Nora is a community on the far north side of

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, Indiana, United States. Nora's neighborhoods typically feature diverse housing stock, large lots, and mature trees. The commonly-accepted community boundaries are those defined by the Nora-Northside Community Council (NCC) – contained by White River on the east (southward around the

Broad Ripple Broad(s) or The Broad(s) may refer to: People * A slang term for a woman. * Broad (surname), a surname Places * Broad Peak, on the border between Pakistan and China, the 12th highest mountain on Earth * The Broads, a network of mostly nav ...

oxbow), Williams Creek and 79th Street on the south, Township Line Road on the west, and 96th Street (which forms the border between

Marion Marion or MARION may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Marion (band), a British alternative rock group * ''Marion'' (miniseries), a 1974 miniseries * ''Marion'' (1920 film), an Italian silent film * ''Marion'' (2024 film), a UK short People a ...

and

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counties) and

I-465 Interstate 465 (I-465), also known as the USS Indianapolis Memorial Highway, is the beltway circling Indianapolis, Indiana. It is roughly rectangular in shape and has a perimeter of approximately . It lies almost completely within the boun ...

on the north. It contains six distinct commercial districts, including Nora Center, Greenbriar, and The Fashion Mall at Keystone at the Crossing. The Nora-Northside community is situated between

Carmel Carmel may refer to: * Carmel (biblical settlement), an ancient Israelite town in Judea * Mount Carmel, a coastal mountain range in Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea * Carmelites, a Roman Catholic mendicant religious order Carmel may also ...

to the north, Broad Ripple and

downtown Indianapolis Downtown Indianapolis is a neighborhood area in and the central business district of Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Downtown is bordered by Interstate 65 in Indiana, Interstate 65, Interstate 70 in Indiana, Interstate 70, and the White ...

to the south, Castleton and Binford communities to the east, and Pike Township to the west. Nora was never an incorporated town, so its accepted boundaries have varied. The Nora Center community district is centered at the intersection of West 86th Street and the

Monon Trail The Monon Trail (known as the Monon Greenway in Carmel, Indiana, Carmel) is a rail trail located entirely within the U.S. state of Indiana. It runs along the main line of the Monon Railroad, a popular railroad line connecting the cities of Chic ...

crossing, anchored by schools, public library, post office, and

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

. In 2019, the Marion County Land Use Plan defined the boundary of Nora Center and designated it as Village Mixed-Use land use with Town Center overlay topology. The Town Center (TC) overlay is intended for new and historic neighborhood centers. Its purpose is to promote development with a high degree of pedestrian connectivity that has a slightly higher density than the surrounding area. The Nora Alliance non-profit organization supports and encourages a spirit of community cooperation in Nora Center to promote strong amenities, connected people, and a vibrant built environment.

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,

Örebro County Örebro County () is a county or '' län'' in central Sweden. It borders the counties of Västra Götaland, Värmland, Dalarna, Västmanland, Södermanland and Östergötland. It is frequently culturally divided into the hilly northern region of ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. 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 Crown Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at 700 West 38th Street in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. The privately owned cemetery was established in 1863 at Strawberry Hill, whose summit was renamed "The Crown", a high poi ...

. 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 store that became a

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

and a

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that later became a Lowell's No Frills Discount Foods, Wild Oats Market, and most recently

Whole Foods Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined. Examples of whole foods include grains such as oatmeal and rice, fruits, vegetables, dried beans, nuts, seeds, unprocessed meats, and fish. Depending on the context this may sometimes refe ...

. A new post office was opened in 1961 (a

Steak 'n Shake Steak 'n Shake Operations, Inc., doing business as Steak 'n Shake, is an American fast food chain concentrated primarily in the Midwestern United States along with locations in the rest of the country plus locations in Western Europe. The compan ...

was at the old location, but is now closed). Nora Community Council was established in 1967. Nora became part of Indianapolis under

Unigov Unigov is the colloquial name adopted by the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, to describe its consolidated city–county government. By an act of the Indiana General Assembly, Indianapolis consolidated with the government of Marion County, India ...

in 1970. File:Peter-Lawson-Nora.jpg, Peter Lawson, the founder of Nora File:Nora-post-1998.jpg, Nora Post Office in 1998 (built as a movie theatre) File:Nora-library-1998.jpg, Nora Branch Library in 1998

Education

Nora has a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending 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 servic ...

, 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, Indiana, ...

. Nora is home to North Central High School, Northview Middle School, Nora Elementary School, all of which are part of the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township, The

Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, or ISBVI, established in 1847 as the Indiana School for the Blind and also known as the Indiana Institution for the Education of the Blind, is a residential school for Indiana youth that ar ...

is also located in the neighborhood.

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 Alliance

Nora-Northside Community Council

Marion County Land Use Plan

Town Center (TC) overlay
{{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