Rogers Corner

W.H. Rogers opened his drugstore in Madison, Indiana in 1847. Located on the corner of West and Main Streets, Rogers Drug Store quickly became a prominent business in downtown Madison. While the business changed ownership multiple times over the years, it primarily stayed in the Rogers family. By 1964, the drugstore had transformed to Rogers Corner. The updated store featured a soda fountain and served ice cream, while maintaining its original drugstore. It was a well-known, popular place for the people of Madison to visit before and after basketball games and movies [1]. Many people fondly remember the days when they could stop in to laugh with friends over a soda or milkshake [2]. For the first century after its creation, however, Rogers Corner did not welcome all Madison citizens. Many African Americans remember Rogers Corner differently than the white residents of Madison.

The African American community was well established in Madison. Before and during the Civil War, Madison was a “hotbed of antislavery activity,” playing an important role in the Underground Railroad. After the war, African Americans continued to build the Black community in the city, primarily settling in the Georgetown Neighborhood [3]. In recent years, African Americans have recalled the blatant racism and segregation they faced as children in mid-twentieth century Madison.

African Americans had designated, segregated seats in the local theater, and were forced to go in the side door at restaurants and stores. Rogers Corner is remembered as being particularly strict with the side-door policy. African Americans were not allowed to sit and enjoy their ice cream inside Rogers, but instead had to leave the store immediately after purchasing their treats [4]. Allen Watson, born in Madison in 1952, explained that “the people that ran the drugstore didn’t want Black people there…it’s like we were good enough to buy something and pay for it, but we weren’t good enough to sit at the counter or sit in a booth, like everybody else did" [5]. Denise Carter, born in Madison in 1959, admitted there was a “zone of infamy” around Rogers. “Black people didn’t like to go there,” she said, “I remember going in there once and being watched real close, like I was somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be” [6]. On one occasion, another Black Madison native was simply turned away from buying ice cream at Rogers Corner as a child [7]. Eventually, African Americans were allowed to sit in the store, although they could not be served. They continued frequenting Rogers, until finally, in the 1960s, African Americans were allowed to sit in a booth and be served like white customers [8].

Today, the storefront on the corner of West and Main still proudly displays the label “Rogers Corner.” The location housed Rogers Corner Diner from 2000 to 2010, then was bought by a sports bar that still serves out of the old Rogers Corner [9]. The building is located in the expansive 130-block Madison Historic District, noted in both the National Register of Historic Places and as a National Historic Landmark for its fine examples of nineteenth century architecture and historical significance [10].

[1] “Shooter’s,” Madison’s Treasures Tours, Pocket Sights, accessed March 22, 2021, https://pocketsights.com/tours/place/Shooter%27s-16411.
[2] Don Ward, “Ratcliffs Buy Rogers Corner, Plan to Rebuild Soda Fountain,” RoundAbout, April 2000, http://www.roundaboutmadison.com/InsidePages/ArchivedArticles/2000/0400RogersCorner.html.
[3] “Madison Historic District,” National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior, accessed March 22, 2021, https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/madison/Madison_Historic_District.html.
[4] Don Wallis, All We Had Was Each Other (Indiana University Press, 1998), 116.
[5] Don Wallis, 125.
[6] Don Wallis, 132.
[7] Don Wallis, xiii.
[8] Allen Watson, interview by Carrie Vachon, April 12, 2019, Ball State University.
[9] “Shooter’s,” Madison’s Treasures Tours.
[10] “Madison Historic District,” National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form,” United States Department of the Interior National Park Service, May 25, 1973, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/132003437.

Student Author: Gwyneth Harris
Faculty/Staff Editors: Dr. Ronald V. Morris, Dr. Kevin C. Nolan, and Christine Thompson
Graduate Assistant Researchers: Carrie Vachon and JB Bilbrey

PHOTO & VIDEO:
Mich Rd Start 19-10-16, attributed to Chris Light, Public domain, via Wikimedia commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mich_Rd_Start_19-10-16_221.jpg