At a recent Mirror Indy Chat N Chew event in Hawthorne, a resident told me they wanted to know where the neighborhood’s name came from. I told them the truth: I had no idea.
But the conversation inspired me to look into the origins of the four near west neighborhoods — Hawthorne, Haughville, Stringtown and We Care — plus its neighbor to the south, West Indianapolis.
Each neighborhood has distinct beginnings. Here’s how a tavern, an iron foundry, a boast about fishing, livestock and a love for fellow neighbors helped form the communities we know today.
Hawthorne got its land from a journalist and its name from a novelist
Hawthorne was originally called Mount Jackson…