urban living

Glimpses of Urban Life in Indianapolis

The Indiana Historical Society’s Herman List Collection 1897-1913 offers some revealing glimpses of life in Indianapolis at the turn of the twentieth century. List was born in Indiana to German immigrant parents and his wife Sophia was born in Germany. Photography became a popular hobby in the 1890s as the Eastman Kodak Company made cameras and film ever more user-friendly (“You press the button, we do the rest”).

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Tags: African-American history in Indianapolis, bakery, Downtown Indianapolis, Fountain Square, German-Americans, Herman List Collection, immigrants in Indianapolis, Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, live-work, National Surgical Institute, Urban Life, urban living, Virginia Avenue

Indianapolis in 1916

 

The two videos linked below were produced by the Ford Motor Company and give a rare glimpse into life in Indianapolis in 1916. These show a bustling, modern, mass-transit-dependent city, with tall buildings, urban neighborhoods with manicured lawns and well-maintained houses, monumental public buildings, City Beautiful bridges, and extensive parks.  A time-lapse segment shows Washington Street sidewalks overwhelmed by pedestrians (historic photographs indicate that this was normal, daily traffic).  

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Tags: electric light rail, Indianapolis 1916, Indianapolis history, Indianapolis Street Railway, James Whitcomb Riley, Lockerbie Square, Marion County Courthouse, mass transit, urban, urban living, Washington Street