Eagledale is a post-World War II neighborhood centered near the intersection of 34th Street and Georgetown Road. In the 1950s, a sudden demand for housing, particularly for working-class families, led to the development of planned communities such as Eagledale. Lured by Veterans Administration loans, no down payment, and low-interest mortgages, westside workers eagerly bought prefabricated homes in the new suburb. Advertisements boasted the all-aluminum, maintenance-free exteriors of the houses, as well as the area’s city services, sidewalks, and concrete streets. Buyers could choose among several model homes ranging in price from $10,000 to $15,000.
Sales were brisk as soon as the development opened in 1955, and four years later an estimated 10,000 people lived in 3,400 homes. Additional homes continued to be built into the 1960s, and schools, churches, and the Eagledale Shopping Center were constructed to accommodate the influx of families.
The new development overshadowed the nearby village of , founded around 1900 at West 30th Street and Lafayette Road. Joseph Flack opened a grocery store near the Olive Branch Methodist Church and the post office, then later built a brickyard in the area. Flackville was a small community until the 1950s when suburbanization brought extensive commercial and residential development. It was annexed by Indianapolis in 1961. By the 1990s, little was left of the original Flackville, but Eagledale remained a stable, intact development.
At its start, Eagledale was almost exclusively white, likely because of discriminatory housing practices. By the 1990s, the neighborhood had not changed much. Eighty-two percent of its 12.481 residents were white. It was not until the 2000s, that the neighborhood became more diverse when it became home to residents of primarily African American and Hispanic descent.
Help improve this entry
Contribute information, offer corrections, suggest images.
You can also recommend new entries related to this topic.
