Historic Poplar Neighborhood

Ahpezzahquah purchased the land of the Poplar Neighborhood in 1824

The original patent for the land on which the Poplar Neighborhood sits in Wayne Township dated December 15th, 2023

Click to open a PDF format

The George Fox mansion is recognized by ARCH, Inc.

The Irishtown Three Neighborood Area in 1876

Poplar neighborhood served on two sides by ELECTRIC streetcars in 1898

"The Fort Wayne streetcar system became the local travel option of choice after 1892 when horse car lines were converted to electrified lines," RECONNECTING FORT WAYNE: Transportation, Streetcars, Prepared for City of Fort Wayne, Indiana, By Janice Metzger & Stephen Perkins, Ph.D., 2007
By the peak of Fort Wayne's ELECTRIC streetcar services in the early 1900's, the Poplar Neighborhood
was served on four sides - Fairfield (partial), Taylor, Broadway and Creighton.
The Broadway line was also an interurban connecting with Bluffton, Indiana, and the Taylor line connecting with Lafayette, Indiana.
Add to these streetcar and interurban connections, the Wabash Railroad crossed the neighborhood's north side,
making the Poplar Neighborhood arguably the number one neighborhood in Fort Wayne history for
rail services coverage outside of the downtown business district.

Note that there were many iterations in the development of the streetcar systems,
plural because various private companies built and operated them.
The schematic map above associates streetcar lines with the nearest street.
A street map may show just the primary lines,
for example a 1919 Reidel map shows an actual street map that does not include all the lines of the above schematic map.
This is explained by the absence of maintenance lines on the service street map
and the abstraction of the schematic map.

The Poplar Neighborhood in the "Roaring 20's" with General Electric soaring to it's peak

The northern section of the Poplar Neighborhood is in the bottom of the picture
below the railroad flyover at Taylor Street and east to Fairfield Avenue on the right.
Note there is no GE Club building on the south side of the General Electric Complex Building 19 on Swinney Avenue,
it was not built until 1927 according to the PBS documentary, "Electric Legacy: The Story of General Electric in Fort Wayne,"
from which the above picture is taken.
Thus the railroad elevated flyovers in the Poplar Neighborhood at Broadway, Taylor and Fairfield are 100 years old,
whereas their northern counterpart along the old canal and Superior Street were completed in 1955.

General Electric Houses Accent the Poplar Neighborhood

Fairfield Hill Historic Commercial District

"The structures – 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024 Fairfield – stood as a rare, intact example of a neighborhood commercial district, part of which dated to the end of the 19th century." --The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

Poplar Neighborhood 'Mom and Pop' Grocers Flourished During the Electric Streetcar Era,
Independent Supermarkets Serving the Neighborhood: Fairfield Market in Yesteryears and George's Today

Fairfield Market, a grocery store on the northwest corner of Fairfield and Taylor was operating in 1949
in competition with the rising supermarket chains like Maloley's, A&P, IGA and Kroger.
Fairfield Market was operated by Arlow Humbarger, President & Treasurer, who lived at 3133 Hoagland Avenue in 1947

Poplar Neighborhood Covers the World of Food at George's International

40th Anniversary Celebration - Congratulations from your Poplar Neighbors, Thank you for your service!

Click This History Link

Like George's on Facebook

Zesto:"Behold the original Zesto Ice Cream stand in Fort Wayne, Ind.
with its iconic swooping sign on the roof.
It opened around 1948 and is currently doling out cones and sundaes in its 76th season in business."
Bigsignhunter, Instagram, July 2024

Take the Poplar Neighborhood Tour Quiz

Was the Poplar neighborhood area in the original Fort Wayne plat? Click the triangle to see the answer

No, the Poplar neighborhood area in Wayne Township is southwest of the original plat of Fort Wayne, and was surveyed in the original Wayne Township survey of 1822

What was the first street platted in the Poplar Neighborhood boundaries? Click the triangle to see the answer

Broadway, originally called Market Street, was platted in 1839

What was the second street platted in the Poplar Neighborhood boundaries? Click the triangle to see the answer

Taylor Street was platted in 1840, and the Wabash Railroad soon followed in 1851. Fairfield and Creighton Avenues were not platted until 1885