Indianapolis ( IN-dee-ə-NAP-əl-iss), colloquially known as Indy, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County. Indianapolis is situated in the state's central till plain region along the west fork of the White River. The city's official slogan, "Crossroads of America", reflects its historic importance as a transportation hub and its relative proximity to other major North American markets.
According to the 2020 census, the Indianapolis proper had a population of 887,642. Indianapolis is the 16th-most populous city in the United States and the fourth-most populous state capital. In the Midwest, it ranks third among cities, after Chicago and Columbus, Ohio. The Indianapolis metropolitan area is the 33rd-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, home to 2.1 million residents. With a population of more than 2.6 million, the combined statistical area ranks 28th. Indianapolis proper covers 368 square miles (950 square kilometers), making it the 18th-most extensive city by land area in the country.
Indigenous peoples inhabited the area dating to as early as 10,000 BC. Under the Treaty of St. Mary's (1818), both the Lenape and the Miami Nation relinquished their tribal lands in central Indiana. The Miami Nation of Indiana (and its branch, the Miami Nation of Oklahoma) held primary claim to the territory, which forms part of Cession 99. In 1821, Indianapolis was established as a planned city for the new seat of Indiana's state government. The city was platted by Alexander Ralston and Elias Pym Fordham on a one-square-mile (2.6 km2) grid. Completion of the National and Michigan roads and later arrival of rail solidified the city's position as a major manufacturing and commercial center. Since the 1970 city-county consolidation, known as Unigov, local government administration operates under the direction of an elected 25-member city-county council headed by the mayor.
Indianapolis anchors the 28th largest metropolitan economy in the United States. Prominent industries include trade, transportation, and utilities; education and health services; professional and business services; government; leisure and hospitality; and manufacturing. The city has notable niche markets in amateur sports and auto racing. As of 2019, Indianapolis has been home to two major league sports teams, three Fortune 500 companies, eight university campuses, and numerous cultural institutions, including the world's largest children's museum. The city's international reputation rests primarily on the Indianapolis 500, the world's largest single-day sporting event. Among the city's historic sites and districts, Indianapolis is home to the largest collection of monuments dedicated to veterans and war casualties in the United States outside of Washington, D.C.
Etymology
The name "Indianapolis" is derived from pairing the state's name, Indiana (meaning "Land of the Indians", or simply "Indian Land"), with the suffix -polis, the Greek word for "city". Jeremiah Sullivan, justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, is credited with coining the name. Other names considered were Concord, Delaware, Suwarrow, Tecumseh, Wayne, and Whetzel.
History
19th century
In 1816, the year Indiana gained statehood, U.S. Congress designated four sections of land in central Indiana as the future seat of state government, contingent on tribal removal. Under the Treaty of St. Mary's (1818), the Delaware and Miami nations relinquished title to these designated lands, with agreement to vacate by 1821. This tract of land, which was called the New Purchase, included the site selected for the new state capital in 1820. The indigenous people of the land prior to systematic removal are the Miami Nation of Indiana (Miami Nation of Oklahoma) and Indianapolis makes up part of Cession 99; the primary treaty between the indigenous population and the United States was the Treaty of St. Mary's in 1818.
The availability of new federal lands for purchase in central Indiana attracted settlers, many of them descendants of families from northwestern Europe. Although many of these first European and American settlers were Protestants, a large proportion of the early Irish and German immigrants were Catholics. Few African Americans lived in central Indiana before 1840.
The first European Americans to permanently settle in the area that became Indianapolis were either the McCormick or Pogue families. The McCormicks are generally considered to be the first permanent settlers; however, some historians believe George Pogue and family may have arrived first, on March 2, 1819, and settled in a log cabin along the creek that was later called Pogue's Run. Other historians have argued as early as 1822 that John Wesley McCormick and his family and employees became the area's first European American settlers, settling near the White River in February 1820.
