York Street on the South, for a combined amount of $553.00. This area, now part of the IU Indianapolis Campus, was undeveloped at the time and not yet incorporated into the city. Blackford began subdividing the land in the 1850s, yet much of the development started in that area in the 1860s years after his death. Looking at the 1917 Baist Maps of Lots 152, 152,153, and 154, his half-sister Mary Coon Condit who inherited Blackford’s wealth, profited from these lands as many of the subdivisions are in her name.

Once, a subdivision was located at the corner of Blackford Street and Vermont, where Erie and Rachel Locke purchased land off Blackford in September 1857. The Lockes held the land until 1869, when they sold one of their lots to Elizabeth and William Chamberlin. Elizabeth Chamberlin appears in the 1880 census as a widow whose father was from Ireland and mother from New York. Ultimately, Indiana University acquired the property from Fannie Hyde, a schoolteacher, in the late 1960s to early 1970s.

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