The story of the founder whose name has been preserved for posterity in the William H. Block Company is one which would do credit to Horatio Alger.

It is the typical American success story of an immigrant lad who arrived in this country almost penniless but through simple energy and perseverance built a fortune.

The year which a 21 year old Hungarian immigrant named Block chose to make his entry upon our national scene was a significant one in American history.

It was 1876. It was the year of the Philadelphia Centennial. It was the year of the famous "Last Stand" at Little Big Horn where Gen. George A. Custer and 276 troopers of his Seventh Cavalry were massacred by Indians.

It was the year Wild Bill Hickok was shot dead in the back in Deadwood, S. D. by Jack McCall, who was hanged.

It was the year 289 persons lost their lives in the Brooklyn Theater fire.

It was the year that Samuel J. Tilden, Democrat, won the presidency in the popular vote battle, but lost it to Rutherford B. Hayes in a bitterly contested electoral college battle finally settled by Congress.

With all this activity going over the country -- to say nothing of the usual Hoosier home-front happenings -- it's not surprising that the arrival of a poor youth from a foreign land in the great melting pot of New York went unnoticed.

But, if the Indianapolis citizen who prided himself on keeping abreast of the news had been able to foretell the impact young William H. Block was to have on the community, he most certainly would have paid attention to the unpretentious arrival.

Block, who had been a teacher in Hungary, arrived with only a single dollar in his pocket. When he died in Indianapolis 53 years later he left a fortune which was fixed by appraisers at more than $8,000,000.

And, more significant from a community viewpoint, he left a vast merchandise establishment bearing his name which truly had become a landmark in the city he chose to make his home.

Between the humble arrival and the affluent end lies a story of a constant struggle by the young man to make his mark in the new world.

Learning the mercantile business from the bottom rung of the ladder, Block started tramping the dusty roads of Pennsylvania and Ohio, carrying a pack on his back and peddling dry goods from it.

Growing more prosperous, he traveled by horse and wagon and carried a valise.

Block formed a partnership with A. L. Thalman, a wholesale salesman, and the two operated stores in Kokomo, Anderson and Columbus. Then, he manufactured women's apparel in New York for a year.

Block's had its beginnings in 1896 when Block leased the old Sayles Building -- a 4 story structure with a mere 25 foot front at 9 East Washington Street.

Prospering, he added an adjoining six story building which increased the display frontage to 60 feet and more than doubled the floor space.

In 1907, the company was incorporated and Block's two elder sons, Meier S. and Rudolph C. Block, were made part-owners. A third son, Edward A. Block, was taken into the firm after his graduation from college.

The present site at Market and Illinois Street was acquired in 1910 and a new, eight story building was constructed there. Long a dream of William H. Block, the structure was a tribute to his business acumen.

After the founder's death, his sons took over operation of the firm.

The store was modernized greatly by an expansion program begun in 1934 and completed in 1936. Facilities again were enlarged in 1947 when the firm bought a building on Market Street just west of the main building. It also has smaller installations in other parts of the city.

Block started the store with only a handful of clerks. Block's now employs more than 2,500 persons in the main store and branches.