Hamilton County History
Boosting Business in Noblesville Chamber of Commerce Started During the Great Depression
David Heighway
The Noblesville Chamber of Commerce has been around for 75 years, which is an impressive time span for such an organization – particularly when you look at why earlier versions of the group failed. There have been a few different organizations created over the years to support local business and promote growth. The first such group was the Commercial Club, which was created in 1893 and put together a booklet promoting the town in 1896. They held their meetings in the newly-built Wild Opera House. The group had been organized as a response to the prosperity of the natural gas boom and, unfortunately, they didn’t outlast it. The failure of the gas boom after 1900 caused a population drop that lasted until the 1920s. While Noblesville was not as badly affected as other areas of the county, several local factories closed, and the ebb and flow of unemployed people had a detrimental impact. There is little information about the Commercial Club after the turn of the century. Time passed, and another group, actually named the Chamber of Commerce, published a newsletter called the “Noblesville Outlook” in 1917. Interestingly, it mentioned concerns about public restrooms and litter – points that are still discussed today. The newsletters were published in January, February, and March, and the US entered World War I in April. It’s likely that people got distracted and, once again, the organization dissolved. Then in the fall of 1935, in the middle of the Great Depression, local businessmen organized a new group. Since they shared space in the newspaper with articles about the WPA and other government economic actions, this might have seemed overly optimistic. However, they had discussions about the successes and failures of the prior
34
October • November 2010/Hamilton County Business Magazine
groups, and evidently tried to plan accordingly. The group survived the Depression and World War II and was in place for the post-war economic boom. As the population began to grow in the 1950s, the Chamber of Commerce created new promotional brochures, which show some unique images from the beginning of the growth of the suburbs. The Chamber found some novel ways to interact with the community, such as in the 1970s, when the office was in a railroad car parked on North Eighth Street. (The car was on loan from the Indiana Transportation Museum and is now stored at their site.) The current Chamber office is in a former blacksmith shop on Conner Street. Today, like other Chambers of Commerce around the county, the Noblesville Chamber is continuing to encourage growth and economic development in its community. It will be interesting in the future to watch how the organization responds to events in the local area and the world. The Noblesville Chamber will mark its 75 anniversary at a Gala Celebration November 6 at the Oak Hill Mansion. See website for more details: www.noblesvillechamber.com
David Heighway is the Hamilton County historian.