Waynedale Still Strong After 105 Years
Ever since its humble beginnings in 1921, Waynedale has been a community on its own, fervently shaped through the boom of industry and bustle of passionate community members. Once an unincorporated small town, the community has found itself an extension of the larger City of Fort Wayne since 1957, yet there is still a strong identity and pride among residents of being in “Waynedale.” A mentality residents hold so passionately about the place they live that many don’t simply say they live in Fort Wayne, they claim Waynedale.
As the community celebrates its 105th anniversary on February 15, it’s this strength that brings us together. However, the interesting part of our community’s history is that the longer you’ve been in the area likely changes how you see the community. For fun, you can have discussions with friends about the following:
Is the center of the community at Old Trail and Lower Huntington Roads or Bluffton Road and Lower Huntington? Or somewhere else?
Where are Waynedale’s current boundaries? Do they extend all the way up to the Bluffton Road Bridge near the Clyde to the north? Would you include Indian Village neighborhood? Would its boundaries to the east extend to Tillman Road?
When you think of a Waynedale high school, are you thinking of Elmhurst or Wayne?
What’s more important, preserving and/or bringing back those businesses you loved in the past or what the community needs in the future?
These “What is Waynedale?” questions are hard but interesting to try to answer as neighborhood leaders aimed to target at the City of Fort Wayne’s 2040 Waynedale Neighborhood Plan meetings and community input events. Universally, the easiest definition of Waynedale is “you know it when you’re there.”
Overwhelmingly, residents said in recent surveys they loved where they live. It’s no wonder people who live and work here are so proud of the community that they take deep civic ownership and it’s a place that has almost everything people need without leaving the area. Uniquely, we celebrate not one, but two post offices, two fire stations, a BMV, six parks (and a dog park), trails, library, hardware store, grocery store, butcher shop, and even our own newspaper, among so many more amenities.
It’s a place where neighbors support each other and even regularly wave in friendship as they drive or walk through neighborhoods. It’s somewhere the people get together in the hundreds or even thousands to celebrate Memorial Day (the parade), Christmas (Santa’s trolley), supporting local businesses (Shop Waynedale), and so many other well-attended events throughout the year.
Something to note from last year’s city’s community input survey was whether community members feel unsafe and if crime is an issue. Many said yes. Understandably so, over the past few years, there have been some devastating events that have shaken the community. However, statistically, crime has trended down by up to 33% in most categories from year to year, over the past 15 years. Including the last 40 years, it has almost halved.
So, how could community members feel unsafe or as if crime is on the rise? One explanation is that since Waynedale identifies itself so strongly, when larger media covers those negative events, they say it happened in Waynedale, instead of on the southside of Fort Wayne, as the media generally broadcasts for similar things that happen in other communities. And so, because of Waynedale’s strong branding, this perception of the community sticks, good or bad.
So on the flipside, when the community gets positive press, the strong identity of Waynedale gets uplifted.
The belief that positivity leads to more positivity is by design of the family-friendly, uplifting mission of The Waynedale News. This is why the newspaper helps to lead and support so many positive initiatives and events in the area alongside so many passionate community members and organizations. You can learn more about the newspaper’s past events, projects, and initiatives by visiting waynedalenews.com/community.
As the community looks toward the future, it’s perfectly positioned as a ripe opportunity for current and future residents and businesses. You may already feel it. It’s beginning to seem like this community, which was once overlooked for other parts of town, is now receiving a lot of attention.
A telltale sign is the short amount of time houses are on the market in this part of town. There are newly built homes and apartments sprawling all over the area and recent large investments in buildings and major renovations for new business storefronts. Alongside the many beloved, legacy businesses, vacant storefronts are quickly being populated with new options for residents to try out a new eatery, product, or service. With growing industry on airport expressway and extending past the south outskirts of the community, there are more job opportunities which attract more people who want to live close to work. All of these features combined with the short drive to some popular city-wide destinations like the airport, Electric Works, and those in downtown and southwest Fort Wayne, serves to see how Waynedale is quickly becoming an even more desirable place to live and work.
This year, the community takes one more step into the future. And, the 105th anniversary is more than just a mile marker in the long road of ups and downs. It’s a time that the community can truly reflect upon its history with meaning and thanks for all of those who worked to keep it such a wonderful place, as well as those who work to improve it every day. If you’d like to learn more and give your input, get involved! There are Waynedale 2040 Plan Open Houses on Tuesday, February 17, from 6 to 8 p.m., and Thursday, February 19, from 5 to 7 p.m., at the Waynedale Library where you can provide your input and see what’s ahead for the community. Bringing back a Waynedale Picnic style, free, community-wide event, organizers are in the process of planning a Waynedale Anniversary event this fall, which will be announced in the newspaper and on social media in coming months.
For those interested in learning more about Waynedale’s history, on waynedalenews.com/category/history there’s a special section dedicated to historic community highlights and memories, as well as over 20,000 pages of articles throughout the years that can be searched. Another great resource for Facebook users is a group named “Waynedale Recollections,” which is dedicated to collecting information and photos, discussing, and reminiscing about Waynedale through the ages.
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