Interesting facts, myths, legends about Ft Wayne (and surrounding cities) (Fort Wayne: home, neighborhood)

[ViaSwiss]

Does any body know of any? A few that I know of...

-Lincoln Bank Tower was originally called the German-American Bank, but due to anti-Germanism during the world wars, its name was changed.

-During WW2, there was a German POW camp near where Harvester used to be.

-Woodburn used to be called "The Shirley City" and "Phelps Station", until a huge fire at a wood factory burnt much of the town. Hence its name Woodburn now.

- Fort Wayne was the highest point on the Wabash/Eerie Canal, hence the name Summit City.

- "The Landing", where Flashbacks and Columbia Street are now...was once a loading dock on the canal. Hence "The Lading"..

- There used to be lots of oil beneath the ground. Many oil companies sucked it dry in the early 1900s.

- Elk, Buffalo (Bison), Bears, Bobcats, Cougars, and Wolves were common here just 150-200 years ago (myths of bobcats and cougars still to today).

- Many of the residents of River Haven are descendants of Appalachians who migrated here.

-Fort Wayne has the highest Burmese population outside of Burma/Myanmar.

- Bull Rapids Road (near Harlan/Woodburn) used to be a stop on the Maumee River where there was a tavern. It was known as one of the most "lawless" areas in Indiana. It is called Bull Rapids because there used to be Bison that grazed there. I have also heard (not read or confirmed) that there was a large Indian trading post there. Having found hundreds of arrow heads there in my life, I would imagine there is truth to it.

- Harlan used to be called "Maysville" and was on just one side of SR37. A "separate" town began to emerge on the other side of the road and the whole area would become known as Harlan. After WW1 (during the Spanish flu/Yellow Fever) as much as 1/3 of Harlan's population died.

[missik999]

I attended elementary school in Ft. Wayne. Legend was that a tornado could never touch down in Ft.Wayne because of the three rivers. Apparently it was an old indian legend.

When we practiced tornado drills in school my third grade teacher would say, "We know there can't be a tornado here, but the state says we have to do this mandatory tornado drill anyway."

[Bluefox]

Thanks for sharing! Also, according to Wikipedia, Fort Wayne is widely recognized as the final resting place of folklore legend Johnny Appleseed. I'm not sure if that's common knowledge but I never knew that until I looked it up.

[Bluefox]

Ok, after further research and discovering that there is a two day festival in Ft. Wayne in honor of Johnny Appleseed, I hereby declare myself Captain Obvious. Lol. But still, someone who isn't from the area may not know about Ft. Wayne's connection with Mr. Appleseed.

[missik999]

My mom took us to the site where he is buried. It seems to me that there were quite a few apple trees planted close to the grave site, but I was only about 5 so my memory might be fuzzy.

She also took us to an indian museum a few times and the zoo often.

My dad took us ice skating almost every night when the pond was frozen. It was a big pond at one of the city parks, and one of the park employees always had a bonfire going.

[missik999]

Speaking of Johnny Appleseed, every year in elementary school there was a guy who dressed up like him and visited each classroom. He talked about his life and gave each child an apple tree to take home and plant.

[ischyros]

Originally Posted by missik999

I attended elementary school in Ft. Wayne. Legend was that a tornado could never touch down in Ft.Wayne because of the three rivers. Apparently it was an old indian legend.

When we practiced tornado drills in school my third grade teacher would say, "We know there can't be a tornado here, but the state says we have to do this mandatory tornado drill anyway."

Wow. I wonder if they changed their tune when the tornado hit where Kohls is near Glenbrook 10 or 15 years ago.

One I've heard is that Fort Wayne has more churches and more strip clubs per capita than any other city in the country.

[missik999]

An experience from my childhood that has stuck in my mind all these years:

I had several friends in the neighborhood (near what used to be called Times Corners, not sure if it still is) and our moms would take turns taking us to one of the city parks that had a pool. We usually went swimming every Tuesday, but one week one of the kids had a doctor's appointment so his mom was going to take us Wednesday instead.

She drove us to the park and and then walked up to the gate to buy our tickets. She came back to the car and said we couldn't swim that day. We kept asking her why, but she wouldn't say, just said that they wouldn't let us in.

Only when we started worrying that we had done something wrong did she finally explain that there was a sign that said, "Wednesday - Coloreds only."

We still didn't understand what that meant until she explained that black people weren't allowed to swim any day but Wednesday, when they only let black people in and not white people. She said that some people called Wednesday, "Colored's Day" and that it wasn't right, but that was how some thought. This was 1967!

Years later my parents verified that this was indeed true.

[wh15395]

Originally Posted by ischyros

Wow. I wonder if they changed their tune when the tornado hit where Kohls is near Glenbrook 10 or 15 years ago.

One I've heard is that Fort Wayne has more churches and more strip clubs per capita than any other city in the country.

I have to agree 100%. I haven't heard the statistics, but having grown up there I have never seen anything so odd.

[ischyros]

Originally Posted by wh15395

I have to agree 100%. I haven't heard the statistics, but having grown up there I have never seen anything so odd.

I can say I don't think I've lived somewhere that had strip clubs so prominently on all the main drags in town. Again, that's just something I've heard, no idea if it's true or not.