Page last updated on July 10, 2017 at 1:28 pm
Developed in the heyday of Indiana's limestone industry, 1912-1935, Vinegar Hill Historic District is a community treasure and exuberant expression of local craft and folk art within a residential setting.
The same carvers responsible for buildings and churches across the U.S., built their own limestone homes with whimsical figures and portraits as seen above. It is the only neighborhood in Indiana where yard objects are identified as folk art and contribute to the historic significance of an area.
Vinegar Hill was also a family neighborhood preferred by the academic community at Indiana University. After the university's early 20th century expansion along Third Street and the construction of Elm Heights School in 1926, young families purchased the homes along First Street.
Herman J. Muller, a geneticist who won the Nobel Prize in 1946, B. Winfred Merrill, the founder of I.U.'s School of Music, and Alfred Kinsey, all lived along this illustrious strip in Bloomington.