Haughville is a working-class neighborhood west of downtown Indianapolis. Its borders are roughly White River Parkway to the east, Tibbs Avenue to the west, 16th Street to the north, and Michigan Street to the south. It was first settled in the 1830s and grew after a bridge over White River was built connecting to Indianapolis, which annexed the town in 1897. The modern version of the bridge is also the connection between Haughville on the west side of the river and the Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital and Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis on the east. The population in the late 1890s included Slovenian, German, and Irish immigrants, among other European immigrants. In the 21st century, the neighborhood suffers from a high crime rate and low property values. While the crime rate has been high and property values have been low, organizations such as Westside Community Development Corporation and Urban Indy Development Corporation are currently working to provide access to food security, better housing, social opportunities, and economic development.
History
A portion of the neighborhood, roughly bounded by 10th Street, Belleview Place, Walnut Street. and Concord Street, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Haughville Historic District, a national historic district. The district encompasses 329 contributing buildings. This area includes the site of the former housing project, Concord Village. The area was first settled in the 1830s when it became home to a number of merchants, whose small shops sprouted up near the west landing of the then-brand-new Washington Street Bridge over the White River. By the 1880s, encouraged by the bridge and proximity to a number of new railroad lines, the town became home to a number of Irish, German, and later Slovene immigrants, many of whom worked in the neighborhood's two iron foundries or in meat-packing plants. The Haugh and Ketcham Iron Works gave the town its name. The area was incorporated in 1883 and annexed by Indianapolis in 1897. By 1900, almost half of the neighborhood's inhabitants were Slovene, many of whom attended St. Anthony's Catholic church. Due to tensions with the largely Irish population at St. Anthony's parish, the Slovenian community petitioned Vicar General Denis D. O'Donaghue to build their own church. Permission was received and Holy Trinity Slovenian Catholic Church began in April 1906. Holy Trinity is the only Slovenian Catholic church in the United States and is also an international historical landmark. It was first designated a national church, then later as a territorial church by the Catholic hierarchy. Holy Trinity eventually became home to a school, a number of local organizations, and a Slovene community center. The church closed its doors in 2015. The neighborhood's Slovene past is one of the reasons that Indianapolis has a sister-city relationship with Piran, Slovenia. The Slovenian National Home was formed in 1906 in a basement of a home across the street from Holy Trinity Slovenian Catholic Church as a place to congregate outside of the church and home. Today the "Nash" is located at 2717 W. 10th street, where it has been a pillar of the community since 1940. The National Home is a private club for Slovenian people, their descendants, and friends. The application to be a Historic Neighborhood indicates the period of significance to be 1895 to 1942, and shows a map of the location of the area relative to Indianapolis. A map of the district itself is also available. The Haughville Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
Demographics
As of 2011, there were an estimated 8,043 people, a slight increase since 2000. However this represents the over Near Westside Weed and Seed area, which incorporates the population of a small section of other neighborhoods surrounding Haughville. The population of Haughville itself is estimated at around 6,500, while the makeup of Haughville is approximately 92 percent African-American or Black descent. The remaining percent of the area is said to be a mixture of White and an increasing Hispanic population. Of the adult population, 40.7% do not have a high school diploma. The overall neighborhood's per capita income is $9,760 and an average household income of $17,321 making the entire neighborhood well below the average per capita and household income of Indianapolis.
Crime
Since 1992, Haughville has been a member of Indianapolis's Weed and Seed initiative, a federal program that targets high crime areas in Indianapolis and attempts to lower the amount of crime. It was the first neighborhood in Indianapolis to participate in this program. According to The Indianapolis Star, Haughville had the most violent crime in the city of Indianapolis in the year 2005, with approximately 449 violent crimes taking place in Haughville. However, this number is far below the record 2,589 violent crimes recorded in 1997 according to the IPD West District . During the 1990s, Haughville averaged 30 homicides a year, having the dubious honor of having one of the highest homicide rates in the nation for a neighborhood of its size.
