11/11/2017

Huntington Indiana

Huntington Indiana

I'm not entirely sure why, but Huntington Indiana has a really nice collection of late 19th and turn of the century commercial buildings in its downtown. Huntington, it seems, has hit the historic preservation sweet spot. This is somewhere between so little investment over the years that buildings deteriorate, and so much investment over the years that older buildings are torn down and replaced. Huntington mostly avoided the parking lot building craze that swept the nation from the 50s to the 70s which as left its downtown blocks mostly intact. Something in the late 1800s gave the people of Huntington enough wealth to construct some really handsome buildings. I'm not exactly sure what the sources of income were. Huntington was a port on the Wabash and Erie canal. It was established with the canal in the 1830s and still has a few canal period buildings, which is unusual. Huntington has grown slowly since 1910 but hasn't had any significant periods of decline. It doesn't seem to have been dominated or become dependent on any single industry as was often the case in northern Indiana. Huntington is home to the Dan Quayle Museum and Center which I did not visit but has generally been a source of amusement to those I mention it to, so I kind of wish I had. Huntington is just a few miles from always interesting Fort Wayne. Southwest of Huntington are the fascinating Wabash and Erie canal towns of Peru and Logansport.

 

Huntington Indiana

Huntington Indiana

Huntington Indiana

Huntington Indiana

Huntington Indiana

Huntington Indiana

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