Residence of Joseph A. Rink

Joseph A. Rink, born in Lawrenceburg, Ind., in 1853, was the original owner of this home at 2105 N. Meridian St. He first came to Indianapolis in 1877 and opened Rink's Cloak House, the country's first clothing store exclusively for women, in 1888.

The store's facade still stands at 29 N. Illinois St. Rink also built the recently renovated Rink-Savoy apartment building at 401 N. Illinois St., and, as a Public Works board member, he helped ensure the construction of Garfield Park's Sunken Gardens.

Fire maps and city directories indicate Rink probably lived in this Meridian home from about 1898 until 1922, when he sold it to an insurance company.

Developer Jeffrey Congdon, who recently transformed the property into "Meridian at 21," a mixed-use business and residential development, says early renovations that turned the structure from a home into business offices erased many original interior features, but items like oak flooring, wainscoting, curved windows and a third-story ballroom survived and are still prominent today.

Special thanks to Leah Orr and Riley Area Development Corporation for their contribution.