On January 11, 1820, the Indiana General Assembly authorized a committee to select a site in central Indiana for the new state capital. The state legislature approved the site, adopting the name Indianapolis on January 6, 1821. In April, Alexander Ralston and Elias Pym Fordham were appointed to survey and design a town plan for the new settlement. Indianapolis became a seat of county government on December 31, 1821, when Marion County, was established. A combined county and town government continued until 1832 when Indianapolis was incorporated as a town.
Indianapolis became an incorporated city effective March 30, 1847. Samuel Henderson, the city's first mayor, led the new city government, which included a seven-member city council. In 1853, voters approved a new city charter that provided for an elected mayor and a fourteen-member city council. The city charter continued to be revised as Indianapolis expanded. Effective January 1, 1825, the seat of state government moved to Indianapolis from Corydon, Indiana. In addition to state government offices, a U.S. district court was established at Indianapolis in 1825.
Growth occurred with the opening of the National Road through the town in 1827, the first major federally funded highway in the United States. A small segment of the ultimately failed Indiana Central Canal was opened in 1839. The first railroad to serve Indianapolis, the Jeffersonville, Madison and Indianapolis Railroad, began operation in 1847, and subsequent railroad connections fostered growth. Indianapolis Union Station was the first of its kind in the world when it opened in 1853.
American Civil War and Reconstruction
During the American Civil War, Indianapolis was mostly loyal to the Union cause. Governor Oliver P. Morton, a major supporter of President Abraham Lincoln, quickly made Indianapolis a rallying place for Union army troops. On February 11, 1861, President-elect Lincoln arrived in the city, en route to Washington, D.C. for his presidential inauguration, marking the first visit from a president-elect in the city's history. On April 16, 1861, the first orders were issued to form Indiana's first regiments and establish Indianapolis as a headquarters for the state's volunteer soldiers. Within a week, more than 12,000 recruits signed up to fight for the Union.
Indianapolis became a major logistics hub during the war, establishing the city as a crucial military base. Between 1860 and 1870, the city's population more than doubled. An estimated 4,000 men from Indianapolis served in 39 regiments, and an estimated 700 died during the war. On May 20, 1863, Union soldiers attempted to disrupt a statewide Democratic convention at Indianapolis, forcing an adjournment of the proceedings, sarcastically referred to as the Battle of Pogue's Run. Fear turned to panic in July 1863, during Morgan's Raid into southern Indiana, but Confederate forces turned east toward Ohio, never reaching Indianapolis. On April 30, 1865, Lincoln's funeral train made a stop at Indianapolis, where an estimated crowd of more than 100,000 people passed the assassinated president's bier at the Indiana Statehouse.
Following the Civil War and in the wake of the Second Industrial Revolution, Indianapolis experienced tremendous growth and prosperity. In 1880, Indianapolis was the world's third-largest pork packing city, after Chicago and Cincinnati, and the second-largest railroad center in the U.S. by 1888. In 1889 the city hosted the first Indianapolis May Festival; a classical festival of national reputation that was held annually through 1898. By 1890, the city's population surpassed 100,000. Some of the city's most notable businesses were founded during this period of growth and innovation, including L. S. Ayres (1872), Eli Lilly and Company (1876), Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company (1910), and Allison Transmission (1915).
20th century
Some of the city's most prominent architectural features and best known historical events date from the turn of the 20th century. The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, dedicated on May 15, 1902, would later become the city's unofficial symbol. Ray Harroun won the inaugural running of the Indianapolis 500, held May 30, 1911, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Indianapolis was one of the hardest hit cities in the Great Flood of 1913, resulting in five known deaths and the displacement of 7,000 families.
Once home to 60 automakers, Indianapolis rivaled Detroit as a center of automobile manufacturing. The city was an early focus of labor organization. The Indianapolis streetcar strike of 1913 and subsequent police mutiny and riots led to the creation of the state's earliest labor-protection laws, including a minimum wage, regular work weeks, and improved working conditions. The International Typographical Union and United Mine Workers of America were among several influential labor unions based in the city.
