Jennifer Rice - Realtor

Before Hamilton Town Center and Saxony there was another shopping center at Exit 10...and it basically failed.

It started as Hamilton Commons in the 1990s and was later known as Deer Creek Shops.
The idea made sense on paper:
-Shopping�-Right off I-69�-Deer Creek Music Center nearby�-Hamilton County was growing

Except there was one problem-people weren't coming. By 2002, the parking lot was described as virtually empty.

Poor visibility from I-69, very little surrounding residential development,and competition from other malls were all cited at the time as possible reasons. The property eventually went through bankruptcy and was purchased by Republic Development in 1998. Then Hamilton Town Center came along across I-69.

Here’s the question I can't stop thinking about:
Was the Deer Creek Outlet Mall actually a bad idea...or was it just way too early?

If you remember shopping therePLEASE tell me what stores you remember!

Before Carmel looked like the Carmel we know today there was Woodland Springs.

Development began in the 1960s around what became Woodland Lake just east of Keystone near 116th Street.

Before the neighborhood historical records describe much of the property as brush, weeds, and cattle grazing land connected to the estate of Nicholas Noyes of Eli Lilly.

Keystone Square Developers transformed it into a custom-home community with hundreds of homes surrounding a newly created lake. The first houses began going up around 1967.
Woodland Springs says it became the first residential community in Indiana with buried utility lines.

By 1969 residents already had a neighborhood pool, tennis courts and lake recreation.

Mid-century designer Avriel Shull designed the Woodland Springs clubhouse and the original Woodland Springs Christian Church.

Today Woodland Springs has more than 400 homes surrounding a 42+ acre lake along with mature trees, custom architecture, and amenities that have been part of the community for decades.

Who remembers Woodland Springs when it was new?

*If you have old neighborhood photos, brochures or aerials, send them to me. I’m documenting the history of Hamilton County neighborhoods one community at a time!

What was here BEFORE Chatham Hills?

Before the golf course, clubhouse, and luxury homes this part of northern Westfield was a collection of family farms, cornfields, woods, creeks and rural homes.

One piece of the property traces back to the Lindley family-early Quaker settlers who came to Washington Township in the 1830s.

Aaron Lindley built what historical accounts identify as Washington Township’s first brick house in 1837 and the family remained connected to the land for generations. Even the name Chatham Hills is connected to that history.

Then developer Steve Henke spent years assembling the farms and parcels that would eventually become the development. Westfield approved the Chatham Hills PUD in 2014, construction began, and Pete Dye's golf course opened in 2016. There is still a piece of the old farm there today: the restored Lindley Farmstead.

Longtime Westfield residents do you remember this area before Chatham Hills?

Conner Prairie has ghost stories connected to the historic Conner House.

These are reported employee experiences not confirmed hauntings. Have you heard these stories or experienced anything unusual there?

The groundwater restriction at the Fishers Depot Property isn't something I think we should dismiss as simply: “Don't drill a drinking-water well.”

Indiana currently lists 8654–8698 E. 116th Street with an Environmental Restrictive Covenant prohibiting groundwater use because VOCs and SVOCs remain in groundwater.

Depending on the contaminants and site conditions, groundwater can migrate, construction can encounter it, and certain VOCs can potentially create a separate v***r-intrusion pathway into buildings.

I want to know:

How large is the plume?
Which direction does it travel?
How deep is it?
Were the underground tanks removed?
When was the groundwater last tested?
Was v***r intrusion evaluated before redevelopment?
What remains underground today?
Are the business owners aware they are on top of a leaking storage tank?

Since the groundwater restriction is still listed by Indiana in 2026 I think these are fair questions to ask.

Forest Park was a FARM before it was a forest.

Before the golf course, pool, and giant trees, this property was a 118-acre family farm owned by Noblesville Mayor H.G. “Pop” Brown.

Noblesville acquired the property in 1925.

Then in 1926 around 12,000 trees were planted reportedly the largest tree-planting effort in Indiana at the time.

That same year the building that would eventually become Forest Park Inn was constructed.

In 1927 came Hamilton County’s first golf course.

In 1931, the Forest Park swimming pool opened.

Those enormous trees that make Forest Park feel like it has been there forever?

Many are part of a landscape Noblesville intentionally began creating a century ago.

Longtime Noblesville residents what is YOUR earliest Forest Park memory?

Have you ever wondered why Range Line Road in Carmel has so many old houses that are actually businesses?

There wasn’t one day when Carmel suddenly converted every house to commercial property.
The change happened gradually as Carmel exploded in population and Range Line transformed from a largely residential street into one of the city’s major business corridors.

Instead of demolishing every old home, many were adapted into offices, salons, boutiques and other businesses.

Then in 2005 Carmel formally established the Range Line Road Overlay as part of its effort to guide redevelopment along the corridor.
And today, Carmel actually has special rules intended to preserve the character of many of those historic homes north of Main Street.
So those really ARE old Carmel houses.
They just aren’t necessarily houses anymore.

Longtime Carmel residents, do you remember any of these properties before they became businesses?

Sheridan lost buildings and town records in the 1913 fire. The rebuilding helped shape downtown.
Does your family have old Sheridan photographs or stories?

Before Castleton Square Mall-Castleton was a VERY different place.

In 1950 the little town of Castleton had only 268 residents and much of the surrounding area was still farmland.

Then I-465 and I-69 arrived.

Developers realized Indianapolis was growing northeast and in 1971 plans were announced for a massive new mall along 82nd Street.

Castleton Square officially opened September 13, 1972.

It immediately became Indiana's largest mall!

It helped trigger the explosion of retail, restaurants, apartments, and offices that eventually turned Castleton into the commercial district we recognize today.

If you remember the original Castleton Square I want to hear your memories.

The fountain? Lazarus? Sears? Ayres? Woolworth? The movie theater?