Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 34, Number 177, Decatur, Adams County, 27 July 1936 — Page 33

1836 - 1936

c hievei nen t s of 5 Century in idains County

HOMESTEADS PROJECT IS SUCCESSFUL

writer Lists The ■Human Values In I Home Ownership

■ enl | Advisor Points Kut Many Advantages Ks Decatur Project H DR w . A. TERPENNING Management Advisor ■’settlement Administration Rk..pv th- ttwi." say " Alexand--whose love and care a acres hound." ; \ ~ this region which have ur .d< ’ Hi" Management Divi|K i h„,. laid an opportunity to some of the human re- ■ niement program, it is those human results |H .... -t inspiration and 0,. tip-mts of these projects, are it. Decatur, Indiana and have sufficient land a adi n and weej) chickthus supplement their inappr' i iably. We hope to K, them in improving their Most of them, for exhave hens laying 60 eggs ■p. ar \V hope to encourasf' K to raise liens which lay 300 a r am anxious to encourage ■r, m realizing some of those which Charles Dudley was thinking when he ■ that “a man’s life began in a ami ought to end there." H Home and Security th* hist time in their lives, of these occupants are ensecurity of tenure to com Htai.e and safe homes. The th.- possession at as as : reduction in cost in cases of new, strictly mod- ■ houses in place of the shaboutdated Imuses of moderate .;s of Middle Western Hr- cue housewife in the Decawhich she had moved and the story of what the change for her. now occupy a beautiful ■> home with hardwood floors, gas and electricity, a b a .- e m e n t and furnace Kt> a man's life does not con■tin the abundance of the things ■ possesses, the secure posses- ■'. of a home constitutes one itof great importance to his life. man's home is very close to is no inanimate posses- ■> which is more closely related Ma person's self than his home. ■J '■ do something to it. you do to him. Give it a new of paint, and his countenance ■ r * on a new shine. Give him ■wity of tenure, and an opporfor a "heap of living” in a Mos*, and the house is suddenly into a home. ■ Pride of Possession ■1 has been a satisfaction to me

Good Homes Mean Good Living tS’Z’fe’ z , ,k mSR& •: :: ’’~/«/<•’• ■ W|il | - & > a t «H>. «.£» WlfflT 1 ' ' vs kfli - SB ! «A»at0v;...... mjl S' WMi I Wigi Ah ; < ® .£=s F’WB ■■ iH WW •:•'•• I IH ■MF ; '’' Wi i MMHF FSH -> w JM 1 It-wMw _BK ——MM The Hvino. ~v . - *Ho twatnr homesteads. With monthly amortization cost brought down ‘“»mmum u'XX homestead Xn%« family, 'like -ny othersHs able to afford those furnish tnge ch mean so much in the way of comfort and convenience to the home.

DECATUR DAI! A DEMOCRAT

Resettlement Head I A /T* ( * R, , V Dr. W. A. Terpennlng Dr. W. A. Terpenning, head of the Community management division for the Resettlement Administration in Illinois, Ohio. lowa, Missouri and Indiana. to see how acute an occupant's sense of possessiveness immediately becomes when be takes occupancy ol his new property. Evidence of this sense of possessiveness is the occupant’s wild-eyed distress and dismay over defects in his new home. He forgets that every builder of a home observes, when he has finished, “now if I were building again, I would do thus an so.” When a private builder cannot build a perfect house from the point of view of his peculiar traits and whims, it is harly to be expected that houses built by the Resettlement Administration will always conform in every detail to the ideals of the individual occupant. It is sometimes even humorous to hear an occupant, who has never before had a basement of any sort, complain about a leak in MY basement. Praise For Decatur I have visited more than half of the forty-eight families of the Decatur Project, and have admired the artistic homemade window drapes and other decoration, the orderly arrangement of furniture, the spotless housekeeping, and the pride and enthusiasm of the occupants. They vie with each other in improving their property; they exercise their ingenuity in such matters as building coal bins in away as to use the minimum space in their basements. One man gloated over his invention of a pilot light (Continued On Page 34)

