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.
Historic Traders Point Indiana 
I went through J.K.’s glass images with interest, although almost all of them seem to be family photos. Maxine Stevens had two aunts who were twins, Stella and Della (Della married Russell Marsh, and Stella’s married name escapes me at the moment)–I wondered if some of the photos of 2 girls together might be of the twins?! I knew them as elderly women, of course, from 1956-63. Incidently, the “About Archivist” paragraph above mentions that all improvements except the Farmer’s Co-op (AND the Fire Station!) had been removed by 1962, but that’s not the case. I moved from Traders Point in October, 1963 and all of the village was still intact then. I lived in the parsonage on Wilson Road, just west of where it met Dandy Trail. I used to walk into the village on summer days and purchase baseball cards at the little general store on the corner of Hwy 51 and Dandy Trail. In the summer of 1963, I-65 was being built, and we could ride our bikes on it all the way to Zionsville that summer, since cars were not on the roadway yet. Just thought you would want to get the dates straight. Incidently, the colored photo at the top of this website shows the Traders Point Church of Christ just to the right of the Standard sign–they were a non-instrumental congregation, apparently having split from Traders Point Christian Church in the late 1800s. Their building was south of TPCC by about 1/4 mile, on the same side of Lafayette Road, and had a much more squared-off look to the building than “our” church (my dad was the minister), which had the traditional white steeple. Ruth Ann Parish, Everett, WA 3/5/2012
Hello Ruth,
I sure hope you are still receiving emails. I am quite familiar with old Traders Point and the Church of Christ, you mentioned. I have a history of this church and the names of many of it members. Yes, you are correct, some of the folks of the (old) T.P. Christian Church did break away and start the C. of C. congregation.
Did you graduate from Pike? If so, when?
I sure hope you receive this and will reply!
Thank you,
Glenda (Handell) Malcom