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Vinegar Hill Historic District
Vinegar Hill Historic District.jpg
Houses in the district
Vinegar Hill Historic District is located in Indiana
Vinegar Hill Historic District
Location in Indiana
Vinegar Hill Historic District is located in the United States
Vinegar Hill Historic District
Location in the United States
Location E. 1st St. from Woodlawn to Jordan and S. Sheridan to E. Maxwell, Bloomington, Indiana
Area 21 acres (8.5 ha)
Architect Alfred Grindle, et al.
Architectural style Multiple
NRHP reference No. 05000195
Added to NRHP June 17, 2005

The Vinegar Hill Historic District is a special historic area and neighborhood in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. Most of its buildings were built between 1925 and 1950. This neighborhood is just a short distance south of the Indiana University Bloomington campus. Many important professors from Indiana University have lived here. Vinegar Hill is known for its unique homes and has even been featured in books. It is officially recognized as a historic site.

How Vinegar Hill Was Built

In the 1920s, the limestone business in Bloomington grew very fast. This made limestone company owners rich. It also created a big need for skilled stonecutters in the city. As the limestone industry became super important, an apple orchard was removed. This made space to extend First Street up a long hill. This new area was then planned out for a new neighborhood.

Many neighborhoods in Bloomington had names related to their location, like "Prospect Hill." People say that the apples from the orchard used to ferment, creating a strong smell like vinegar. That's how the neighborhood got its name!

The first families to build homes here were stonecutters. Many of them were immigrants from Europe. The Donato family was one of the most important. They built seven big houses in the neighborhood. Because so many residents were skilled stoneworkers, they decorated their homes with amazing carvings and sculptures. These decorations would have been too expensive for most people.

At the top of Vinegar Hill were the large houses of the wealthy limestone company owners. Like the workers' homes, these mansions also had fancy stonework. Some even had carvings of the homeowners' children. Other famous people who lived in Vinegar Hill included Indiana University professors. These included Alfred Kinsey, music dean Winfred Merrill, and Nobel Prize-winning biology professor Hermann Muller.

The Unique Look of Vinegar Hill Homes

Since many people in Vinegar Hill worked with limestone, they naturally used it to build their own houses. They used this strong stone to create homes in many different styles. These styles included American Craftsman, Neoclassical, and Art Deco.

Inside, the houses were also very decorative. Many had carved stone mantels (the shelves above fireplaces) and balusters (the fancy posts holding up stair railings). The four houses built by Christopher Donato also had detailed transoms (windows above doors) and lintels (beams above openings).

The grandest houses in the neighborhood are at the top of the hill, towards the eastern end. Here you can find styles like Tudor Revival and Georgian-inspired Colonial Revival. Many homes throughout the district are in different forms of Colonial and English Revival styles. Several Spanish Colonial Revival homes are also very important, especially lower down the hill. The novel The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields even features the architecture of Vinegar Hill as part of its story.

What makes this neighborhood even more special is the amazing lawn decorations around many houses. You can see detailed carvings of people, lions, and griffins. These sculptures make Vinegar Hill truly unique. It's the only neighborhood in all of Indiana where lawn decorations are a major part of its historic charm.

Becoming a Historic Place

Between 1999 and 2001, experts worked with the city of Bloomington to study all the buildings. They found over two thousand buildings that were considered historic. Most of these were grouped into special historic districts.

Vinegar Hill became one of these districts, with sixty-one buildings called "contributing properties." This means they help make the district historic. These buildings were put into three groups: "Outstanding," "Notable," and "Contributing."

  • Outstanding properties were so important they could be listed on the National Register of Historic Places by themselves.
  • Notable properties were very special but probably not important enough for their own national listing.
  • Contributing properties were important parts of their historic district but not super significant on their own.

Eight of Vinegar Hill's properties were rated "Outstanding," and thirteen were "Notable." Only thirty-one were simply "Contributing." This shows that Vinegar Hill has a lot more important historic buildings than other areas. About 40% of its buildings were "Notable" or "Outstanding," compared to only 13% citywide. Having eight "Outstanding" properties was especially rare, making up one-eighth of all such buildings in the entire city!

In 2003, people started working to get Vinegar Hill recognized nationally. The city even received a special grant (money) from the state government to help the district. A class at Indiana University began collecting detailed information about the houses. They also interviewed many residents to get support for the nomination. More and more people wanted the neighborhood to get federal recognition. Finally, Vinegar Hill was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 17, 2005.

