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Yorktowne-Breckinridge Neighborhood
Gatewood Neighborhood
History
I
n 1927 Edwin Faye Kitselman was one of four brothers who were industrialist leaders in Muncie Indiana. The inventive Kitselman brothers originally made roller skates in a factory east of Muncie in Ridgeville, Indiana, and eventually the company became a manufacturer of steel and wire fences. Mr. Kitselman, who was also a golfer, hunter, politician, and fisherman, bought several wooded acres at what was then the west end of University Avenue. He and his wife, Edna F. Leach Kitselman, had four children: Richard, Alice, Nancy and Jean. They built the stately brick home pictured here. Unfortunately, a short time later, in 1928, Mr. Kitselman died, leaving the land and the home to his wife and children. Almost three decades later, in 1956, the surviving Kitselman children, Richard, Nancy and Jean (all now deceased) deeded the Tudor Gothic home and 2.65 acres to the Ball State University Foundation. The home became known as the Kitselman Center and was utilized by Ball State University in succeeding years as a venue for conferences and special events.
On October 12, 1956, the Gatewood neighborhood plat was proposed by J. Roberts Dailey (local realtor and civic leader) and other partners, and on November 8, 1956 the Gatewood subdivision was approved with 92 lots all designed as single-family residences with the exception of three lots on the south side of Riverside where duplex rentals were permitted. Over the next thirty years homes of varying styles were built and occupied.
In 1987, Lot 4 of the Gatewood subdivision was split into a north half and south half and sold to the homeowners of lots 3 and 5, thus ending the 60 years of Kitselman ownership of this segment of wooded land west of the city of Muncie. Gatewood has 92 homes and is a thriving neighborhood.
In 2000, Virginia B. Ball, local philanthropist and active supporter of education, the environment, the arts, and the humanities, established the Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry at Ball State University. With the approval of the Ball State University Foundation, the Kitselman Center was chosen as the home of that center which still exists today.
Gatewood is bounded on the North by Riverside Avenue, the south by Gilbert Street, the west by Greenbriar Road and Bittersweet Lane and on the east by Forest Avenue, comprising 92 homes and approximately 80 acres. Today Gatewood is a neighborhood made up of accountants, artists, bankers, business men and women, children, counselors, doctors, engineers, fathers and mothers, grandparents, inventors, judges, lawyers, musicians, nurses, pharmacists, plumbers, professors, realtors, school administrators, teachers and very good neighbors.
In the early 2000’s, student rental properties continued popping up in residential neighborhoods in Muncie. The Gatewood Neighborhood Association was formed in an effort to sustain and support the Kitselman families’ original intent to develop a single family residential neighborhood and to support good neighboring.
In 2018 Gatewood completed neighborhood sponsored leveling, cleaning, tuck-pointing and restoration of the 1927 Gate Pillars at University and Forest Avenues.
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Neighborhood Association
Board Members 2024
President: Anna McGlinchy
Board Members and Street Representatives:
Bittersweet Lane: William (Bill) Pritchett
Brentwood Lane, North side of University: Brook Huser
Brentwood Lane, South side of University: Larry Strange
Forest Avenue and Gilbert Street: Kate Elliott
Gatewood Lane and Riverside Avenue: Jim Wingate
Greenbriar Road: Molly Graybeal
University Avenue: Dr. Don Whitaker
Wildwood Lane: Mr. Ron Martin
Board Member-at-large: Dlynn Melo
Secretary/Treasurer/Newsletter: Sue Whitaker
Committee Chairs: Jim Wingate, Government Liaison
Molly Graybeal, New Neighbor Welcome Coordinator
Casey Stanley, Facebook Administrator
Neighborhood School:
West View Elementary, MCS
3401 W. Gilbert Street
Schedule of Meetings and Activities for 2024:
- March 16 – Easter Egg Hunt with Kenmore
- March 21 – Board Meeting
- April 14 – GNA Member Meeting
- September 8 – Picnic with Kenmore
- November 10 – GNA Member Meeting
Neighborhood Map
Gatewood map (pdf)
2016 IDEA Conference Poster
(click the image to view the full poster as a pdf)
Join the private social network for your neighborhood at Nextdoor.
Forest Park Neighborhood
Neighborhood Association Meetings
The Forest Park Neighborhood Association meets every other month on the third Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the Delaware County Senior Citizens Center, 2517 W. Eighth St. All are welcome.
