Branding Traders Point and TPAN

Friday, May 18, 2007

Discussion has begun about how we distinguish our area so that Realtors and home buyers understand what we have to offer. Of course, part of what we have involves whispering not shouting as to speak too much might change what we have. So it is with some hesitation that we consider a proposal to “brand” our neighborhood. In a way this began over a year ago when we created TPAN, an umbrella of many neighborhoods and home owner’s associations that share the common interest of being within the “triangle”. TPAN has become a voice and an advocate for interests in the area that is unprecedented. TPAN has been instrumental in getting neighbors to talk to each other about schools, home values, our distinctives, and about what each of us can do to maintain the unique history and rural lifestyle that we have so close to the city. One of the ideas for branding is to create median signage at the points of ingress to the triangle. The West 86th Street Homeowner’s Association has offered to fund the sign and maintain the median near their development at West 86th Street near 465. Other signs might be located near 71st and I-465, near I-65 and Lafayette Road, and on Indianapolis Road where it becomes Lafayette Road and on 96th Street and Moore Road.

Branding, if handled properly, can call attention to our community in a tasteful and positive way without changing it and serve to distinguish it from other parts of the township, the county, and the region.

One of the questions is what to call our area. I am a fan of the moniker Traders Point for a very simple reason. When you go to Mapquest or Google Maps and type in Traders Point, Indiana, the result accurately pinpoints a spot inside of our triangle. Thanks to Rand McNally putting the tiny hamlet that is no more on the map years ago, we are still there today. And that is a great thing that no negotiated name can ever give us.

About Ross Reller

I am pleased you have expressed interest in learning more about the historic Traders Point area in Indianapolis, Indiana. From 1980 to 1982 I was employed in the PR department at Conner Prairie Museum in Hamilton County. There I learned about William Conner, an important figure in Indiana's pioneer days. A decade later I became interested in the history of the Traders Point area and was surprised to learn that William Conner had been the first land owner in the area. In 1823 he acquired, through the Federal land office in Brookville, a patent for an 80 acre tract carved by Eagle Creek and an Indian trail that was about to be named the first toll roadway through the township (Lafayette Road). Thirty years later a village took shape within this tract. A grain mill on the creek, houses, churches, stores, restaurants, and two gas stations would take shape here in the creek valley hamlet of Traders Point. By 1962 all improvements (except a farmer's co-op) had been removed by the Indianapolis Flood Control Board to make way for Interstate 65 and a new reservoir. This blog is dedicated to preserving evidence of this historic area but I will occasionally use it to discuss related topics. To activate this follow, simply click the confirm button below. If you don't want to follow, ignore this message and we'll never bother you again. I am also a member of the Old Pleasant Hill Cemetery, a non profit association still selling burial plots for those who would like to spend all eternity in Traders Point, and I am an officer in the Pike Township Historical Society and the Traders Point Association of Neighborhoods.

View all posts by Ross Reller →

This entry was posted in Distinctives and tagged tpan, triangle. Bookmark the permalink.