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INDIANAPOLIS

Go Diagonal

 

Massachusetts Avenue Historic District

Massachusetts Avenue Historic District
Indiana Division of Historic Preservation
and Archaeology

Alexander Ralston’s 1821 plan for Indianapolis created diagonal avenues radiating from the center of Ralston's Mile Square. Two of these diagonal streets, Virginia Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue, were continued by later speculators and became outlying commercial areas with residential development in their corridors. Kentucky Avenue, running to the southwest, connected with major routes to southwestern Indiana. Indiana Avenue, running northwest, was home to the African American community. Today, each of the surviving diagonal avenues retains its own character.

The diagonal streets of Indianapolis became known for their odd, flatiron-shaped buildings, ethnic character, and vibrant satellite commercial strips. They gave, and continue to give, a unique identity to Indianapolis. Unfortunately, to later city planners more concerned with auto traffic than urban character, the diagonal streets meant headaches and traffic jams.

To the detriment of some of the city’s best examples of flatiron architecture, redevelopers found a ready ear from many when it came to eliminating sections of the diagonals. The magnificent Lincoln Hotel was an early victim in the 1970s, when a new bank plaza and hotel resulted in the loss of part of Kentucky Avenue. The 1970s Hyatt Regency building at the intersection of Washington Street and Kentucky Avenue, where the flatiron Lincoln once sat, “memorializes” the diagonal street and its triangular masses. The revolving restaurant at the top offers great views. A further section of Kentucky Avenue was lost to the RCA Dome in the early 1980s. A portion of Indiana Avenue has been gone since the 1980s when the American United Life tower was constructed.

In the early and mid 20th century, Indiana Avenue was the heart of the African American community. Visitors would have found the streets teeming with life and, at night, the air laced with jazz music drifting through nightclub doors. As society gradually changed and the black community won hard fought opportunities to prosper elsewhere, the avenue declined. The surviving portions of Indiana Avenue have made a dramatic resurgence in recent decades. Several historic buildings anchor Indiana Avenue. The Madame C. J. Walker Building with its Walker Theatre, itself a flatiron, is at 617 Indiana Avenue right on the diagonal.

Virginia Avenue Historic District

Virginia Avenue Historic District
Indiana Division of Historic Preservation
and Archaeology

Virginia Avenue, by contrast, built upon its transportation roots. This avenue was the terminus of several important roads connecting the city to southeastern Indiana. By the 1870s, Virginia Avenue and Fountain Square were satellite commercial areas to downtown Indianapolis. Virginia Avenue and the square were also entertainment districts. On a typical 1920s or 1940s Saturday night here, a visitor would find couples hurrying to catch a movie at one of many theaters, eating at a diner, or bowling. Many folks would just be strolling, enjoying the flashing theater marquees and the old fountain at the intersection of Virginia, Shelby, and Prospect. The Fletcher Place Historic District borders Virginia Avenue.

Massachusetts Avenue was also a transportation corridor where several trolley lines converged on their way in and out of downtown. Mass Ave was a bustling place during the early to mid-20th century. Groceries, laundries, and offices served the surrounding neighborhoods. Clothing stores drew shoppers from the city as a whole. Institutions gave Massachusetts Avenue a distinct character. The Germans built their largest clubhouse in town, Das Deutsche Haus, here in the 1890s. The Murat Shriners constructed an exotic Middle Eastern-inspired fraternal lodge complex on Mass Ave in the early 1900s. These institutions still survive.

Today, the Massachusetts Avenue Historic District; Chatham—Arch Historic District, which includes part of Mass Ave; and the Virginia Avenue Historic District are home to generations-old businesses, art and antique shops, diners, new independent restaurants, night clubs, coffee shops, and more. Bring your pocketbook, and walking and bowling shoes for a journey down Indy’s diagonal streets!

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