The Indiana state Soldiers and Sailors Monument is a 284-foot-tall neoclassical structure on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana also the home of our Whistler pest management firm. Since its 1902 dedication, the monument has been a symbol of Indianapolis, Indiana’s capital. Washington Street-Monument Circle Historic District. It’s Indiana’s largest outdoor memorial.

History

The property at Indianapolis’s center was once a public gathering place, governor’s mansion, and municipal park. The monument was built between 1888 and 1902.

Governor’s Circle Park

1827 saw the construction of the second Indiana Governor’s Residence.

Alexander Ralston’s 1821 proposal for Indianapolis included a circular, 80-foot-wide highway that surrounded a 3-acre circular block of land. The Circle was the town’s center from 1821 on. 

1827 saw the Circle’s first governor’s home. Due to its public location and poor construction, no governor ever lived there, but Supreme Court justices, the Indiana State Library, and the State Bank of Indiana used it. It hosted inaugural balls for incoming governors, charity fundraisers, military receptions, Fourth of July celebrations, and community gatherings. The building deteriorated by 1851. The property became a vacant lot in 1857.

During and during the Civil War, Indianapolis became a favorite venue for mass assemblies, public rallies, and battlefield victory celebrations. In 1884, a bronze statue of Oliver P. Morton, Indiana’s Civil War governor, was placed in the park. Franklin Simmons, an American artist living in Rome, Italy, designed the iron-fenced statue of Morton. Governor Conrad Baker presided over the June 15, 1884 dedication. Sen. Benjamin Harrison and Col. William Dudley spoke.

Proposed monuments

After the Civil War, several suggested building a monument for Indiana’s veterans. On April 1, 1862, an anonymous Indianapolis Daily Journal editorial suggested a memorial in Circle Park. After the war, monument talk persisted. In 1867, governor Morton suggested erecting a monument atop Crown Hill Cemetery’s highest point. William H. English spoke to Civil War veterans in 1872 and supported a memorial at Crown Hill, but a bill in the state assembly failed. University Park, Military Park, and the corner of Washington and Illinois streets in the city’s main commercial sector along the National Road were all considered.

George J. Langsdale, the editor of the Greencastle Banner, proposed a memorial plan at the inaugural Civil War veterans’ reunion in Indianapolis in August 1875. A memorial association was founded when Langsdale’s suggestion was accepted. The Indiana Department of the Grand Army of the Republic raised $23,380 for the memorial by 1887.

The Indiana General Assembly enacted a measure to form a memorial commission on March 3, 1887. Langsdale was chosen president on June 28, 1887. Its first members were Samuel B. Voyles, D. C. McCollum, Daniel M. Ransdell, George J. Johnson, and James, G. Gookins. Thomas W. Bennett replaced Randsell two years later, and William H. English replaced Bennett. Manson and Morris were also commissioners. The measure also funded $200,000 for the Indianapolis memorial. Some state politicians opposed using the Circle as the monument’s site, but the law that authorized it specified Circle Park.

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