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Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
INDIANAPOLIS

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By clicking on these links, you can go directly to particular sections:
Indianapolis History, Tourism, and Preservation Websites
Websites of Places Featured in Itinerary
Selected Bibliography for Indianapolis


Indianapolis History, Tourism, and Preservation Websites

Cultural Districts in Indianapolis
This site includes the city’s official cultural districts, some of which are in the National Register of Historic Places. Includes dining, accommodation, and entertainment options.

Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itineraries 
Other travel itineraries in the National Park Service's ongoing series include many historic destinations that you can visit online or in person.  Each itinerary spotlights a different geographic region, community, or theme.

Heritage Documentation Programs in the American Memory: Built in America
Heritage Documentation Programs, National Park Service, administers HABS (Historic American Buildings Survey), the Federal Government’s oldest operating preservation program, and companion programs, HAER (Historic American Engineering Record), HALS (Historic American Landscapes Survey), and CRGIS (Cultural Resources Geographic Information Systems). Drawings, maps, photographs, and historical reports produced through the programs and archived at the Library of Congress constitute the nation’s largest collection of historical architectural, engineering, and landscape documentation.

Historic Hotels of America
A feature of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Heritage Traveler program that provides information on historic hotels and package tours in the vicinity of this itinerary.

Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana
Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana is a nonprofit group that assists grassroots preservation efforts, advocates preservation, creates statewide initiatives, owns historic properties, and partners with the Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology in preservation activities.

Indianapolis Downtown, Inc.
Indianapolis Downtown is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting travel and tourism in Indianapolis.

Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology
Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology (DHPA), part of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, is the State Historic Preservation Office for Indiana. The DHPA processes all National Register nominations, coordinates identification of historic places, helps protect historic properties as part of the planning of government-funded projects, and awards matching grants for preservation projects.

Indiana Historical Bureau

Indiana Historical Bureau manages the state’s marker program and helps foster educational programs in history.

Indiana Historical Society
Indiana Historical Society is a nonprofit but state-chartered organization that collects and interprets historical images, papers, and artifacts.

Indiana Office of Tourism Development
Indiana Office of Tourism Development offers information on travel, festivals, and special promotions.

Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association
Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association provides information on hotels, activities, cultural districts, and other amenities for travelers.

Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission
Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission administers many of the districts in this itinerary, by creating preservation plans and issuing permits for alterations to exteriors. Local designation is through the City of Indianapolis.

INDYGO (Indianapolis bus system)
INDYGO’s site includes routes, timetables, and fare information for Indianapolis and Marion County travelers.

National Park Service
The main National Park Service website is the gateway to national parks, information on preserving America’s history and culture in parks and communities, and a vast amount of other useful information. Visit the National Parks located in Indiana: George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, and Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial.

National Park Service Office of Tourism
National Parks have been interwoven with tourism from their earliest days. This website highlights the ways in which the National Park Service promotes and supports sustainable, responsible, informed and, managed visitor use through cooperation and coordination with the tourism industry.

National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the nation’s official inventory of historic places worthy of preservation. Districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects significant in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture are included in the National Register, which is expanded and maintained by the National Park Service. The National Register website is the gateway to information on authentic registered historic places, the benefits of recognition, and how to become involved in identifying, nominating to the National Register, and protecting these irreplaceable reminders of our heritage.

National Historic Landmarks
National Historic Landmarks are nationally significant historic places designated by the Secretary of the Interior, because they possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States. They all are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

National Trust for Historic Preservation
National Trust for Historic Preservation is a U.S. Congress-chartered nonprofit group that preserves historic places, publishes information about preservation, and operates preservation initiatives. Learn about the programs and membership in the oldest national nonprofit preservation organization.

National Scenic Byways Program
This website, maintained by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, includes information on state and nationally designated byway routes throughout America based on their archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and scenic qualities. Visit the America’s Byways Historic National Road - Indiana website for more ideas.

Teaching with Historic Places
Teaching with Historic Places is a program of the National Park Service that offers a series of online classroom-ready lesson plans on registered historic places and other resources to help teachers and students use historic places in the classroom.


Links to Websites of Places Featured in This Itinerary

Allison Mansion
Christ Church Cathedral
Circle Theater (Hilbert Circle Theatre, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra)
Columbia Club
Cottage Home Historic District
Crown Hill Cemetery
Das Deutsche Haus (The Athenaeum)
President Benjamin Harrison House (in Northside Historic District)
Harrison Center (in Northside Historic District)
Herron—Morton Historic District
Indiana State Library
Indiana Theatre (Indiana Repertory Theatre)
Indiana World War Memorial Commission
Indianapolis Motor Speedway National Historic Landmark
Indianapolis Department of Parks and Recreation
Madame C.J. Walker Building National Historic Landmark
Morris—Butler House (in Northside Historic District)
Nickle Plate Locomotive No.587 (at Indiana Transportation Museum)
Old Pathology Building (Indiana Medical History Museum)
Oldfields National Historic Landmark (Indianapolis Museum of Art)
Wheeler-Schebler Carburetor Company


Bibliography

David Bodenhamer and Robert Barrows, editors. Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indianapolis: IU Press, 1994.

Diebold, Paul. Greater Irvington, Architecture, People and Places on the Eastside of Indianapolis. Indianapolis: Irvington Historical Society, 1997.

Diebold, Paul. The History and Architecture of Meridian-Kessler. Indianapolis: Meridian-Kessler Neighborhood Association, 2005.

Mary Ellen Gadski, editor. Indianapolis Architecture, Transformations since 1975. Indianapolis: Indiana Architectural Foundation, 1993.

Geib, George W. Indianapolis: Hoosier’s Circle City. Tulsa: Continental Heritage Press, 1981.

Gibbs, Wilma. Indiana’s African-American Heritage. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1993.

Indianapolis Architecture. Indianapolis: Indiana Architectural Foundation, 1975.

Maloney, Michael and Kenneth J. Remenschneider. Indianapolis Landscape Architecture. Washington, DC: Landscape Architecture Foundation, 1983.

Marlette, Jerry. Indianapolis Railways. Terra Alta, WV: Pioneer Press of West Virginia, 2002.

Peat, Wilbur. Indiana Houses of the Nineteenth Century. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1962.

Phillips, Clifton J. Indiana in Transition. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau and Indiana Historical Society, 1968.

Taylor, Robert, et al. Indiana: A New Historical Guide. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1989.

Taylor, Robert and Connie A. McBirney. Peopling Indiana: The Ethnic Experience. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1996.

Thornbrough, Emma Lou. Indiana’s Blacks in the Twentieth Century. Indianapolis: I.U. Press, 2000.

Children’s Bibliography


Bundles, A’Lelia. Madam C.J. Walker. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1991.

Johnson, Howard. A Home in the Woods, Pioneer Life in Indiana, Oliver Johnson's Reminiscences of Early Marion County. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1978.

Mallett, Ann. A Child’s History of Indianapolis: The Beginning Years. Indianapolis: Indianapolis Marion County Historical Society, 1985.

Schleifer, Jay. Indy, The Great American Race. Parsippany, NJ: Crestwood House; Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan Canada; New York: Maxwell Macmillan International, c. 1995.

 

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