Why Indianapolis?

[john1082]

I cannot verify the truth of this story, but it sounds quite rational. If you are familiar with the history of industrial engineering or business practices in the twenties and thirties it makes even more sense - think about the movie "Cheaper By The Dozen".

In the twenties and thirties there was a movement in indisutrial engineering known as "time and motion studies" and at the heart of this notion was the idea that there was an optimal way to do anything.

Engineers scampered around manufacturing plants with stopwatches, measuring how long it took to do certain tasks. Tasks were then rearranged to reduce the time needed.

About this same time someone decided to find the most efficient place to but a headquarters and the criteria was to minimize travel time between HQ and various cities across the nation.

Indianapolis was a rail hub served by several railroads and proved to be the center of the universe if an American company wanted to minimize travel time and costs. To most cities (think twenties and population density) Indianapolis was simply an overnight Pullman ride. To go west added additional travel days, but remember where most of the people were in the twenties, thirties and even into the forties!

If you were to do the same study today you would probably find that Dallas (hub for American Airlines) would meet the criteria for minimizing travel time.

BTW, if anyone can find the article(s) regarding Indy and the trains, I'd like to see a copy as I have been unable to locate the original sources.

[boz130]

This is strictly archival stuff gathered from speaking w/GLO folks @ various organizations HQ'd in Indy...I believe the train hub theory makes sense, although Chicago was a more travelled destination in those days.

The reason that many GLOs call Indy home (per the aforementioned chats) is that it was the largest, centrally-located hub outside of a big city (a.k.a. Chicago). Guess there was some fear of being in a larger metropolitan area...

[Tom Earp]

There was also a big tax break for coming there.

The idea is a great idea and Kansas City would have been a better place as more centrally located, it was also a big rail road town, but who carries passangers anymore? That was also after the advent of the Areo Plane!

[GammaZeta]

Question: WHEN did Indy become the popular place for frats and when did LXA locate there? Where were we before that?

As I said before, maybe it's time we starting rethinking organization.

[docroc67]

Brother Gamma Zeta,

I wrote an article about this in the December, 2005 issue of the C&C. I was under the impression that all 167,384 living members of our fraternity read it.

Obviously one Brother did not.

My ego is crushed. I am now operating strictly in a brain stem mode.

Yours in ZAX,

Mike, "One Reader Less Than He Thought He Had," Raymond
Zeta-Upsilon Zeta

Originally Posted by GammaZeta

Question: WHEN did Indy become the popular place for frats and when did LXA locate there? Where were we before that?

As I said before, maybe it's time we starting rethinking organization.

[GammaZeta]

Sorry Doc.

I am interested in it though, not only as a LXA, but as a history buff.

Do you have an electronic copy or a link to it?

[LXA grits]

Here is a link to the requested Cross and Crescent (PDF) article:

http://pdf.crossandcrescent.com/2005...5dec_print.pdf


Specifically, Brother Raymond's article reads:

"The Office of Administration was moved to Indianapolis in 1920 where it was housed in two rented rooms in the When? building on 30-40 North Pennsylvania Street. Additional office moves were made to room 419 of the People’s Bank Building on 132-136 East Market Street in 1923 and to suite 701 in the Circle Tower Office Building on 55 Monument Circle in 1930.

TKN Merger
The merger of Theta Kappa Nu with our Fraternity led to the formation of a special commission, composed of Clare B. Book (Pittsburgh), J. A. Harris (Purdue), and Donald F. Lybarger (Gettysburg) to determine the best location for a new administrative office site.
The group reported that Indianapolis was the best area because it “...is near the geographical center of the Fraternity and excellent services are available for transportation, communication, machine service, and office supplies, etc. Also, Indiana corporation law deals kindly with non-profit corporations, particularly in the area of taxes.” These reasons still hold true today."

I don't mean to step on any toes, but I wanted to read the article again, and figured I'd post my findings since I already was at the address. Great work Brother Raymond!

FYI: Below is a reference list the article provides of our HQ locations:

1909: Swansea, MA

1920: 261 Pierce St
Kingston, PA 18704

1920: 160 S Main St
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701

1920: 30-40 N Pennsylvania St
Indianapolis, IN 46205

1923: 36 E Market St
Indianapolis, IN 46204

1930: 55 Monument Cir
Indianapolis, IN 46204

1940: 2029 N Meridian St
Indianapolis, IN 46202

1954: 3434 N Washington Blvd
Indianapolis, IN 46205

1974: 8741 Founders Rd
Indianapolis, IN 46268

Yours in Z A X ,

Chris Hall

[HONKY660]

Originally Posted by LXA grits

Also, Indiana corporation law deals kindly with non-profit corporations, particularly in the area of taxes.” These reasons still hold true today."

This is the specific reason I have always heard why a majority of IFC and NPC groups built their IHQ or HQ there.

[GammaZeta]

Thanks Grits