Centennial Neighborhood District is a national historic district located at Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana. The area originated as the Bartholomew and Davis Additions to Lafayette in 1829. Growth came rapidly after the Wabash and Erie Canal arrived in 1843. Growth continued with the arrival of the railroad in 1853. The Centennial Neighborhood Historic District takes its name from the Centennial School, which was constructed in 1876 on the centennial of the nation. The school was located on the north east corner of Brown Street at North 6th Street. The school has been removed and a park created at its original location.
History
The area began to grow in the 1830s as the boundaries of Lafayette expanded north and east of the Wabash River. It was the introduction of the Wabash Canal in 1843 that lead to rapid growth. The Canal followed the route of Canal Road and the current tracks on the west side of the neighborhood. The area began to develop mills, warehouses and wharves serving the canal. The Reverend Samuel Johnson built a house in 1844 on the north east corner of Ferry and Sixth Streets, which is the oldest structure in the district. The following year, 1844, Richard DeHart House was constructed at 602 N. Fifth Street. The canal growth came to a close with the arrival of the railroads in 1853. Five houses represent the canal era, located 716 and 729 Brown Street, 636 Ferry Street, 713-715 North Fourth Street. The Lafayette and Indianapolis Railroad was the first railroad to arrive in Lafayette in 1852. It ended on Main Street near the current Amtrak Depot, in the Downtown Historic District several blocks south of the neighborhood. It was the New Albany and Salem Railroad, later called the Monon Railroad that arrived in 1853, following Fifth Street that began the growth of the area. The following year, 1854, the Wabash Railroad cut an angle along the Erie Street route, just east side of the district. The railroads needed housing for their crews. The row house at 417-427 North Fourth Street is representative of the housing built during this boom. The more affluent residence built along Ferry Street. Outstanding examples include the Handley House at 632-634 Ferry Street and the Oppenheimer House at 604 North Sixth Street. It was in this district that religious and educational structures predominate. St. John's Episcopal Church was built from 1851 to 1858, and is the district's oldest surviving church. Built during the 1860s and 1870s in the Gothic Revival Style are St. James Lutheran Church, Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, and St. Boniface Catholic Church. Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church began ad Lafayette's first black school. The Albert A. Wells Memorial Public Library was built in 1928 and is an outstanding example of the Neoclassical style. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
