Not long ago, Brad Cook, lead archivist at Indiana University emailed me the photo above asking if I could help him solve a long-standing mystery concerning photos that show a mysterious “pyramid” structure in the background of numerous 1924-1925 photos taken on the Indiana University campus around the E 10th Street area (near what was the old 10th Street Stadium).

After posting this mysterious photo on Facebook, a few more photos were shared by various interested parties showing the pyramid; a general discussion started about just “where” the pyramid stood.

Chris Williams’ photo shows the 1924 IU Baseball team posing for a team photo. The football field in the background is presumably “Indiana Field” where a few games were staged in 1924 while the team waited for a new stadium to play in.

IU Archives has another photo called “Jordan Derby event during the Cirkus (1924-1925 school year).” It shows horses running near Jordan Field, and again, as we look north towards 10th Street, we see the mystery pyramid standing to the right. In this photo, the pyramid appears to have a “door” making one wonder if it was a tent of some sort… Or could it really be a limestone structure? And if it was a limestone structure, why was it’s existence so temporary? 1923 photos of the same area show no evidence of the pyramid. There is no evidence of the pyramid in photos after 1926. If the structure was stone, why was it’s lifespan so short?

Skip Chamber’s shared a photo on Facebook that we found in the 1924-25 IU Arbutus that shows the pyramid as well. The photo appears to be taken during a football game on or very near Indiana Field. The structure is white and nearly blends in with the background, and just north of the pyramid (to the left) is Phi Delta Theta, a fraternity house that stood just off of Jordan Avenue, south of 10th Street. In the photo we are looking east.

In another photo from 1945 we can see Phi Delta Theta (the pyramid is now gone) as we look east. The house was demolished sometime in the 1950s-60s. Using the fraternity to provide an approximate location of the pyramid in 1924-1925 we can say this much: it was most likely west of Jordan Avenue, and slightly southwest of Phi Delta Theta.

But even if we can agree on the approximate location of the pyramid, the next question still goes unanswered: What is it? Why is it there? What was it for?

If it was a monument, mason’s structure or fraternity sculpture, why was it so short-lived?

If it was a tent, why was it shaped like a monument?

A 1917 Indiana Daily Student article announces the construction of a corn crib near this area; but why would a corn crib have a door or a walkway? And why would one shape a corn crib like a pyramid or monument? And if the point of a corn crib is to provide the corn a place to dry out, then why is this structure completely closed off, leaving no ventilation for the corn to “breathe?”

How tall was it? Here’s my best guess (see photo): 36 feet.

So the mystery remains.

Perhaps the KEY to solving this mystery lies somewhere in the archives of Phi Delta Theta. Since many fraternities have their own yearbooks, photo takers, and maintain there own history, my next step is to track down the fraternity historian for Phi Delta Theta, and find out what they may have in their archives for the years 1924 and 1925.

If you know something, drop me an email! bloomingtonthenandnow@yahoo.com