HCS Motor Car Company, Indianapolis Indiana

Date added: August 21, 2023

View of east and south facades looking northwest (2007)

Do you have an update on the current status of this structure? Please tell us about it in the comments below.

The HCS Motor Car Company factory building at 1402 North Capitol Avenue is the site where HCS automobiles and later HCS taxi cabs were manufactured from 1921 to 1927.

The manufacture of automobiles, automobile parts and the sale of automobiles in Indianapolis was an important part of the City s industrial development, particularly in the first half of the twentieth century. Up until the late nineteenth century the City's industrial importance was agricultural in nature, slaughtering and meat packing were the number one industry in 1890. The automobile industry's growth in central Indiana was stimulated in large part by the discovery of natural gas in the 1880s and 90s, and its growth in Indianapolis was greatly influenced by the industrial advantages that a large railroad center provided.

At the end of the 19^th Century, the manufacture of carriages and wagons was the City's seventh leading industry and was ranked a close second in the national market producing 13.5 percent of the nation's total. A clear predecessor to the automobile industry, the strong marketplace position of this industry helped propel the emerging automobile manufacturers in Indianapolis to national prominence very quickly. For instance, by 1905, there were already seven automobile manufacturers in Indianapolis accounting for 36% of the City's total value of products produced.

In 1911, the 500 Mile Race in Speedway was started as a way to allow automobile manufacturers to showcase their products through competition. The race helped focus even greater attention on Indianapolis and helped popularize the automobile nationally. This attention also began to attract race car builders and automobile parts manufacturer to the City, making the automobile and related manufacturing industries a dominant force in the local economy.

It was through Speedway associations that the Empire Motor Car Company was founded in 1909, and Harry C. Stutz became clearly significant to the industry as this company's first designer and factory manager. Stutz was one of the most important people in the automobile industry in Indianapolis and the nation, and his name is interwoven into the history of the national automobile industry and his infamous Stutz Bearcat, a jazz-age icon in popular history.

Harry C. Stutz arrived in Indianapolis in 1903 as superintendent of the Lindsay Automobile Parts Company and between 1903 and 1911 he worked for six different automobile and parts makers. In 1911, he launched his own, Ideal Motor Car Company, by building a race car for the first 500 Mile Race. In 1913 he formed the Stutz Motor Car Company and manufactured the renown Stutz Bearcat.

In 1919, after he resigned from the Stutz Motor Car Company of America and sold his remaining shares, he formed the HCS Motor Car Company and the Stutz Fire Engine Company, both of which lasted until 1927. Stutz chose to sell the company to a group of New York investors when he was at the prime age of 42 so that he could build a moderate-sized quality car, a junior version of the Bearcat, and take advantage of the post-war boom. His instant success in this venture was evidenced by the numerous advance orders that were received for this new creation, the HCS. Advertisements from the day claimed the HCS to be the greatest achievement of veteran automobile designer and builder, Harry C. Stutz, and hatched the slogan "The HCS Car: born with a reputation".

The HCS was an assembled car using components produced by other Indianapolis-based automobile parts companies. The engines used included the 50 hp Weidely, produced at the Premier Motor Car Company factory at 201 South Shelby and a six-cylinder Midwest Engine made by the Midwest Engine Company at 19^th and Martindale. The HCS was the Pace Car of the 1921 500 Mile Race and Harry drove it himself. In 1923, another HCS model was used as a race car and broke the 1919 qualifying record with a run of 108.17 mph. Stutz's HCS race car started first and finished first in the 1923 race.

In 1925, the HCS became the HCS Cab Manufacturing Company, producing taxi-cabs, until bankruptcy closed the facility in 1927. The national economic climate resulting from the First World War contributed to the demise of a number of Indianapolis companies including HCS. The already expensive Indianapolis-made autos became more expensive when compared to Detroit makers and with war-time inflation prices skyrocketed. Although immediately after the war sales went up as pent-up demand was unleashed, just as quickly a post-war recession set in and most of Indianapolis' automobile manufacturers were out of business by the end of the 1920s.

The HCS building was designed by one of Indianapolis most important architectural firms, Rubush & Hunter. With principals Preston C. Rubush (1867-1947) and Edgar O. Hunter (1873-1949) at the helm, this firm gained considerable local prominence in its field through important commissions such as the Masonic Temple (1907); City Hall (1909); the Circle Theater (1916); the Indiana Theater (1927), and the Stutz Motor Company complex (1914-1920). Rubush & Hunter's dominance in Indianapolis, can be attributed to several factors: they were both well trained professionals, their skill sets complimented each other; they were politically savvy and very involved in community activities; they employed recent technology and were creative yet practical in their designs; they assembled a proficient team of partners including other designers, craftsman, engineers, and contractors; and they were practicing at a time of unprecedented growth in Indianapolis. Although no direct connection to Stutz has been uncovered, the firms work for Stutz coincides with Preston Rubush's election as the first president of the Hoosier Motor Club in 1914.

