Terre Haute

Postcards (224) - Seventh Street

This is part of my history and guide to my adopted home - Terre Haute, Indiana.

Terre Haute Postcards: Seventh Street

South Seventh Street showing showing the High School and 1st M. E. Church

South Seventh Street showing showing the High School and 1st M. E. Church.

This postcard, stamped in Terre Haute on June 8th, 1914, has the printed text...

Pub. by Bundy, Terre Haute Ind.

I have another copy of this postcard that was stamped in Terre Haute on February 28th, 1907.

Seventh Street from Wabash Avenue

Seventh Street from Wabash Avenue

The text on the front of the postcards says...

Terre Haute, Ind. Looking North in Seventh Street from Wabash Avenue; showing Government Building, Grand Opera House, and Rose Dispensary.

The text on the back of the postcards says...

Printed in Germany
Book Dep't Root Dry Goods Co.
Raphael Tuck & Sons=' Post Card Series No. 2017. "Terre Haute, Ind."
Art Publishers to Their Majesties The King and Queen

This view shows three main buildings, The Post office & Federal Building on the left, behind which is the ornate Rose Dispensary and opposite then on the right, is the Grand Opera House.

The old Post Office stood on the southwest corner of Cherry and Seventh Streets and was built in 1884. It was demolished in 1932 and the site used for a new Federal building. Parts of this old building was used in the Chauncey Rose Memorial that stands in Fairbanks Park.

The Rose Dispensary stood on the northwest corner of Cherry and Seventh Streets and the construction of it started in 1894. Indiana State University purchased it in 1970 and it was demolished in 1972 to be replaced by Oakley Plaza - the North Seventh Street entrance to the ISU campus.

The Grand Opera House stood on the southeast corner of Cherry and Seventh Streets  and was opened on November 2nd, 1897. In the 1930's it was converted to a movie theatre and renamed the Grand Theatre. It was demolished in 1960 and the site used by Terre Haute House as a parking lot.

From the dates of the buildings, the photograph used for the postcard must have been taken between 1898, when the Grand Opera house was opened, and 1932, when the old Post Office was demolished.

On the back of the postcard there are other clues to the date of this card...

Back of the Seventh Street from Wabash Avenue postcard

Back of the Seventh Street from Wabash Avenue postcard

The post card has an undivided back and has the words "Post Card". From December 24, 1901, the Government allowed postcard manufacturers to use the words "Post Card" instead of "Private Mailing Card". The "undivided back" was reserved for the address and one cent domestic postage or two cent foreign postage. From March 1, 1907, manufacturers were allowed to use a divided back, the right side panel was for the address and the left side for writing messages.

So, with a little detective work this card can be dated to somewhere between 1901 and 1907. I have another copy of this postcard that was posted in Terre Haute on June 20th, 1908.

Seventh Street, Terre Haute

Terre Haute, Ind. Seventh Street showing Government Building and Grand Opera House.

This unused postcard has the printed text...

No. 1437
H. C. Leighton Co., Portland, Me.
Manufacturers of Postal Cards
Made in Germany

This card is unusual in that the reverse has a printed advertisement for a novelty distribution company - B. J. Short Co., of 530 Tremont Street, Boston, Massachusetts. I have other copies of this postcard that does not have this advertisement.

Seventh Street, Terre Haute

Seventh Street

This postcard, stamped in Terre Haute on June 2nd, 1911, has the printed text...

8898
Photoette

I have another copy of this postcard that was posted in Terre Haute on June 27th, 1911.

Seventh and Chestnut Streets, Terre Haute

Seventh and Chestnut Streets showing Walden Flats

This unused postcard has the following text...

A-16083
Published expressly for S. H. Knox & Co.
Made in U.S.A.

"The Walden" opened on October 1st, 1904. It contained six and seven room apartments that boasted baths, hot and cold running water and steam heat. It was demolished in 1988 and the site is now part of the Indiana State University campus.

North Seventh Street, Terre Haute

North Seventh Street showing First Centenary Church, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church and Fairbanks Library, Terre Haute, Ind.

This postcard, stamped in Centerpoint, Indiana on July 17th, but with an unreadable year, has the following text...

A-16077
Published by The Inter-State News Co.
Made in U. S. A.

North Seventh Street, Terre Haute

North Seventh Street

This postcard, stamped in Terre Haute on December 20th, 1908, has the following text...

No. C8368
Published by The Indiana News Company, Indianapolis, Ind.
Dresden - Leipzig - Berlin
Made in Germany
ANC NY Litho-Chrome Trade Mark

This page created October 12, 2008; last modified August 18, 2023