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Indianapolis circa 1904. "Columbia Club on Monument Circle." Built out to the lot line. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
Could those be the soft lights for the Columbia Club's roof garden?
Given how large the antenna is, including perpendicular wires running from front to back across the roof at intervals, I'd guess this is a long wave antenna for signals at frequencies well below today's broadcast band.
They look more like decorative electric light bulbs vs antenna spacer insulators. At that point they really hadn't "discovered" the usefulness of shortwaves for long-distance communications and were mostly using frequencies around or much lower than the present AM broadcast band for their point-to-point circuits.
As I remember the circle, the church that can be partially seen was the northernmost bit of the NE quarter.
If you could see just a little bit to the left, you'd see straight up Meridian Street. I think the church is still there. The Soldiers and Sailors monument in the middle was blackened by years of soot and exhaust, and was sandblasted to look like new when one of the mayors decided to invest in downtown.
Many doctors had offices on the circle, along with the US Armed Forces induction center(physicals - turn your head and cough).
Wassons department store was also there, but it burned to the ground.
Crossroads of the Nation.
The pictured building is the original, which was razed and replaced in 1925 with a taller, more modern structure. Columbia Club 2.0 still stands and operates as a hotel, restaurant and meeting halls.
As a small child, I remember Mom talking us past a doorway much like that of the Indianapolis Water Company building where sis and I saw our Grandpa at work in his T shirt and suspenders. But he was employed by the Indianapolis Power and Light Co as a mechanic/steam worker. So I hope there are companion photos that might clue me in to where his 'office' was located.
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