501 W. 8th Street

J Davis Addition

Built: 1940

Style: Mid-Century Commercial

• Curved corner entry with flat roof

• Large plate-glass windows and ceramic tile cladding

• Clean lines and minimal ornamentation

• Exemplifies the practical design of 1950s–60s commercial buildings.

This building was built on the site of  an original home built in the late 1800’s by WG Ethel.  James Whitcomb Riley, the "Hoosier Poet," had a brief but notable connection to Anderson, Indiana. He worked as a local editor for The Anderson Democrat newspaper in 1877 and lived in the original home from 1874 to 1878. 

During this time, he carried out his famous hoax of passing off a poem, "Leonanie," as a work by Edgar Allan Poe, which led to criticism but also some recognition of his poetic talent. While his career took him to other places, notably Indianapolis, his time in Anderson contributed to his early development as a writer. 

The current building is used for commercial purposes by the Madison County Literacy Center.