INGALLS — It’s been more than 20 years since Mike Rafalco helped put together the penny bar counter at the Hog House Bar & Grille on Meridian Street, but customers still come in to try and find the one penny on the counter that was glued down tails up.
Patrons who come into the bar are immediately attracted to the counter, which was installed by original owner Ron “Hog” Riggs in 1987. But as the only bar in small-town Ingalls in southern Madison County, the Hog House brings in plenty of customers for other reasons.
“This is a town bar,” manager Joni Haley said. “It’s a very tight-knit little bar. Nobody in here knows a stranger. We try to make everybody feel at home.”
The Hog House is much like its hometown in that sense, Haley said, where everyone knows everyone else and always is willing to help others.
Meridian Street runs north and south through the tiny town, which was established in 1896, according to the large water tower that greets travelers along Indiana 67/U.S. 36 between Pendleton and Fortville. The street is considered Ingalls’ main drag, although most of the street is populated by homes like all the other quiet Ingalls streets.
The Hog House sits on the corner of Meridian and the highway, a good location to attract both locals and travelers, Haley said. During a recent ice storm, the bar turned into a rest stop for cautious travelers, many who commented on its location and friendliness.
Also on Meridian Street sits the Town Hall and police department, the fire department, Church of Jesus Christ and, on the street’s north end, the Ingalls Church of God.
Most of the street is residential, however, with neat older homes and more newly constructed houses toward the south end of the street. Ingalls Clerk-Treasurer Kip Golden said the town was working to spruce up Meridian Street as the main road through town, starting with the sidewalks along the south end of the street.
“We want to spruce it up a little bit,” he said.
Many Ingalls residents who live in the town grew up there, Haley said. She moved to Ingalls from Pendleton when she met her husband.
Often their hometown roots will lead residents to look out for one another, especially when it comes to protecting the Hog House. One resident plows its parking lot while another takes care of its lawn for free.
“We’ve got a lot of people who have just stepped up,” Haley said.
Rafalco said the bar used to be across Meridian Street from its current location, which used to be the home of Dirty Dave’s Bike Shop. The Hog House has been in the neighborhood since the late 1960s.
“This was Hog’s bar, so we’re going to keep a touch of him in here,” Rafalco said of the penny bar counter.
Rafalco moved to Ingalls in 1984 and likes its location far from a big city.
“It’s out of the city and you’re away from all the riff-raff,” he said.
Even so, Indianapolis, which is spreading northward, continually comes closer and closer to Ingalls, a process Rafalco has seen with new housing additions in the area.
But he doesn’t see Ingalls or Meridian Street changing much from its rural roots.
“I think the town’s pretty much set in its own ways, and it’s not going to change,” he said.
Development along Meridian Street
• Hog House Bar & Grille
• Ingalls Town Hall and police station
• Fire department
• Church of Jesus Christ
• Ingalls Church of God
Each Monday, The Herald Bulletin is profiling a street in Madison County in our On Your Street series. What’s on the street? Who lives there? What is the history? Those are questions we’ll try to answer. And it’s not just streets. Roads, boulevards and lanes will be included. If you have a street you’d like to nominate for our coverage, let Stephen Dick, assistant managing editor, know. Reach him at The Herald Bulletin, 1133 Jackson St., Anderson 46016 or (765) 640-4863 or steve.dick@heraldbulletin.com.
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January 11, 2009
On Your Street: Meridian Street retains Ingalls charm
Town unchanged with northward Indy expansion
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