Historical photo

LOVE by Robert Indiana, pictured here in 1970, arrived. The sculpture is now located in the museum.

At its height, some 500,000 people passed through each month to board the 200 trains that came through daily.

Madam C.J. Walker and Booker T. Washington were among those who participated in the dedication of the Senate Avenue YMCA, the first YMCA for African Americans in Indianapolis. Construction began in fall 1912 at the intersection of West Michigan Street and Senate Avenue, and Walker donated $1,000 to the effort. For 25 years, the Senate […]

The former Indianapolis City Hall is pictured in May 1930. Construction on the building began in 1909, and it opened in December 1910. The Indianapolis-based architecture firm Rubush & Hunter designed the limestone, Neoclassical building. It served as city hall until the city outgrew the space in the 1960s and moved city government to the […]

When the Indiana Legislature met in 1939, taxes were a top concern. And no fewer than eight bills related to the gross income tax (1% at the time) were introduced by lawmakers. Retailers wanted the tax to be reduced to 0.5%, saying the tax was “a club to beat the little businessman to death” and […]

Circle Tower, the art deco building at 55 Monument Circle, was built in 1929. Construction began shortly after the building formerly standing at the site was demolished in May 1929. The Indianapolis architecture firm Rubush & Hunter designed the building, which cost $1.7 million to complete. The first shop to open in the building was […]

The Indiana Black Expo was founded in 1971 and held its first summer celebration on June 26, 1971. This photo shows the crowd that the event at the Indiana State Fairgrounds drew. The celebration has grown over the years and now draws about 300,000 people annually. The not-for-profit was founded to celebrate Black history and […]

The Lyric Theatre went through several incarnations, but by the late 1920s it was regarded as one of the finest theaters in Indiana, with an ivory and gold lobby and offering a mix of moving pictures and live musical acts. Located at 121-135 N. Illinois St., it would go on to host the Indianapolis debuts […]

Sections of The English Theatre, formerly known as The English Hotel and Opera House, are demolished in this May 1949 photo. The Victorian-era building stood at the northwest quadrant of Monument Circle from 1880 until it was razed to be replaced by a J.C. Penney store (later the Anthem Inc. headquarters). The building was constructed […]

Irvington has celebrated Halloween for decades. The first Irvington Halloween festival occurred in 1927 and was hosted by the Irvington Commercial & Welfare Association. Adults and children marched down East Washington Street in costumes, and the evening concluded with a street dance. After a few successful years, Halloween festivities in Irvington died out but have […]

Casket bearers carry Marcus C. Stewart Sr., the longtime editor and publisher of The Indianapolis Recorder, to his final resting place at Crown Hill Cemetery following his death on March 26, 1983, at age 78. Stewart’s father, George Pheldon Stewart, founded the Black-oriented paper in 1895. Growing up, Marcus Stewart worked on the paper, handling […]

Pictured is the Slippery Noodle Inn in the 1940s. The historic tavern, located at 372 S. Meridian St., was originally founded as the Tremont House in 1850. The tavern is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is Indiana’s oldest, continually operated bar. Also, the building is Indianapolis’ oldest commercial building still standing. […]

Pictured are the City-County Building and the Marion County Courthouse before it was demolished in June 1962. Marion County court employees had moved into the new City-County Building earlier that year, vacating the 86-year-old Baroque-style courthouse that was built in 1876 (the second Marion County courthouse). The Richard G. Lugar Plaza now sits where that […]

Market Square Arena was built in 1974 and was the home stadium to two teams—the Indiana Pacers and the Indianapolis Racers, a franchise in the World Hockey Association. The Pacers played for a quarter century at Market Square, their second home after the State Fairgrounds Coliseum, including through the team’s transition from the American Basketball […]

1916 On Oct. 12, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson and his wife, Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, visited Indianapolis as part of the Centennial Highway Day Celebration. In this photo, Wilson stands beside Gov. Samuel M. Ralston and Indianapolis Mayor Joseph E. Bell to view the Centennial Highway Day parade of automobiles from the Soldiers and Sailors […]

Government officials broke ground on the City-County Building on Oct. 30, 1959. Pictured from left are J. Wesley Brown, president of the county commissioners; William A. Hanley, president of the building authority’s board of directors; and Mayor Charles H. Boswell. The building opened in 1962. Now, Indianapolis officials have released a request for information seeking […]

Circa 1980s An Air France Concorde commercial jet makes a stop at Indianapolis International Airport in the 1980s. The unique plane was a supersonic passenger airliner, jointly built by manufacturers in Great Britain and France, that flew trans-Atlantic flights in half the time it took other commercial airliners. Only 20 jets were ever built. The […]

1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower rides in a decked-out convertible vehicle around Monument Circle on Sept. 9, 1952. Eisenhower, who would go on to serve two terms as the 34th president, from 1953 to 1961, was campaigning throughout the country in his race against Adlai Stevenson. Eisenhower won the state with 58% of the vote and […]

The Walker Building was erected in 1927, eight years after the death of Madam C.J. Walker on May 25, 1919. The building, at 617 Indiana Ave., included a theater, drugstore, manufacturing company, beauty shop, ballroom and offices. It was saved from demolition in the 1970s and was restored in the 1980s, reopening in 1988 as […]