The HCS building was constructed in 1920, the same year buildings across the street were built to house the Stutz Fire Engine Company (demolished). Between 1910 and 1920, North Capitol Avenue became known as Automobile Row because of the number of automobile manufacturing facilities that located along it north of the 500 block.

This type of automobile factory building is described as compact, multi-story, single buildings organized for vertical movement of parts and finished products. They were typically one-to four-story buildings built after 1910 but not later than 1920. Many incorporated sales showrooms and offices in the first floor and were generally constructed with reinforced concrete, with brick or tile curtain walls. Most had industrial metal sash windows and were built specifically to manufacture automobiles and automobile parts. The years 1910 to 1925 reflect a marked increase in the size and sophistication of concrete construction in these types of buildings.

In comparison with most of the automobile and parts factory complexes, which frequently used separate buildings for different assembly functions, complexes in urban settings needed to have a vertical orientation for the manufacturing process. Single building urban-based sites set aside different floors for various production operations. HCS is an important example of this. Frame assembly took place on the first floor, engine assembly on the second, painting on the third, and car finishing on the fourth.

Automobile manufacturing buildings were typically functional buildings with minimal architectural ornamentation ranging from plain reinforced concrete to well-appointed brick facades with concrete and terra cotta accents. HCS is a good example of the latter, with many brick, cast concrete and terra cotta details and accents.

During the 1940s, the building housed the Continental Optical Corporation's factory. By 1974, the occupants were the Shuron Continental Division of Textron, Inc, and from 1977 to 2005, the building returned to an automobile related use under the ownership of S. Cohn & Son Company, an automotive wholesale parts distributor. Between 2005 and 2007, the building was rehabilitated for office use.

Building Description

The HCS Motor Car Company building at 1402 North Capitol Avenue was constructed in 1920-1921 with a reinforced concrete frame and floors with twelve-inch, buff-colored glazed brick, curtain walls. The neo-classical style building was designed by Rubush & Hunter and illustrates many of the architectural features common to their work.

At the time of its construction, five-sixths of the exterior walls were comprised of industrial metal sash frame style windows with mesh re-enforced glass panes. However in the 1950s, 71% of these windows (76 of 108 original openings) were removed and many of the openings in-filled with concrete block. By 2005, there remained two floors of original windows on the south and east sides of the building. Most surviving examples of this building type exhibit alterations to the windows including glass block or concrete block in-fill. However, an indication of the overall window pattern remained so as not to unduly harm the property's architectural integrity. All of the original window and door openings were re-established during the rehabilitation project that took place between 2005 and 2007.

The front, or east facade, is five bays wide with three wide central bays and two narrower window bays at the north and south ends of the facade. The north and south facades are each eleven bays wide. By 2005, the west facade, or rear facade, was completely blocked in on all four floors. After a complete rehabilitation project at the property, all door and window openings were re-established.

The first floor has a concrete water table around the building and at the top of the first floor there is a horizontal, molded concrete band running along the rear facade of the building and across the front facade. The concrete band on the front facade is interrupted at the center bay, indicating the location of the former metal marquee and front entry which appears in a circa 1925 Bass Photo Company photograph.

The facade design consists of a brick pier and spandrel pattern crowned by a cast concrete cornice and terra cotta capped parapet ornamented with blank shields. Other than the raised brickwork which appears in the spandrels, the other decorative elements appear at the top of the building. At the top of each flat pier is a triangular shaped inset terra cotta piece. The cornice and parapet coping is a curvilinear pediment with a single large terra cotta volute. The above-mentioned Bass photograph shows that there was a large HCS Motor Car Company logo below the scroll work, with the same logo appearing above the main entrance, which was formerly located at the center of the front facade. This logo consisted of an American shield flanked by spread wings with HCS superimposed symmetrically in the center, however, it was removed from the building at an unknown date.

The interior spaces of the HCS building were originally very industrial with mostly concrete finishes including floors, walls, support columns and ceilings. Most of the floors were completely open with two rows of support columns and some office spaces toward the front or east facade of the building. Freight elevator and restroom spaces were along the rear or west facade of each floor. During the recent rehabilitation, these spaces were modified for use as conference and training rooms, however their basic shape was retained. The fourth floor was differentiated by a steel ceiling structure which featured three large skylights. By 2005, these skylights had been removed and roofed over. Today, the interior spaces have been converted to office use, however great care was taken to preserve the industrial feel and character of the building.