The city's historic district includes fifty-two contributing buildings. However, the area recognized by the federal government is even larger. It includes seventy-one contributing buildings and thirty-eight other historic sites, structures, and objects.

Images for kids

  • First Street 1001, Muller House, Vinegar Hill HD

    Home of Hermann Muller

  • First Street 1002, Mazzullo House, Vinegar Hill HD

    The Mazzullo House

  • First Street 1006, Vinegar Hill HD

    1006 First Street

  • First Street 1010, Vinegar Hill HD

    1010 First Street

  • First Street 1014, Franzman House, Vinegar Hill HD

    The Franzman House

  • First Street 1017, Vinegar Hill HD

    1017 First Street, known as "Nerd Mansion"

  • First Street 1018, Vinegar Hill HD

    1018 First Street

  • First Street 1019, Vinegar Hill HD

    1019 First Street, built by Chris Donato

  • First Street 1022, Vinegar Hill HD

    1022 First Street

  • First Street 1025, Vinegar Hill HD

    1025 First Street, built by Chris Donato

  • First Street 1026, Vinegar Hill HD

    1026 First Street

  • First Street 1104, Vinegar Hill HD

    1104 First Street

  • First Street 1107, Donato House, Vinegar Hill HD

    The Donato House

  • First Street 1108, Vinegar Hill HD

    1108 First Street

  • First Street 1109, Vinegar Hill HD

    1109 First Street

  • First Street 1111, Vinegar Hill HD

    1111 First Street

  • First Street 1112, Vinegar Hill HD

    1112 First Street

  • First Street 1113, Vinegar Hill HD

    1113 First Street

  • First Street 1115, Vinegar Hill HD

    1115 First Street

  • First Street 1116, Vinegar Hill HD

    1116 First Street

  • First Street 1119, Anthony House, Vinegar Hill HD

    The Anthony House

  • First Street 1120, Vinegar Hill HD

    1120 First Street

  • First Street 1122, Vinegar Hill HD

    1122 First Street

  • First Street 1123, Bruner House, Vinegar Hill HD

    The Bruner House

  • First Street 1127, Vinegar Hill HD

    1127 First Street

  • First Street 1130, Vinegar Hill HD

    1130 First Street

  • First Street 1200, Vinegar Hill HD

    1200 First Street

  • First Street 1202, Vinegar Hill HD

    1202 First Street

  • First Street 1213, Humphries House, Vinegar Hill HD

    The Humphries House

  • First Street 1214, Vinegar Hill HD

    1214 First Street

  • First Street 1220, Vinegar Hill HD

    1220 First Street

  • First Street 1300, Vinegar Hill HD

    1300 First Street

  • First Street 1319, David Wylie House, Vinegar Hill HD

    The David Wylie House

  • First Street 1320, Kinsey House, Vinegar Hill HD

    The Kinsey House, home of Alfred Kinsey

  • First Street 1323, Cline House, Vinegar Hill HD

    The Cline House

  • First Street 1327, Woodward House, Vinegar Hill HD

    The Woodward House

  • First Street 1330, Krebs House, Vinegar Hill HD

    The Krebs House

  • Ballantine Road 714, Vinegar Hill HD

    714 Ballantine Road

  • Ballantine Road 720, Vinegar Hill HD

    720 Ballantine Road

  • Ballantine Road 721, Vinegar Hill HD

    721 Ballantine Road

  • Highland Avenue 725, Irvin Matthews House, Vinegar Hill HD

    The Irvin Matthews House

  • Jordan Avenue 700, Vinegar Hill HD

    700 Jordan Avenue

  • Jordan Avenue 701, Vinegar Hill HD

    701 Jordan Avenue

  • Jordan Avenue 710, Vinegar Hill HD

    710 Jordan Avenue

  • Jordan Avenue 719, Vinegar Hill HD

    719 Jordan Avenue

  • Jordan Avenue 727, Vinegar Hill HD

    727 Jordan Avenue

  • Sheridan Drive 800, Hoadley House, Vinegar Hill HD

    The Hoadley House

  • Sheridan Drive 824, Merrill House, Vinegar Hill HD

    The Merrill House

  • Sheridan Drive 836, Vinegar Hill HD

    836 Sheridan Drive

  • Sheridan Drive 837, Sullivan House, Vinegar Hill HD

    The Sullivan House

  • Sheridan Drive 840, Vinegar Hill HD

    840 Sheridan Drive

  • Woodlawn Avenue 715-717, Vinegar Hill HD

    715-717 Woodlawn Avenue

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