Indianapolis | City Guide & Attractions (2024)

Indianapolis, city, seat (1822) of Marion county and capital of Indiana, U.S. It lies on the White River at its confluence with Fall Creek, near the centre of the state. The city is built on a level plain surrounded by low, gently sloping hills. It is a planned municipality, its layout resembling that of Washington, D.C., with radiating streets that converge on Monument Circle at the city centre. The climate is typical of the east-central Midwest, with warm to hot summers and cold winters; precipitation is moderate and spread fairly evenly throughout the year.

Indianapolis, the largest city in the state, lies at the heart of a nine-county metropolitan area. Nearby communities include Carmel (north), Lawrence (northeast), Beech Grove (southeast), Greenwood (south), and Speedway (west). Inc. town, 1836; city, 1847. Area city, 373 square miles (966 square km). Pop. (2010) 820,445; Indianapolis-Carmel Metro Area, 1,756,241; (2020) 887,642; Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson Metro Area, 2,111,040.

History

Before the area was settled, it had been the site of a Delaware Indian village and its surrounding hunting grounds. Indianapolis was founded in 1821 as the state capital, which it officially became in 1825. Some impetus for growth was given when the Cumberland (National) Road (modern Washington Street downtown) was routed across the city in 1827 and later when railroads arrived. Indianapolis had become a major rail centre by the start of the American Civil War in 1861, and its importance to Union logistics spurred further growth; its population more than doubled between 1860 and 1870.

Beginning in the 1880s, meatpacking and metalworking emerged as major industries. The latter led to the development of automobile manufacturing as central to the city’s economy. The population of Indianapolis surpassed 100,000 in 1890 and continued to grow rapidly in the 20th century. The city was also a focus of labour organization in the late 19th century, and a number of influential trade unions—including the Carpenters and Joiners Union, the International Typographical Union, and the United Mine Workers of America—located their headquarters there.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened in 1909 in suburban Speedway as a test track for local automobile plants. The first 500-mile (800-km) auto race, held there in 1911, was won by a locally made Marmon race car. Although automobile manufacturing eventually left the city, the Indianapolis 500 (held annually in late May on the weekend preceding Memorial Day) has become one of the world’s premier auto races, attracting enormous crowds.

The city’s population approached a half million in 1960. In 1970 the governments of the city and Marion county were consolidated into a single entity. The city limits became coextensive with the limits of the county, thus increasing the city’s population by almost a half overnight and greatly expanding its tax base. The Marion county cities of Beech Grove, Lawrence, Speedway, and Southport remained autonomous under the arrangement, as did the county’s several school systems. People of European ancestry have long constituted the great majority of the population, but their proportion has diminished, and the number of African Americans has increased to more than one-fourth of the total.

The contemporary city

Indianapolis is one of the most populous cities in the world not located on navigable water, although it is a hub of road, rail, and air transportation. These facilities and the city’s position in the midst of the Corn Belt, near large coalfields and consumer markets, have combined to make it an important commercial, financial, and industrial centre. Pharmaceuticals and chemicals, machinery, plastics, wood and paper products, and transportation and electrical equipment (including televisions and audio equipment) are major products. It is also a regional distribution, retail, and health care centre, and tourism has grown in importance.

A major educational and cultural centre, Indianapolis is the seat of Butler University (1855), Christian Theological Seminary (1925), Ivy Tech State College (1963), Lincoln Technical Institute (1946), Marian College (1851), Martin University (1977), and the University of Indianapolis (1902). Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (1969) includes Herron School of Art (1902) and an internationally renowned medical centre. The hub of the city, Monument Circle (1901), is the site of the 284.5-foot (87-metre) Indiana Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument. The Indiana War Memorial Plaza (1927) is a five-block area just to the north that honours the state’s war dead and includes the American Legion National Headquarters building. The State Capitol (1878–88), just west of the circle, is constructed of Indiana limestone and has a central rotunda 234 feet (71 metres) high. Hilbert Circle Theatre (1916), home of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, is adjacent to the circle, and Clowes Memorial Hall (1963), on the Butler campus, is a centre for the performing arts.

The city has a convention-exposition centre (1972) and a museum of art (1883). The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (1926) is the largest museum of its kind in the world and is one of the most frequently visited museums in the country. White River State Park, west of downtown, contains a number of attractions. The Indianapolis Zoo (1988) and the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art (1989) are located there, as are the main offices of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its Hall of Champions Museum (2000). The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum (1952), adjacent to the track, exhibits racing cars dating from 1909.

Beginning in the 1970s, Indianapolis worked to make itself an international centre of amateur sports, an effort that produced considerable economic growth. In addition to the NCAA, the city attracted such organizations as the National Institute for Fitness and Sport, a centre of sports-physiology research. Other amateur venues include the Indianapolis Tennis Center (1979) and the Major Taylor Velodrome (1982), a bicycle-racing track. Lucas Oil Stadium (2008) is home to the Colts professional football team, and Bankers Life Fieldhouse (1999; formerly Conseco Fieldhouse) hosts the Pacers (men’s) and Fever (women’s) professional basketball teams.

The Indiana State Fairgrounds, with more than 55 permanent buildings, including the Art Deco-style Pepsi Coliseum (1939), is a focus of trade and social activities. The annual state fair (August) attracts large crowds, as do the Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration (July) and the Indy Jazz Fest (June). The Indianapolis homes of U.S. President Benjamin Harrison (1875) and poet James Whitcomb Riley (1872) have been preserved as museums. Other prominent city residents have included Charles Warren Fairbanks (vice president under Theodore Roosevelt), authors Booth Tarkington and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery.