Founding indianapolis

Manufacturing was the dominant sector until the s, when it was surpassed by services and retail trade. At the end of , manufacturing employed , people in Indianapolis. Top companies with corporate headquarters in the city include Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical manufacturer , Allied Gas and Turbine, Allison Transmissions, and the Associated Group an insurance firm that has been recommended as one of the top companies nationwide in which to invest. Today, Indy may not be as big as some other major cities such as Chicago or New York, but it is a growing success for the state of Indiana.

While still a director of several firms, including the Stutz Fire Engine Company, despondency over a serious diabetic condition led to him taking his life on race weekend By submitting this form you are opting in to email communication from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

All News Photos Videos. Year: Latest Now Viewing. Related Media. Boundaries Pushed: German Team Wins Indy Autonomous Challenge The Indianapolis Motor Speedway last weekend harkened back to its roots as a proving ground for the burgeoning automotive industry a century ago as it helped to advance vehicle technology through the Indy Autonomous Challenge on the famed 2. The legislature wanted the capital to have good access to transportation hoping the White River would be navigable by the new flat-bottomed steamboats, but this proved impossible.

Overland transportation would be via the proposed National Road, which played a significant role in early development. The National Road became Washington Street as it passed through town linking the capital to the outside world until railroads reached the city. Nickel Plate Locomotive No. The city grew gradually, as residents and merchants built more and more vernacular wood-framed houses and stores, but early transportation efforts continued to meet with frustration.

Steel rails delivered the promised development that rivers and canals could not. Within five years, seven different lines met in Indianapolis. The rail firms combined resources to build a Union Station, the first of its kind in the nation.

The existing Union Station is the late 19th-century descendant of that pioneering building. The economy of Indianapolis at first revolved around agriculture, especially grain mills, pork-packing plants and wool mills. With railroad access to coal and the discovery of natural gas deposits in the s, industrialists located foundries, machine shops and, railroad-related shops here. With plenty of land on which to build, developers and owners favored single-family homes over the densely packed row houses of eastern cities.

Lockerbie Square best illustrates pre-Civil War Indianapolis. Its closely-spaced frame cottages and brick houses reflect the age when most people walked and, if they could afford it, rode a horse or carriage.

Streetcars fueled land speculation, especially after the Civil War. Areas like Woodruff Place , Irvington , and Herron—Morton Place satisfied middle and upper class home owners, while satellite commercial areas like the Virginia Avenue Historic District and Massachusetts Avenue Historic District served dwellers on the edge of town.

On the eve of the 20th century, carriage makers began to experiment with the idea of adding internal combustion engines to their wooden contraptions. Hoosiers embraced the auto age with a passion. By , Indy had 17 auto and auto parts makers in town.