Herron-Morton Place’s First Annual Oktoberfest was a great success! Thank you to all who attended! With over 500 in attendance (despite the rain), we were able to bring in a lot of support for the HMP Park. The Foundation would like to thank all of its volunteers, vendors, and board members for all of their hard work! We could not be happier with the turn out.
(Source: twitter.com)
(Click to enlarge)
Last year marked the 200th anniversary of the original Munich Oktoberfest. As a tribute to this momentous event, here is an infographic describing Oktoberfest by the numbers. Didn’t make it out to Munich last year? Come enjoy Oktoberfest with us this year right here in Indianapolis!
(Source: oktoberfesthmpf.com)
Only one day left to save $5 when you buy tickets ahead and show your support for downtown Indianapolis neighborhoods. Admission on the day of the event will be $10, cash only.
Online Ticketing for Herron-Morton Oktoberfest powered by Eventbrite
Herron-Morton neighbor and HMP Association President Rodney Weaver gave a talk on beer pairings at Dig-IN, a local food festival promoting Indiana food, beer, and wine. Read his recent blog post to learn more about how to pair food and beer when cooking or eating out.
A little over a week ago, I gave a talk on beer pairings at Dig-IN. What surprised me is that my talk filled the speakers tent. Given the level of interest I observed, I thought it might be a good idea to carry the conversation over to the blog.
It all starts out with the ingredients. There are a number of ingredients and steps to making beer and as any homebrewer can tell you, it’s a lot like making a soup. The increased number of ingredients are only one of the reasons that pairing beer with food is not only easier than pairing wine, it’s also more diverse. Pairings can either be complimentary or contrasting. While contrasting pairings are certainly more interesting, they’re also more difficult and can be very off-putting if not executed correctly. For this reason, I recommend everyone start off with complimentary pairings. It’s not only easier to pair similar flavors, but you won’t ruin the meal if the pairing doesn’t work…
Read the rest of Rodney’s guide on the Hoosier Beer Geek blog
Retweet one of the Oktoberfest tweets or repost the Herron-Morton Oktoberfest event on Facebook and you will be entered in to win 2 FREE TICKETS to the event! The contest runs until 5pm tonight. Winners will be announced tomorrow.
The Herron-Morton Place Park welcomes people from all over the city and can be enjoyed by both kids and adults alike. Some of you may not know that the Herron-Morton park can be reserved for $25 for private parties, including birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, engagements, business events and more.
Oktoberfest is a fundraiser for Herron-Morton Place Park as well as an opportunity to build up the community and have fun! Not to mention an awesome line up of food and beer vendors.
Buy tickets ahead for $5 and save while showing your support for downtown Indianapolis neighborhoods. Admission on the day of the event will be $10, cash only.
Online Ticketing for Herron-Morton Oktoberfest powered by Eventbrite
Herron-Morton Place History
by Tom Stark
Herron-Morton Place is creating an Endowment Fund to provide for the continuous care and maintenance of the Herron-Morton Park located on Alabama Street between 19th and 20th Streets. This Park was created by many generous neighbors and other contributors and now needs funding for continued care and maintenance.
Our Neighborhood known now as Herron Morton Place began as part of a 160 acre land patent granted to Thomas O’Neal in November, 1822. Except for improvements made by the State in 1839 to remedy drainage problems, and prevent the repeated flooding of some parts of Indianapolis a mile farther south, the area remained largely undeveloped. A 36 acre wooded tract, however, now bounded roughly by 19th Street, Talbott Street, 22nd Street and Central Avenue, known at the time as Henderson’s Grove became a popular picnic spot around the middle of the 19th century.
In 1859, land in this area was purchased by the Indiana State Board of Agriculture for development as a permanent home for the Indiana State Fair.. The area was considered far enough from the city so as not to interfere with Indianapolis residents, while close enough from the city to allow easy access. Several buildings were constructed on the site, including an exhibition hall, office, and a number of livestock barns.
When the Civil War began in 1861, the area was requisitioned by Indiana Governor Oliver P. Norton to use the new State Fairgrounds as an induction encampment. The fairgrounds buildings soon served as the living quarters for some 5000 new soldiers and the encampment was named Camp Morton. By the war’s end, 15,000 rebel troops had been interred at the camp, with a peak population occurring in July of 1864, reaching approximately 5000 men.
Upon receipt of a $9, 816.56 payment for damages done to the site during the war, the Board of Agriculture rehabilitated the land, preparing it, once again for use as fairgrounds. Improvements to the area included the 1873 construction of a new Exposition building. The Indiana State Fair was held annually at this location for the next 25 years.
In 1890, a few fairgrounds site was established approximately two miles northeast of this location at Maple Road now known as 38th Street. The area now known as our Herron-Morton Place was platted for residential development in 1870.
After the relocation of the Fairgrounds, the old location was purchased by three local businessmen, Willard W. Hubbard, Edward F. Claypool and Elijah B. Martindale. The area was divided into 280 residential building lots. The area was designed as an upper class residential neighborhood and originally boasted such amenities as esplanades on the north-south streets (this feature still exists on New Jersey Street).
Throughout the late 1930’s tough economic climate, the neighborhood slowly began to deteriorate. The continuing trend for the affluent to move ever farther away from the city coupled with the deaths of many of the original homeowners caused the area to undergo a period of neglect and decay. Many of the large homes in the area were divided up into apartments. The area continued to deteriorate throughout the 1940’s, 1950’s and early 1960’s. Crime became a problem and as an increasing segment of the older populations moved or passed away, a considerable amount of the housing stock was lost to fire and forced demolition. The deterioration of this area has largely been halted over the 40 years and renovation efforts have been on-going.
The Herron-Morton Place Neighborhood Association and the Herron-Morton Place Foundation were founded to continued to spearhead attempts to renovate homes within the area, reduce crime and rebuild the neighborhood. Herron-Morton Place was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Many years of planning and developing our neighborhood have contributed to the wonderful atmosphere that neighbors and other downtown areas now enjoy. To ensure that the our neighborhood Park is cared for and improved in the future, it is critical that we create the Endowment Fund to make this happen. Please contribute generously and continue to enjoy Herron-Morton Place Park.
Current line up for Oktoberfest 2011: Upland Brewing Co, Sunking Brewing, Schlafly Beer, Fountain Square Brewing Co, Ivey Spice, Ronda’s Sweetcakes, Scratch Truck, Byrnes Pizza, grilled brats by Joy of All Who Sorrow, and Taste of Philly Pretzels.
You can purchase tickets online, at Upland Tasting Room, or from a HMP Foundation Board Member.
© 2011 Herron-Morton Place Foundation. All rights reserved.
