EDINBURGH DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION PROJECT

Focuses on the downtown Edinburgh

Group: Dakshata Shahi, ARCH 607. Prof. JP Hall

November 10, 2022

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

The Edinburgh Commercial Historic District is in Edinburgh, Indiana, and is the oldest community in Johnson County. The area that makes up the town of Edinburgh had Euro-American settlers beginning in 1818 when the United States opened the area up for sale, with interested settlers going to nearest land office in Brookville, Indiana. The town was laid out by Alexander Thompson and Louis Bishop in 1822, although it was officially recorded in 1826. Edinburgh’s proximity to the nearby Sugar Creek and the Big Blue River was appealing for the early settlers, resulting in several of the early settlers creating mills in what was mostly wilderness.

The name Edinburgh has had two main spellings in its history and two origin stories. One origin story states that the brother-in-law of Louis Bishop (one of the two people who laid out the town), Edward Adams, drunkenly demanded that the new town be named Eddiesburg to honor him, and the name shifted to Edinburgh over time. The second origin story traces the name back to another early settler: Alexander Thompson, the other member of the two-person team who laid out the town in 1822. Thompson was a settler from Scotland who came to what would later be known as Edinburgh, Indiana from Tennessee. Alexander Thompson wanted to honor his home country by naming the new settlement after his Scottish homeland, resulting in the orthographic early spelling Edingburg (not long after spelled Edinburgh).

The earliest industries in Edinburgh were saw and flour mills. These utilized the water systems in the area and the sawmill was used for providing materials for some of Edinburgh’s earliest buildings. By the 1860s and 1870s, there was more flour being exported from Edinburgh than any other place in Southern Indiana. Other early industries included, but were not limited to distilleries, tanneries, hominy mills, woolen mills, a foundry, and a furniture factory. Edinburgh’s industries largely benefitted from the railroad, with Edinburgh becoming famous for being the main flour supplier for the Union Army during the Civil War and the development of a large corn starch plant. Despite its earlier history, the buildings in downtown Edinburgh only date back to the 1850s at the latest. This is largely due to 19th century fires, with the first notable one starting in 1850 at the corner of Main Cross and Walnut Streets. Other fires occurred at later dates in different areas of town, resulting in the destruction of buildings that were businesses, residences, mills, a foundry, and a depot.

The central portion of Edinburgh’s downtown is located within the National Register Edinburgh Commercial Historic District. It was listed in 1991 for its period of significance between 1854-1941 and its National Register significance falls under criterion A for its association with broad historic patterns, criterion B for its association with significant historic figures, and criterion C for its architectural significance. In addition to the Edinburgh Commercial Historic District, there are two residential National Register districts: the Toner District to the east and the South Walnut Street District to the south. According to Mark Dollase, Vice President of Indiana Landmarks, the organization has been working in partnership with the philanthropic Conover Foundation within these historic districts and Edinburgh for over a decade. Their work has resulted in the Toner District and South Walnut Street District receiving historic district signage and becoming listed in the National Register in 2011. The partnership has also resulted in the Conover Foundation Façade Grant Program, which has helped fund 50/50 grants of up to $5,000 for façade restoration in the downtown commercial district since 2010. The goal of this program is to add value to the town’s building stock and make the Edinburgh Commercial Historic District more appealing to potential business owners, resulting in significantly fewer boarded up buildings in downtown Edinburgh. Indiana Landmarks also utilized the Efroymson Family Endangered Places Fund in addition to their partnership with the Conover Foundation to purchase the 1854 Thompson Building. They were able to replace the roof, repair and repaint the masonry, and restore the windows.

In 1845 the Madison and Indiana Railroad extended to Edinburgh, more than doubling its population in the following twenty years. It was at this time that Edinburgh became a major distribution hub for the South-Central Indiana portion of the state, and Edinburgh became the leading grain and pork market in Central Indiana. This market status resulted in upwards of forty wagons a day coming into Edinburgh. Due to the increased activity, taverns, hotels, and commercial buildings were created near the railroad tracks, mostly along Main Cross Street, and liveries and harness shops aided visitors from the Madison Railroad with local transportation and supplies.

Edinburgh was incorporated as a town in 1853, eight years after the railroad was extended. It was during this time that the spelling of Edinburgh deviated. Local histories of Edinburgh identify two spellings: Edinburgh and Edinburg. The Edinburg spelling was more common prior to 1853, but after the town was incorporated its newspapers, business directories, and county histories mostly documented it without the “h”. The locally used “h” version was officially added to the name in 1977 by the United States Post Office and the Board of Names.

Fig: Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Edinburgh, Indiana. New York, New York. Sanborn Map Co, 1886.

Fig: Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Edinburgh, Indiana. New York, New York. Sanborn Map Co, 1910.

Fig: Boundaries showing National Register Downtown of Edinburgh and the Proposed Boundaries of Edinburgh Downtown according to community feedback

The boundary of Downtown Edinburgh is specified in the National Register as the east curb line of Main Street where the North property line of 114 West Main Cross Street would intersect it, follow east along the rear (north) property line of 114-112 East Main Cross Street. Continue across the alley between Main and Walnut Streets to the east curb line of said alley”. Based on the businesses downtown and community feedback, a larger boundary should be considered. The proposed boundary begins at the corner of S Pleasant Street and W Thompson. The boundary follows S Pleasant Street north to W Center Cross Street. It then follows W Center Cross Street west turning at Kyle Street. The boundary then goes south down Kyle Street to W Thompson. The final line on the boundary follows W Thompson east to S Pleasant Street, where it began.

