H.H. Holmes Murder House

Private property, please don't trespass, or be weird ,or creepy. Irvington, Indiana is a town rich with history, both good and bad. There is one property associated with the infamous Dr. H.H. Holmes, who murdered a young boy in a rented house in Irvington, which no longer stands. Since the Irvington Historical Society has been so diligent about preserving the history of the area, I was able to find many references to H.H. Holmes throughout my research, as well as maps of the area. A one and a half story cottage, a little distance from Union Ave. on the extreme East side of Irvington. It was secluded and no other houses were located in the immediate neighborhood. Located across the street from the Methodist Church (1895-1899), and about 200 yds. north of the Pennsylvania RR tracks (now Bonna Ave.) To the West was a small grove of young Catalpa trees, to the East a large common. There were 2 roads leading to the street cars that ran into Indy. Detective Frank P. Geyer and Mr. Gary, investigator with the insurance company, took the trolley from Indy to Irvington on August 27, 1895 to search for Howard Pitezel. Mr. Brown, a real estate agent in Inrvington identified the photo of Holmes. On October 5, 1894, Holmes had rented the house from J.C. Wands in Indianapolis, paying one month's rent in advance.   The cottage was owned by Dr. J.L. Thompson, his employee, Elvet Moorman, had seen Holmes and Howard and helped to move a "Peninsular Oak" coal stove into the barn. Dr. Barnhill, partner of Dr. Thompson, found pieces of charred bone from a femur and skull in the chimney of the house located in the cellar. Detective Geyer returned to the house and found teeth and a jaw, which were identified by Dr. John Quincy Byram, dentist. Also found at the bottom of the chimney was a large charred mass that was discovered to be a portion of the stomach, liver and spleen. The pelvis was also found. Howard was murdered on October 10, 1894, and later that evening Holmes left Irvington with the rest of the Pitezel family. This home is not the cottage H.H. Holmes rented in 1894. The physical location is correct, but the structure that stands there was built in 1900. The actual house that originally stood at 5811 Julian Ave in 1894 was moved around the corner to 114 S. Good Avenue at some point between 1894 and 1900.