Centennial Edition

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

MAYOR LAUDS CIVIC SPIRIT FOR VICTORY Attributes Project’s Success To Cooperation Os Local Citizens Mayor Arthur R. Holthouse, in commenting upon Decatur’s Homestead Project said: In ray mind it is fitting that the Decatur Homesteads should take an active part in the Centennial celebration for the success and development of the project is a reflection of the fine civic spirit and appreciation of home life which citizens of this community have always displayed. I cannot think of the Decatur Homesteads as a separate community. Sponsored by Decatur citizens and now occupied by Decatur citizens, it is trully a "hometown” development—another stride in the progress of this Indiana city. I believe Decatur was very fortunate in being the one town in Indiana to obtain a homestead development. It is worth all it has cost in labor and material expended on the city's part to make the place an addition to the town. It has been a vital factor in preserv- , ing and intensifying the love for home —a love which in itself forms a pillar in American citizenship and progressive community spirit. Legal details which are now iu the process of being completed will make the project a part of Decatur. Then, the tax question will be settled and the homesteads will be a development which this ommunity never would have obtained had it not been for the co--1 operative spirit on the part of the 1 people. : We welcome the r< sidents of ! the homesteads into tae city of Decatur —or rather we welcome them as home owners for they have never ceased to be members ' of the Decatur community. To their enthusiasm and initia- ' tive we are largely indebted for the success of this venture —and to the Federal Government all of ' us are indebted for the opportun- ' ity to make a success of the project. 0 Homesteaders Active In Landscaping There’s a difference between a house and a home, according to , the Decatur people living in the homestead area and they are determined to have homes. One of the first steps being taken is that of landscaping. A good lawn, considered as the foundation of a beautiful yard, has been the first thought of most of the occupants. Considerable grass has been seeded with many of the homesteaders applying fertilizer to stimulate growth. One method employed by several of the families to insure retention of soil on slopes has been to cover freshly seeded places with burlap. This material not only ' holds the soil in place but helps

Decatur, Indiana, Monday July 27, 1936.

Decatur Homesteads As Seen From An Army Plane Isfc&x, . f I k* ■ ! I

Good Homes And Good Surroundings s rBWI i r? iHlWlr. ijfeL■ Lid dr' lUh Uh & x dXafeAßhr..-,--- , M i -d One of the homes of the Decatur Homesteads. Away from city street and the danger of traffic these children can play amid healthy and safe environment.

prevent excess evaporation of moisture. As the grass grows up through the burlap this temporary covering rots. In addition to seeding of yards quite a number of the occupants already have planted shrubbery around their houses and yards. Funds provided by the CWA also were used to purchase some 1,500 shade trees which were used to beautify both the individual homesteads and the park areas. Altogether the three park areas include about 17 acres. Steps already have been taken to get grass started on these parks and plans being prepared provide landscaping them and to equip certain areas for playground use. Funds donated by the General Electric Company were used in the parks. Due to unfavorable weather conditions this seeding (Continued On Page 34)

Stork Brought Nine Babies During First Year of Homestead

The first really original homesteaders of Decatur are nine little \ tots born during the first year of the community’s existence and whose births are recorded in the Adams county health office as “The Decatur Homesteads.’’ The distinction of being the first homestead baby belongs to Jimmy Helm, who came into the world a month after his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bob Helm, entered their'

home. Jimmy recently had his first I birthday. The first baby girl was born to Mr. and Mrs. Cole and was christened Barbara Ann. Other babies born at the homesteads are: Roger Blackburn, Donald Aurand, Gerald Joseph Grandstaff, Gaynel Irene Lankenau, Patricia McCann, Carol Sue Meyers, and iJanel Ann Sheets.

