Ohio Boulevard–Deming Park Historic District Explained

Ohio Boulevard–Deming Park
Nrhp Type:hd
Coordinates:39.4658°N -87.3608°W
Location:Roughly Ohio Boulevard from 19th to Keane, Terre Haute, Indiana
Architect:George E. Kessler
Added:September 14, 1989
Refnum:89001425[1]
Nocat:yes

Ohio Boulevard–Deming Park Historic District is a boulevard in Terre Haute, Vigo County, Indiana.

Designed by architect and city planner George E. Kessler, the boulevard is long. At its start at the intersection with 19th Street is an entrance including a stone structure on either side of the road. There the road is wide, expanding to wide at 20th street to accommodate an 80adj=midNaNadj=mid median.[2] [3]

The median is maintained by the city of Terre Haute as city park land. In the teardrop-shaped green space formed as the boulevard branches and widens between 19th and 20th streets is a fountain, restored in 2002. This small area was dedicated as Remembrance Plaza on September 11, 2002, in honor of those who lost their lives in the September 11 attacks one year prior.

The boulevard was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989 for its significance in architecture, landscaping and the history of the region.

Deming Park

Demas Deming Jr., the son of an early settler of Terre Haute, began developing the district on a large tract of land owned by his family. Using money acquired from the sale of another parcel of land to the city of Terre Haute that became Deming Park, around 1921 the Deming family created a scenic boulevard with a scenic parkway in the middle stretching from 19th Street to Fruitridge Avenue.[4] Currently, the park consists of 177acres and includes a public swimming pool, an 18-hole disc golf course, the Oakley Playground and the Clark-Landsbaum Holly Arboretum.[5] [3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ohio Boulevard–Demming Park Historic District. 2010-05-28. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. Greninger . Howard . Ohio Boulevard: "Park" is main artery for city . Tribune-Star . Terre Haute, Indiana . June 3, 2010.
  3. Web site: Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD) . Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology . Searchable database. 2016-07-01. Note: This includes Web site: National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Ohio Boulevard–Deming Park Historic District. 2016-07-01. Anne Tillotson and David Buchanan . PDF. April 1996., Site map, Quad map, and Accompanying photographs
  4. Book: Vigo County, Indiana . Vigo County Interim Report . 1984 . Indiana . 80–81.
  5. Web site: Deming Park . City of Terre Haute website . City of Terre Haute, Indiana . June 30, 2010.