By Traci Henning-Kolberg Tell the truth. How often have you walked around downtown or driven along Superior Street and never noticed this building? It's an unassuming building, a bit ramshackle with a smattering of vines along the side, the windows blocked to the view of curious passers by. And, like so much about Fort Wayne, it has a hidden history. This is The Canal House, part of the Heritage Trail of ARCH, and an intriguing little building. As the name indicates, when this house was built by John Brown in 1852 the Wabash and Eerie Canal that ran through Fort Wayne was directly behind it. While Brown owned the house he used it as his office and storehouse for materials, but it was later sold and turned into a residential property when the canal stopped being the bustling center for trade and transportation it had once been. Through transitions in ownership and the progression of time the building began to fall into disrepair. In 1974 Architecture & Community Heritage of Fort Wayne (ARCH) began the initiative to save and restore the Canal House. They were able to complete the restoration by 1976 in time to celebrate the country's bicentennial. Shortly after the building was brought back to life, the Fine Arts Foundation (now Arts United) used it for their offices from 1977 to 2010. Since then the building has sat empty and is beginning to slip into obscurity once again. One hopes that with the trend towards downtown revival that this building will become a thriving part of its community once again. Information gathered from ARCH's website and Randy Harter's article in the Fort Wayne Reader.
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Voices from Purdue university Fort Wayne StudentsThe hope is to gather many voices, perspectives and styles on where and how Public History works locally. More information about Public History at Purdue Fort Wayne. Archives
October 2018
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