New Design Used In Road For Homesteads Decatur Homestead’s main thor- ■ oughfare presents an inovation in road construction and is a radical departure from the usual type of highway construction. Instead of sloping from the center to the edges it slopes from the edges to the center. This design, by Purdue University engineers, was adopted in or-1 der for drainage of the road bed as well as surface water, this eliminating the necessity for gutters. The main highway in the area is an 18-foot three-course asphaltic Macadam road constructed on a flat “V-type" shape with the edges about six inches higher than the center. A five-inch drain tile is laid a- : bout three feet below the surface all along the center of the road. This tile line is connected to catch basins at breaks in the road grade. Thus all rain or melting snow is drained from the road to the tile line rather than to roadside ditches as is usual for most roads. Incidentally this main road is laid out in sweeping curves to ar void the appearance of blocks such as are often seen in factory built housing districts. The houses themselves were lo- > cated without regard to straight I lines. The entire layout was plan- ! ned so that it can easily be adapted to a beautiful landscaping de-

Room For Kids And A Puppy It’ jftO' iM ® HIRI :Bs O sH 8® ’ # ’ fffl: wlsll W ‘Z lIIrKiJIPH >z , tot MW® ' ’ — -.-■ri—- ■ Jfi ■ Kw' ■ ; .Jra K l' -. • > ■>< JLiifc*' V>, i r- -1 WF*” " ■■■- ■■ .... ' j .... - Sunshine and space make for happy youngsters. Children of the Decatur homesteads get plenty of both. More than an acre of land is included with each home and in addition there sea 15-acre paak area for the use of the families.

SECTION FIVE

The aerial photograph is by I | the U. S. Army Air Corps. The | | other pictures are Resettlement | Administration photographs by | | Mydans. sign. Excellent cooperation on the part of the Adams county commissioners was responsible for providing this modern type road for the Decatur homesteads and for keeping it clear during heavy snows. o Terhune Seeks New Plants Thermalito, Cal.— (U.R) —Albert Payson Terhune, note dauthor and dog lover, has asked for roots and shrubs of The California mansanitta, chapparral. poppy and lupine for transplanting to New Jersey hills. o Orchids To The Ladies The Resettlement Administration wishes to acknowledge the fine public spiritedness of those women of Decatur who gave generously of their time in interviewing applicants for approval as occupants of the Decatur homesteads. A committee of twelve headed by Mrs. H. B, Heller, past president of the Decatur Women’s Club, and Mrs. Delton Passwater, chairman of the Civics section of the Women's Club, contributed materially in this way toward lightening the task of the government’s family selection unit.

Civic, Religious, Social, Commercial, Industrial, Agricultural

CITY AMONG FIRST TO GET HOMESTEADS Started By Department Os Interior, Changed To Resettlement Admin. Shortly after the Subsistence Homesteads Division was established by the present Administration in 1933 under the Department of the Interior, the Decatur Homesteads project was given approval. First official announcement of plans for the community was made December 20, 1933 by Secretary of the Interior Ickes following the taking of options on 80 acres of farm land adjoining the Decatur city limits. M. L. Wilson, then director of the Subsistence Homesteads Dh vision, explained that the project would furnish “a test and demonstration of the opportunities of workers in small cities to increase their standard of living by reducing their complete dependence on pay envelopes to achieve a satisfactory livelihood.” Mr. Wilson pointed out at that, time that “Decatur is in many ways typical of the small industrial city of from four to 15,000, but that housing facilities are now especially inadequate with the result that many of the workers, with their incomes sharply reduced during the depression, have been unable to meet rental charges, w’hich in many instances have been above normal there.” Locally Administered The original allotment by the government for the project was $125,000, which was later increased to $145,000. This money w’as appropriated to a local corporation formed to administer the development which included the following civic leaders: James Elberson, president, Decatur Chamber of Commerce. Mrs. H. B. Heller, president, Decatur W’oman’s Club. Ferd L. Litterer. Carl C. Pumphrey. E. W. Lankenau. James G. Cowan. The corporation exercised the option taken on the 80 acre Aivira Cade farm at a price of SIOO per acre and the deed for the land was accepted on April 5, 1934. Architectural designs were prepared by the Chicago firm of McNally and Quinn and landscaping plans were made by R. B. Hull, landscape architect of Purdue University in cooperation with’J. Edwin Quinn, building architect. Bids for construction were then advertised and of eleven bidders, Hoggson Brothers of New York City were given the award on September 7, 1934, seven types of houses ranging in cost from $2,335 to $2,550. All houses were completed by April of 1935 and were all occupied by June 4, 1935. There were built (Continued On Page 34)