The Gazette believes we have found the oldest privately owned business in Broad Ripple.

World War II was ending. In 1946, two brothers named Bob and Harold Young owned a coin operated laundry in Indianapolis. S. Perry Hull of Elgin Softener Company of Elgin, Illinois, was looking for dealers. Wanting to get into something new, the two brothers incorporated Indianapolis Elgin Water Conditioners, Inc. in April 1946. They located the business in an empty space next to their laundry at 915 East Westfield Blvd. (site of today's Ambrosia.)

By 1950, the two brothers decided they wanted out of the water softener business. S.P. Hull had a dilemma. He decided his son, Jim, would be the perfect person to take over the business. Jim Hull had graduated from Indiana University in 1949. He was living in Rockford, Illinois and working for a pharmaceutical company when his father called. His father's offer was as a promising opportunity for a single young man. In 1951, he packed up and moved to Indianapolis.

In 1951, Truman was President, color TV was introduced in the United States, and the streetcar came up College and turned on Broad Ripple Avenue. Harold Young stayed a year to train the new businessman. Elgin Water moved to the Kassebaum building and the 26 year old Hull rented and sold water softeners. He sold a little salt to his customers, too. The salt came by rail and Mid City Salt would pick it up at the station by the Fairgrounds, deliver and stack the bags in the basement. The Broad Ripple Trophy Center was then Haag's drugstore. The new owner often went there for coffee in the morning. He remembers a guy who always got a glass of milk and a Twinkie, but no longer remembers his name. Jim regularly had lunch at Fox's Deli [where Bleeker Street is today]. Broad Ripple was bustling with merchants and customers; the dentists in the area had to have steady hands because a constant flow of trains regularly shook the buildings.

Broad Ripple was good to Jim Hull, and he was good to Broad Ripple. He married in 1953 and made a home for many years near 62nd and Chester. His two boys attended John Strange and North Central High School. He often went to the driving range at Little America at 62nd and Keystone; he was active in the Broad Ripple Business Association. An article from The North Side Topics dated June 14, 1972 showed pictures from a Broad Ripple Clean Up Day. Jim and his wife were co-chairs. The event brought together the Broad Ripple Key Club, block groups and local merchants to spruce up the area. One of the big projects of the day was sprucing up a wall of the Masonic Lodge with paint donated by John Sneathen.

As the Hull family grew, so did Elgin Water. To build the business the owner and his salesman participated in the exhibitions at the Indiana State Fair. In 1951, the staff consisted of Jim Hull, a salesman, a service man and an office assistant. When dishwashers became a must for homes and restaurants, the softener business boomed. By 1968, the parent Elgin had merged with Culligan. Locally, Elgin kept its name, but changed lines to Water Care Corp of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The expanding business was in need of a new location. Mrs. Emmett Green owned a one story building that had been a doughnut/ice cream shop. (The Gazette Vol. 2 No. 10 has a picture that shows the building. Its name was listed in the city directory as Spudnuts, but window says Dairy Treet. Were the doughnuts made from potato flour? Did they serve ice cream too?) Jim bought the building, added a second story and then kept adding 30 feet at a time until Elgin Water reached its current building size at 1009 Broad Ripple Avenue.

In 600 B.C. Thales of Miletus said, "Water sustains us all." For 60 years Elgin Water has sustained the Indianapolis community. Son, Doug Hull, is now Vice-President. A simple philosophy of standing by the product, providing good service to the customers and reasonable prices is the key to this business' longevity and growth. Today, Elgin provides retail, sales and service for residential, commercial and industrial water conditioning needs. The company has over 4,000 rental softeners across Indiana. Eli Lilly, Applebee's, Con Agra, Roche Diagnostics and Dow Chemical are on their customer list. You'll find Elgin in the city and township schools, as well as in hospitals and hotels. Elgin also provides premium quality drinking water systems and bottled water. Tired of lugging your salt from your local store? Elgin will deliver right to your door, open the bags and fill your softener. That small staff from 1951 has grown to 13 people. Many employees, such as dispatcher Ron Thompson, have been there for more than 10 years. Old timers Barney Gugle and Dale Bowman have been with Elgin since before the building was remodeled. The service and installation department has more than 100 years of combined experience. An old fashioned bell jingles when you walk in the door. The pictures of three generations tell you this is a business with a strong proud history. Murry Richards is there to greet you and make you feel at home.

And where is President Jim Hull? Has he retired to a recliner? Guess again. He still comes to the office most Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. He is a gentleman who opens doors for the ladies, tells wonderful stories laced with history and can wax poetic about the merits of the water business. Although he is now 80, the younger set has to move fast to keep up.

So next time you are in the market for water treatment, big or small visit Elgin Water. Sixty years and still thriving says it all.