The Old South Side was a tight-knit community made up of a mix of Jewish and African American residents. While it thrived, there was a great entrepreneurial spirit that centered primarily around South Meridian Street Between McCarty and Morris Streets.

Some of the businesses represented in this area included grocery stores, Kosher meat markets, Kosher bakeries, drug stores, theaters, etc. 

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One of the statements we have heard over and over while talking to the residents who remember this period in time is that they had everything they needed. The community of the Old South Side was self-sufficient. They did not have to travel far to buy what they needed as everything was within walking distance. If they were in need of a drug store, they would encourage one of their young people to pursue a career as a pharmacist. 

 

However, this self-sufficient community changed due to multiple factors including the migration of many of the Jewish residents to the suburbs on the North Side, the building of Interstate 70 through the middle of the neighborhood, and most recently the fallout from the construction of Lucas Oil Stadium. Today, little remains of this once bustling business district. A few buildings still stand on the corner of South Meridian and Morris, but most of the buildings and the businesses that filled them are gone.

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Our goal with this project is to create a walking tour of the South Meridian Business District that tells the story of the past while the user is walking physically in the present.