Nora is a community on the far north side of
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
, Indiana. It is home to
North Central High School North Central High School may refer to one of many high school in the United States:
*North Central High School (Farmersburg, Indiana)
*North Central High School (Indianapolis)
*North Central High School (Louisiana), Lebeau, Louisiana
* North Cent ...
and the founding section of the
Monon Trail. Nora's neighborhoods typically feature diverse housing stock, large lots and mature trees. The Nora community contains six distinct business/commercial districts, including Nora Plaza, Greenbriar Plaza, and
The Fashion Mall at Keystone.
Nora is generally considered to be contained by White River on the east (southward around the Broad Ripple oxbow), Williams Creek and 79th Street on the south, Township Line Road on the west, and 96th Street (which forms the border between
Marion and
Hamilton counties) and
I-465
Interstate 465 (I-465), also known as the USS ''Indianapolis'' Memorial Highway, is the beltway circling Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It is roughly rectangular in shape and has a perimeter of approximately . It lies almost complet ...
on the north. Nora was never an incorporated town, so its accepted boundaries have varied. Today, the boundaries of Nora are commonly accepted as the area defined by the Nora-Northside Community Council.
History
The name Nora for this area can be traced back to December 1871, when Swedish immigrant Peter Lawson was appointed postmaster at Nora. Lawson owned a grocery store situated at what is today the southwest corner of Westfield Boulevard and 86th Street.
Lawson named the area after his home parish in Sweden. He was born as Per Israelsson on March 29, 1828, in Blexbergstorp,
Nora parish
Nora, NORA, or Norah may refer to:
* Nora (name), a feminine given name
People with the surname
* Arlind Nora (born 1980), Albanian footballer
* Pierre Nora (born 1931), French historian
Places Australia
* Norah Head, New South Wales, headland ...
,
Ă–rebro County Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. He emigrated in 1854 and from at least 1860 he is known to have lived in
Washington Township,
Marion County. In 1861 he was one of the founding members of the Union Church
Washington Township. Lawson died on October 29, 1884, and was buried in
Crown Hill Cemetery.
The locality of Nora grew around Lawson's grocery store and post office. Soon there were more shops, smithies, and a train station in the area. Nora Elementary School was opened in 1895.
About 150 people lived in Nora in the 1880s, but the area did not become densely populated until the mid-1900s. Nora Plaza Shopping Center was built in 1959, anchored by an
Ayr-Way that became a
Target and a
Standard that later became a
Lowell's No Frills Discount Foods,
Wild Oats Market
Wild Oats Marketplace ( registered as Wild Oats Marketing, LLC) is a producer of natural and organic food distributed through partnerships in the United States.
Founded in 1987 in Boulder, Colorado, it was originally a chain of natural foods ...
, and most recently
Whole Foods. A new post office was opened in 1961 (a
Steak 'n Shake is at the old location). Nora Community Council was established in 1967. It became part of Indianapolis under
Unigov in 1970.
Education
Nora has a
public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants.
There are ...
, a branch of the
Indianapolis Public Library
The Indianapolis Public Library (IndyPL), formerly known as the Indianapolis–Marion County Public Library, is the public library system serving the citizens of Marion County, Indiana, United States and its largest city, Indianapolis. The li ...
. Nora Elementary School, part of the
Metropolitan School District of Washington Township, is in the neighborhood.
as is
North Central High School North Central High School may refer to one of many high school in the United States:
*North Central High School (Farmersburg, Indiana)
*North Central High School (Indianapolis)
*North Central High School (Louisiana), Lebeau, Louisiana
* North Cent ...
.
Image:Peter-Lawson-Nora.jpg, Peter Lawson, the founder of Nora.
Image:Nora-post-1998.jpg, Nora Post Office in 1998 (built as a movie theatre).
Image:Nora-library-1998.jpg, Nora Branch Library in 1998.
See also
*
List of Indianapolis neighborhoods
References
Notes
Sources
* Håkan Henriksson: Spår av Örebro län i Amerika. In ''Lokalhistorisk läsning för Örebro län nr 5'' (Örebro, 1999).
* Nora Northside Community Council boundary map
* Nora Alliance
External links
*
Nora AllianceNora-Northside Community Council
{{coord, 39, 54, 46, N, 86, 08, 21, W, scale:5000, display=title
Neighborhoods in Indianapolis
Populated places established in 1871
1871 establishments in Indiana