Kendallville, Indiana
June 6, 2009

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Kendallville, population 10,018, is located in Noble County, Indiana. There's a lot more to see than what I have pictured here; there's a beautiful new public library, Bixler Lake, attractive residential neighborhoods, and a nearby windmill museum features full-sized, restored, working windmills to commemorate an important part of the community's industrial history, the manufacture of windmills and water pumps that found use on many farms in the local area and around the world.

The city's worst natural disaster was a 1992 tornado that did millions of dollars in damage to businesses on Main Street. Repair and recovery in some cases involved restoring nineteenth-century facades that had been covered over with metal cladding for many years. It's a handsome downtown. For the most part, the photos speak for themselves.

The 750-seat Spencer Opera House opened in 1890, and in the early 1900s hosted Vaudeville acts. It closed during World War I and reopened in 1919 as the Strand movie theater. In 1956 it was remodeled and updated with stereo sound, and in 1980 it was again remodeled and made into twin theaters.

Some houses overlooking the railroad

The former New York Central main line between New York and Chicago passes through town. This portion of the line is now owned by Norfolk Southern. Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited and Capitol Limited pass through Kendallville; the nearest station is at Waterloo, 17 miles east.

Kendallville Auto Parts occupies part of a building that once was the Kelly House, one of the few brick buildings that survived an 1886 fire that wiped out much of the east side of Main Street.

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