Ruins in the River: A White River Mystery
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Just upstream from the White River boat ramp in Riverside Park sits a relic of another time. Generally, this is not unusual at Riverside Park, as there are many such relics, on land and in the water, and I have research most of those, and explored their history on this blog and in Vanished Indianapolis. But this relic has escaped my research notice, although I have been aware of it for the past several years.
The relic is not visible from White River Parkway, but if you are on the water in a boat, canoe, kayak, etc., or wading along the muddy bank, you can spot it. Depending on the water levels in the river, sometimes all you can see rusted metal sticking out of the water. If the water is really low, or perhaps very clear, the full shape of the relic can be seen: a large rectangular box, made of metal, and divided into six sections.
If the water is low enough, you might be able to see what are likely to be over 100 year old rivets attached to the rusting metal. Note: The image below was taken at a different time than those above.
I first spotted this metal object several years ago while kayaking the river to what has traditionally been my take-out point at the “Lake Indy” boat ramp. At the time, I recognized this relic, or structure, as a bulkhead, or dock, perhaps related to the recreational boating which had been popular on the river in years past.
For some reason, I never delved deeper into the history of this relic. But a few weeks ago, I while researching historic droughts in Indianapolis for an upcoming Retro Indy column that I write for the Indianapolis Star, I ran across a 1988 headline which caught my attention: “Barge found in White River, but alas, no Cleopatra.” The article, by David Mannweiler, explained that the bulkhead, or barge as it was being called, seemed to have appeared from out of nowhere. Art Strong, the superintendent of Indy Parks, noted that “[i]t just showed up,” further saying that he had never seen the barge before. “This is the first time I've ever seen it,” he said. It’s sitting on a mudflat along the east riverbank, north of our boat ramp.”
That Strong had never seen it before was not surprising. Just south of the barge’s location was the Emrichsville Dam, which had, at the time, created a pool in the White River from 16th Street north, for nearly a century, covering many river features.
However, 1988 was a severe drought in Indianapolis (and the Midwest as a whole) and the mysterious bulkhead had finally been noticed as a result of the terribly low water levels that summer. In fact, a review of aerial imagery available at Map Indy shows that the barge was rarely breaking the surface prior to 1988, thanks to the deeper water created by the dam. A few images show a vague outline of the barge, like the 1986 aerial below, but in general, it seems to have stayed submerged.
Following the destruction of the Emrichsville Dam in 2018 (mostly destroyed...the remains will be removed in the coming months), the barge was revealed due to lower water levels upstream. The aerial images below are from This was when I first spotted the barge. The oblique aerial images below are from 2026, 2020, and 2019 and show the barge at various water levels in the post-dam conditions. However, it should be noted that not far downstream from this point Citizens Energy constructed its "rock ramp," a type of dam meant to compensate for the loss of Emrichsville Dam. It once again raised the water level, which is evidence in the 2026 image,
Going back to 1988, the barge drew some interest from locals in addition to Mannweiler, including from Robert Hoffman, a Carmel businessman who had been trying to develop a dinner cruise service the White River. Hoffman inspected the barge and described it like a “shoebox without a top on it,” and that the inside was divided into six compartments. Hoffman attempted to pump water and mud out of the barge to raise it, but was ultimately unsuccessful, as the DNR had vetoed the use of heavy machinery in the effort.
The source of the barge was unclear. Knowing the history of the stretch of river where it is located, I thought it was related to the boating operations which were once popular on the river in the area of 30th Street. The Indianapolis Canoe Club used to be located at 30th and the White River, and there were also various other vendors providing canoe rentals and launches in the same area over the years. This barge, or bulkhead, was likely a dock or floating platform used to support these boating operations.
The recollections of the readers of Mannweiler’s article seem to support this. A few days after his original article, an update was printed about the barge (which remained in place and was not moving). Bob Beisel, an Indianapolis policeman, had been assigned to river patrol (see the clipping above) in the late 1950’s due to the amount of activity on the river (pre-dating the opening of Morse Reservoir, and at the time, water craft at Geist were limited.) He recalled the barge on the river during his workday patrolling up and down the river.
Another reader, Bonnie Baker, recalled the barge being used for canoe rental operations, and had been in place since around 1920, first on the north side of 30th Street (it spent time on each bank), and later on the south side of the bridge. Marley B. "Gus" Wingert owned the barge in the 1930s. At the time, it had it had a small shelter constructed on top of wooden decking laid across the barge. Dozens of canoes were stored inside the shelter. Wingert continued to own the barge into the 1950s and Indianapolis Park Board Minutes note him operating "Riverside Boating" in 1951 and reference the barge as a "boat dock." There is also a note about the awarding of a contract to him for "BOATING CONCESSIONS" in 1955. At the time, the operation was located along the line of 26th Street. It appears the last year that Wingert operated the canoe rental was in 1959, although the barge, and the structure atop it, remained on the river.
Officer Beisel recounted how in January 1962, an ice floe struck the barge and punctured a steel drum (or washed the drums away, depending on the report), which were lashed to the barge’s sides to provide buoyancy. This caused the barge to begin to sink. Carl Waggy, a manager at a nearby bank and apparently a part owner of the barge at the time, often stayed in the shelter with his dog on the weekends. In fact, reports of this incident refer to the barge as a houseboat, noting it had three rooms (likely where the canoes were kept in better weather). He and the dog were rescued by police from the sinking barge after an eight-hour ordeal with the ice slowly pulling the barge under. The shelter and wooden planking on the barge were stripped away, and the barge was left in place, partially sunk. Presumably, this is its current resting spot, or at least, close to it, just upstream from the city’s White River boat ramp.
Sources
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Indianapolis News: July 4, 1958, July 20, July 21, 1988, 1988, July 22, 1988
Indianapolis Star: January 28, 1962
Board of Park Commissioners Meeting minutes, 1951
Board of Park Commissioners Meeting minutes, 1955
Board of Park Commissioners Meeting minutes, 1959
Images as noted above.
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