Where the Bruebach Farm Was: A Theory

Since I started researching the Bruebach family, I have been wondering where they lived. Newspaper items reference a farm, but I could not find any property labeled "Bruebach" on any plat map.

The reason for this, I have come to believe, is that the farm was too small to allow a mapmaker to write out the full name, and that the Bruebach farm is marked by the initials "G.B." on the 1908 Plat Map:


(Click on images to enlarge)

It's a parcel of probably less than 20 acres straddling Rand Street on the west side of present-day State Road 51.

Aside from the initials matching George Bruebach's name, what evidence do I have for my theory?

First of all, in the 1920 Census, the enumerator's notes place the Bruebach household on the "East Gary Road between East Gary and Hobart, Ind.," which describes S.R. 51.



That phrase could also describe Lake Park Avenue, I suppose, so let's look at the 1910 Census.



Of all the names recorded near the Bruebachs, only Larson also appears on Lake Park Avenue. I think the Jacob and Anna Haller below the Bruebachs show up on the 1908 map misspelled as J. & A. Keller, while Kostbade in the census comes out Kostbach on the map.

Also note that George Bruebach, Sr. was an electrician by trade, not a farmer, so he wouldn't need a lot of land.

In further support of the S.R.-51 theory, I offer early-20th-century newspaper descriptions of the location of the Bruebach home. The "Local Drifts" column in the Hobart Gazette includes a couple of items: in the July 7, 1914, issue: "Mrs. Frank Able [née Johanna Bruebach; married Frank Abel, Jr. in 1906] and two children spent Sunday with her parents northeast of town"; and in the September 29, 1922 issue: "Mr. and Mrs. Paul Bruebach, who live in the Lounsbury house, on Cleveland avenue, will move about next Monday to the home of his mother and sister, northeast of the city." I emphasize "northeast" because that direction more accurately describes S.R. 51 than Lake Park Avenue; the latter would just be "north."

In their obituaries of George Bruebach, Sr. (who died June 15, 1920), the Gazette states: "Fifteen years ago last April he purchased a small farm northeast of Hobart,"[1] while the News describes the farm as being "about two miles from town."[2] Measured on Google maps, the distance from the center of town to the Rand-S.R. 51 intersection (traveling by road) is about 1.77 miles.


So there you have my theory, and the evidence on which I base it.

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[1] "Death of George J. Bruebach," Hobart Gazette, June 25, 1920.
[2] "George Bruebach, Sr. Expires Suddenly Tuesday Evening," Hobart News, June 17, 1920.