The neighborhood association supports the efforts of the Forest Park Senior Citizens Center. The upcoming events at the center can be found here.
On the Web
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Forestparkmuncie/timeline
Neighborhood Map
Forest Park map (pdf)
Find out what others think; rate and review this neighborhood on StreetAdvisor.
Join the private social network for your neighborhood at Nextdoor.
Eastside Neighborhood
History
The Eastside Neighborhood Association was established in 1988. This neighborhood is bordered by Muncie Bypass on the East, E. Jackson St (SR 32) on South, E. Manor St. on North, and N. Bellaire (Railroad Tracks) on the West. Three housing additions are located here:
- Mayfield: Bordered by N. State / E. Jackson / E. Manor / N. Manhattan)
- Echo Heights: N. Grande Ave
- Eastwood: N. Eastwood Ave
The Association members value families and children and Mr. Cummins worked tirelessly to keep Claypool School open for the neighborhood. Bill Chambers, former Trustee of Center Township, purchased the land north of E. Manor to create the park which, at one time, hosted the Eastside Eagles Baseball Team. The Center Township Trustees is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the park.
Spring 2015 may very well see Kitselman Pure Energy Park build on this property.
Neighborhood Association
Robert Green was the first president but shortly replaced by Perry Cummins who remained in office until 2013 when the association was closed. There have been many active members but none with the longevity and dedication as Mr. Cummins. The foundational members include:
- Jim Williams
- Debbie Crose
- Margaret Adams
- Maxine Cummings
- Kay Walker
- Tim Martin
- Charlene Stover
- Paul Balle
- Tim Hodge
- Cathy Burnam
- Linda Goodman
- Jay Bird
- Lisa Connor
- Mel McCord
Notable events include Easter egg hunts and picnics at Chambers Park and annual Christmas parties at the Claypool School Building (now Head Start).
Please refer back to this page for updates on the redevelopment of the Eastside Association!
Find out what others think; rate and review this neighborhood on StreetAdvisor.
Join the private social network for your neighborhood at Nextdoor.
East Central Neighborhood
History
The discovery of vast natural gas reserves in the 1880’s in the Muncie area attracted businesses that could take advantage of the cheap source of energy. Most notably, the Ball brothers moved their famous Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing company in Muncie. With the influx of new money and citizens, the downtown core could no longer provide enough land for residential development. The local developers at the time then looked east and what is now know as the East Central Neighborhood was born.The new industrialists in the city constructed many of the early homes. As a consequence, these homes were often large and ornate. By the time the gas reserves were largely exhausted in the early 1900’s, the size of the newer homes were smaller and less grand. This history created the eclectic mix of housing sizes and styles in the neighborhood.As the bulk of the houses in the neighborhood were constructed in the 1880’s and 1890’s the predominate style of architecture was Victorian. Later infill construction provided some Arts and Crafts homes.
The East-Central Neighborhood is home to two different historic districts. The Emily Kimbrough Historic District was established in 1976 as a City of Muncie historic district and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 (the area of the district was expanded in 1989). The Kirby Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
Neighborhood Association
The East Central Neighborhood Association Board of Directors meets every second Thursday at 7:00 pm at the Emily Kimbrough House (715 E. Washington St.). The meeting is open to the public. The East Central Neighborhood Association’s full membership meeting is a chili supper held every third Thursday in October at the Main Street Methodist Fellowship Hall, 115 S. Pershing.
East Central Neighborhood Association Plan & Immersive Learning Project
On the Web
Website – http://www.muncie-ecna.org/index.html
FaceBook – https://www.facebook.com/pages/East-Central-Neighborhood-Assoc-Muncie-in/213873218624902
Email –info@muncie-ecna.org
Neighborhood Map
East Central map (pdf)
2016 IDEA Poster
(click the image to view the full poster as a pdf)
Find out what others think; rate and review this neighborhood on StreetAdvisor.
Join the private social network for your neighborhood at Nextdoor.
Cowing Park Neighborhood
Neighborhood Association Meetings
The Cowing Park Neighborhood Association meets on the third Thursday of every month at the Gardens of Gethsemane Methodist Church.
More info about Cowing Park will be posted as it becomes available.
Do you have information about this area that you’d like to share? Contact Building Better Neighborhoods. We’d love to hear about it!