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Commerce
For a more
detailed look at the commercial development of Martinsville, click to go to:
Martinsville
Commercial Historic District.
The areas of
commerce and transportation are interrelated. Without access to waterways,
roads and railroads, the exchange of goods and services is not possible. So
it is no wonder that an area's earliest commercial activity would occur
along rivers or Indian trails. Mills were usually the first businesses to
appear in a frontier area, as they provided a variety of services to the
surrounding population. Gristmills produced the flour used not only for food
but also as a medium of exchange before the widespread use of hard currency.
Often the mill was multi-functional, serving as a general store, a post
office, and a school.
The development of towns had a profound
impact on commerce, moving it from a subsistence level based on bartering to
a more complex activity. Until the advent of the automobile, most business
was transacted in small towns in family-owned, specialty stores. The
railroad enabled access to goods in distant markets so that most of an
area's material needs could be met in its local community. The automobile
brought dramatic changes in this small town based economy. The growth of
suburbs contributed to a decentralization of the business district. Clusters
of commercial buildings soon appeared along streetcar routes or in suburban
areas. No longer was business transacted exclusively in a downtown area.
Recently, attempts to reverse this trend have met with positive results , and
a renewed interest in the small town business district is evident.
Indiana's earliest commercial activity
centered around trading posts established by French fur traders. Lafayette,
Fort Wayne and Vincennes were three early posts. As the state was settled,
the Ohio River took on an important role in Indiana's commercial
development. Southern Indiana river ports such as Madison, Jeffersonville
and Evansville became major economic centers. As the state's transportation
system developed with the construction of canals and roads, economic growth
slowly shifted to central and northern Indiana. The opening of the state's
first railroad in 1847 ushered in a period of dramatic changes in the area
of commerce.
Access to rail lines enabled merchants to
offer a wider selection of goods at a cheaper cost. Advances in building
technology coupled with product diversification resulted in the development
of the familiar late-nineteenth century commercial building. The
introduction of cast iron and advances in the manufacturing of glass enabled
the storefront to offer a larger display area. The display window was
usually framed with a decorative wood panel on the bottom and a transom with
small panes of prism glass on top. The building's second floor, which often
served as residential space for the business owner, had windows with
decorative pressed-metal hoods. The building was topped with an ornate
pressed-metal cornice, sometimes with the merchant's name cast into it. This
building type dominated the Main Streets of railroad towns across Indiana
, and it's popularity persisted into the early twentieth century
The automobile slowly
changed the state's commercial focus. By 1930, a large percentage of
Indiana's rural population owned automobiles so that people were able to
drive to larger towns to conduct their business. The Depression, which
brought a number of bank and business failures as well as a population shift
from rural to urban areas, also struck a blow to small communities.
Following World War II, further decline came with the growth of suburbs,
with their own commercial areas. Strip shopping centers and the advent of
the mall drained business from the downtown. In recent years, greater
attention has been paid to revitalizing the downtown commercial core of
small communities. An emphasis on historic preservation and the adaptive use
of historic buildings is a critical component in this movement.
The most significant buildings in Morgan
County relating to its commercial history are found in the towns impacted by
the coming of the railroad. Communities such as Martinsville, Morgantown,
Mooresville and Monrovia contain significant examples of late nineteenth and
early twentieth century commercial architecture. The courthouse square in
Martinsville is the county's best representation of a railroad-era business
district. The area's fine collection of late-nineteenth and early twentieth
century commercial buildings reflects the optimism and prosperity of the
period. |