As a stop on the Underground Railroad, Indianapolis developed one of the largest African American populations in the Northern States, though this demographic prominence was complicated by the Great Migration, as outmigration patterns shifted and other northern cities became destinations. Led by D. C. Stephenson, the Indiana Klan became the most powerful political and social organization in Indianapolis from 1921 through 1928, controlling the City Council and the Board of School Commissioners. At its height, more than 40% of native-born white males in Indianapolis claimed membership in the Klan.
While campaigning in the city in 1968, Robert F. Kennedy delivered one of the most lauded speeches in 20th century American history following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. As in most U.S. cities during the civil rights movement, the city experienced strained race relations, including 1969 riots. A 1971 federal court decision forcing Indianapolis Public Schools to implement desegregation busing proved controversial.
During the mayoral administration of Richard Lugar (1968–1976), the city and county governments consolidated. Known as Unigov (a portmanteau of "unified" and "government"), the city-county consolidation removed bureaucratic redundancies, captured increasingly suburbanizing tax revenue, and created a Republican political machine that dominated local politics until the early 2000s. Effective January 1, 1970, Unigov expanded the city's land area by more than 300 square miles (780 km2) and increased its population by some 250,000 people. It was the first major city-county consolidation to occur in the U.S. without a referendum since the creation of the City of Greater New York in 1898. Lugar is credited with initiating downtown revitalization efforts, overseeing the building of Market Square Arena, renovations to Indianapolis City Market, and the formation of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis.
Amid the changes in government and growth, the city pursued an aggressive economic development strategy to raise the city's stature as a sports tourism destination, known as the Indianapolis Project. During the administration of the city's longest-serving mayor, William Hudnut (1976–1992), millions of dollars were invested into sports venues and public relations campaigns. The strategy was successful in landing the U.S. Olympic Festival in 1982, securing the relocation of the Baltimore Colts in 1984, and hosting the 1987 Pan American Games.
Beginning in 1992, the mayoral administration of Stephen Goldsmith introduced a number of austerity measures to address budget shortfalls through privatization and greater reliance on public–private partnerships. Major downtown revitalization projects continued through the 1990s, including the openings of Circle Centre Mall, Victory Field, and Gainbridge Fieldhouse, as well as ongoing redevelopment of the Canal and White River State Park area.
Bart Peterson took office in 2000, the first Democrat elected to the post since John J. Barton's 1963 election. The Peterson administration focused on education reform and promoting the arts.
21st century
In 2001, the mayor's office became the first in the U.S. to authorize charter schools. Indianapolis Cultural Districts were designated in 2003, followed by the groundbreaking of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail in 2007. Further consolidation of city and county units of government resulted in the establishment of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department in 2007. Later that year, Greg Ballard succeeded Peterson in a political upset.
The Ballard administration oversaw the lease of the city's parking meters and the sale of the city's water and wastewater utilities with proceeds financing street repairs. Ballard pursued several environmental sustainability efforts, including establishing an office of sustainability, installing 200 miles (320 km) of bike lanes and trails, and spearheading a controversial deal to start an electric carsharing program. Two of the city's largest capital projects, the Indianapolis International Airport's new terminal and Lucas Oil Stadium, were completed in 2008. In 2012, construction began on a $2 billion tunnel system, a project known as DigIndy, which was designed to reduce sewage overflows into the city's waterways.
Since 2016, the administration of Joe Hogsett has focused on addressing a rise in gun violence and the city's racial disparities. In recent years, significant capital and operational investments have been made in public safety, criminal justice, and public transit. The city also established rental assistance and food security programs. In 2020, the George Floyd protests in Indiana prompted a series of local police reforms and renewed efforts to bolster social services for mental health treatment and homelessness. In 2021, a mass shooting occurred at a FedEx facility on the city's southwest side, killing nine (including the gunman) and injuring seven others.