Nora, Indianapolis

Nora is a community on the far north side of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is home to North Central High School and birthplace of the popular Monon Trail. Nora's neighborhoods typically feature diverse housing stock, large lots and mature trees. The Nora community contains six distinct business/commercial districts, including Nora Plaza, Greenbriar Plaza, and The Fashion Mall at Keystone.

Nora at Nora Plaza Shopping Center in 1998.
Map of the Nora neighborhood in Indianapolis

Nora is generally considered to be contained by White River on the east (southward around the Broad Ripple oxbow), Williams Creek and 79th Street on the south, Township Line Road on the west, and 96th Street (which forms the border between Marion and Hamilton counties) and I-465 on the north. Nora was never an incorporated town, so its accepted boundaries have varied. Today, the boundaries of Nora are commonly accepted as the area defined by the Nora-Northside Community Council.

History

The name Nora for this area can be traced back to December 1871, when Swedish immigrant Peter Lawson was appointed postmaster at Nora. Lawson owned a grocery store situated at what is today the southwest corner of Westfield Boulevard and 86th Street.

Lawson named the area after his home parish in Sweden. He was born as Per Israelsson on March 29, 1828, in Blexbergstorp, Nora parish, Örebro County Sweden. He emigrated in 1854 and from at least 1860 he is known to have lived in Washington Township, Marion County. In 1861 he was one of the founding members of the Union Church Washington Township. Lawson died on October 29, 1884, and was buried in Crown Hill Cemetery.

The locality of Nora grew around Lawson's grocery store and post office. Soon there were more shops, smithies, and a train station in the area. Nora Elementary School was opened in 1895.

About 150 people lived in Nora in the 1880s, but the area did not become densely populated until the mid-1900s. Nora Plaza Shopping Center was built in 1959, anchored by an Ayr-Way that became a Target and a Standard that later became a Lowell''s No Frills Discount Foods, Wild Oats Market, and most recently Whole Foods. A new post office was opened in 1961 (a Steak 'n Shake is at the old location). Nora Community Council was established in 1967. It became part of Indianapolis under Unigov in 1970.

Education

Nora has a public library, a branch of the Indianapolis Public Library.[1] Nora Elementary School, part of the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township, is in the neighborhood.[2] as is North Central High School.

  • Peter Lawson, the founder of Nora.
  • Nora Post Office in 1998 (built as a movie theatre).
  • Nora Branch Library in 1998.

References
  1. "Locations & Hours". Indianapolis Public Library. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  2. "Nora Elementary School". MSD Washington Township. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  • Håkan Henriksson: Spår av Örebro län i Amerika. In Lokalhistorisk läsning för Örebro län nr 5 (Örebro, 1999).
  • Nora Northside Community Council boundary map
  • Nora Alliance

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