English Hotel Co., incorporated on April 3, 1901. The purpose of the company was “building, owning and carrying on hotels”.  I’m not sure how this company was connected with the extensive English Hotel and Opera House on the Monument Circle. Maybe the owner of the English Hotel, William E. English, was so busy in politics and other interests at the time that he turned over its management to this group of directors: A.A. Barnes -VP of the Columbian National Bank and President of the Udell Works, a furniture manufacturer; Louis G. Deschler – wholesale and retail cigars and tobacco; F.W. Hays – a physician; Henry W. Lawrence – President and Manager of the Claypool Hotel and Proprietor of the Spencer House; Albert Lieber – President and General Manager of the Indianapolis Brewing Co.; George G. Tanner – owner of Tanner & Company: wholesale tinner supplies, sheet iron and metals; Ernest H. Tripp – a contractor and President of the Union Transfer and Storage Co.: he lived at the English Hotel.

Central Music Co., incorporated from 1919 to 1930 by W.E. and A.E. Slingerland. This music store was located at 128 Pembroke Arcade, 135 E. Washington St. The Pembroke Arcade was  built in 1895 and designed by Vonnegut & Bonn, architects. The Arcade was a two-story building situated between East Washington Street and the diagonal Virginia Ave. According to an Indianapolis Star article it had “an assortment of shops and eateries, with a leaded glass atrium in the middle”. It really sounds like an earlier version of our downtown shopping mall. The Pembroke Arcade was demolished in 1943.

C.B. Reynolds & Co., incorporated in 1918. This company manufactured airless tire-cores for automobiles. The Dayton Tire Company advertised airless tires in 1918.

Automatic Hydro-Gravity Motor, incorporated in 1912. A hydro-gravity motor was “a submersible motor pump, which can be used for sewage”. Its directors were H.N. McKee – Secretary of the American Bankers’ Security Co.; W.A. Orwen – drug store owner; R.G. Hendricks – a medical surgeon; and J.H. Vaught – a physician.

City Hall Realty Co. incorporated from 1923 to 1933. Its directors were Felix McWhirter – the President of the Peoples State Bank, located at 130-136 E. Market St.; H.C. Snick – a lawyer whose office was at 601 Peoples Bank; and L.R. Zapf – another lawyer located at 601 Peoples Bank.

Cole Carriage Co., incorporated in 1905 by Joseph J. Cole. According to Wikipedia, Cole bought out a carriage company, renamed it, and was manufacturing about 3,000 carriages and coaches a year. But his main interest was automobiles and in 1909 he changed the company’s name to the Cole Car Co. which was in business till 1925. His factory building was at 730-738 E. Washington St., which is still standing.