Fig: Proposed Boundaries of Edinburgh Downtown with its boundary

LAND USE AND DIVERSITY: In the National Register the boundary of Downtown Edinburgh is “Beginning at a point on the east curb line of Main Street where the North property line of 114 West Main Cross Street would intersect it, follow east along the rear (north) property line of 114-112 East Main Cross Street. Continue across the alley between Main and Walnut Streets to the east curb line of said alley”. Based on the businesses downtown and community feedback, a larger boundary should be considered. The proposed boundary begins at the corner of S Pleasant Street and W Thompson. The boundary follows S Pleasant Street north to W Center Cross Street. It then follows W Center Cross Street west turning at Kyle Street. The boundary then goes south down Kyle Street to W Thompson. The final line on the boundary follows W Thompson east to S Pleasant Street, where it began

MESKER FACADE: In Edinburgh Mesker storefronts are recognized because they exhibit a unique storefront façade from a bygone era and are a core component of downtown Edinburgh. Due to this, it should be appreciated, and businesses owners should maintain and repair appropriately what is left to preserve the aesthetical and functional integrity of downtown Edinburgh. Many towns have had such resources but have had them removed as time progressed, however, Edinburgh is in a unique situation in that the town still has much of what was originally installed over a century ago.

Fig: Map showing the Building condition in Downtown Edinburgh

BUILDING FACADE CONDITION: The condition of the building facades in the historic downtown of Edinburgh is variable, with these facades falling into one of three categories. These three categories place the structure in either poor, fair, or good condition. In total, the condition of 41 facades were examined, with the same criteria being utilized in the analysis of each building front. Building facades rated as having been in poor condition have had numerous changes to their original architectural features, have structural concerns that need to be addressed in the near future, pose a health or safety risk, or are in a visible state of disrepair. Building facades that are rated as being fair have had little to no changes to their original architectural design features, do not pose a health or safety risk, do not have major structural concerns, and could see immediately usage in their current state. Building facades that are in a good condition have most of the original architectural features intact, do not have structural concerns, do not pose any health or safety risks, could see immediate usage, require no rehabilitation, and will likely be in a positive conditional state overtime. Detail information about the building facade is included in the Appendix.

Fig: Map showing the preservation potential Building in Downtown Edinburgh

PRESERVATION POTENTIAL: The unique thing about Edinburgh is the sheer number of intact historic buildings throughout their downtown. Since their original construction many of the buildings have undergone changes and this image shows the potential of preserving the buildings back to their original form. Many of the buildings currently do not have the historic arched windows and materials at the store front level have changed. With various amounts of cosmetic work needing to be done, there is a fair to high chance that Edinburgh’s downtown can be brought back to its original historic facades.

Fig: Map showing the accessible building in Downtown Edinburgh

ACCESSIBILITY : The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is a Civil Rights Law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. This means that public buildings built after 1990 should have a level of accessibility that allows users to gain entrance as well as use the spaces. Since the main historic buildings along E. Main Cross St in Edinburgh, Indiana were constructed before this date, this means that these buildings were not required to be accessible. Of the 39 identified buildings located on Main Cross, 18 are considered not accessible. In terms of this study, accessible means fair access from the main façade for a wheelchair user. Each of these 18 buildings has at least one step that a wheelchair would not be able to easily and equitably navigate. Since these buildings are used or will be used by the public, this means that they will need to be accessible by reasonable access and accommodation by the ADA Law. Ideally, they should be accessible from the front entrance on E. Main Cross, but if the height discrepancy hinders the ability for an accessible ramp to be introduced, access through an ulterior door may be acceptable. Another option that the city could look at is to relevel the sidewalks where the buildings have a shallow step. By doing this, an individual with a mobility difficulty would be able to gain access to the front entrance.

PARKING

Parking was an issue that was brought up in meetings with Edin - burgh’s stakeholders as well as in the Qualtrics Study sent out to community members. A parking survey was done for the downtown and areas in its direct surroundings, parking spaces were quantified to determine the quantity of spaces. Along E. Main Cross St. alone there are a total of 60 parking spaces, of which 5 are accessible spaces. The remaining public parking lots account for an addition - al 160 parking spaces. Private lots surrounding downtown account for an additional 219 parking spaces. A total of 439 defined parking spaces were in and around downtown and includes 20 accessi - ble parking spaces. This number does not include street parking along S.R. 252 or any of the North & South streets. The number of street parking spots along the surrounding North & South streets can amount for an additional 135 parking spaces. Within a 1/8 mile radius of the center of downtown there are 134 designated public parking spaces, 88 private parking spaces, and 135 street spots for a total of 357 parking spaces. After this parking study was done, it appears that there currently isn’t a parking problem, but a low walking distance tolerance. The average person can walk one mile in 20 minutes , meaning if a per - son were to park at the very edge of the 1/8th mile circle it would take them a maximum of 2.5 minutes to walk downtown. With all of the current public lots being much closer than this distance, that is why the problem is a low walking distance tolerance rather than a parking spot problem.

STREETSCAPE

Main Cross Street is currently a one-way street, directing traffic through downtown toward the east. The existing infrastructure allows for an adequate number of parking spaces and encourages visitors to drive through the entire downtown. The one-way can prove to be a challenge for directing new visitors to the town, especially as it stands now which lacks adequate signage. A couple of options were explored for Main Cross Street to discover the most efficient way to travel through downtown, but also to retain parking. The easiest and cheapest option would be to keep the streetscape as it stands today, only thinking about the yearly maintenance of the street and sidewalks. The plan of this option shows a section of a block of Main Cross Street (North Main Street to the alley in between Simple Abundance and the Chiropractors Office). Within this chunk, there are eighteen angled parking spots servicing the businesses nearby.