Riverside Family Center - 2420 E. Riverside Drive
WELCOME TO RIVERSIDEThis is a driving tour, but feel free to park and enjoy the different stops or bike the same path! If you are biking the tour, the Riverside Family Center is the best place to park.Neighborhood HistoryThe Riverside Neighborhood boasts a rich history with roots in the City Beautiful movement. Early in the 1900’s, real estate developers and local landowners saw the opportunity to create a community that would be accessible by the newly expanded downtown transportation system. The “streetcar suburb” would feature landscaped traffic circles, generous front yard set-backs, wide boulevards, and glacier boulder retaining walls. A George Kessler designed park, Indianapolis’ first zoo, and the now-demolished Riverside amusement park, followed the success of the planned community. Today, Riverside enjoys a wide array of amenities and boasts a diverse and active neighborhood community.The area now occupied by Riverside Park was developed for agricultural use beginning in the 1820s. The area along the White River became a popular recreation space during the last half of the nineteenth century and several privately owned parks opened along this corridor.In 1898, the Board of Park Commissioners and Mayor Thomas Taggart negotiated the purchase of large tracts of land around Indianapolis to form new park and parkway systems in the northwest and northeast parts of the city. Originally designed by J. Clyde Power and George Kessler between 1898 and 1913 as part of the Park and Boulevard System for the city, Riverside Park was one of the largest municipal parks in the United States.It would remain the largest park in Marion County until the creation of Eagle Creek Park in 1962. Investment in Riverside Park declined after World War II and many facilities were demolished and never replaced while others suffered decades of neglect. Interstate 65 was built through the park in the 1960s, destroying some of its popular recreational spaces.Riverside Park was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2003 as a part of the Indianapolis Park & Boulevard System Historic District.
White River Greenway - White River Wapahani Trail
The White River Wapahani Trail is an important trail that links to the Central Canal Towpath on its North endpoint and the Canal Walk downtown; both very scenic trails. This path also links to the Southern portion of another trail of interest, the Fall Creek Trail.The Wapahani Trail will eventually connect to other trails such as the Eagle Creek and Pleasant Run Trails. Trail users can also get to the popular Monon Trail via the Wapahani Towpath or a cross-town connection on St. Clair Street. The name “Wapahani” comes from the Delaware Indiana’s tribe’s word for White River.
Segregated Bathing Beaches
An excerpt is from a 1930’s publication titled, “The WPA Guide to Indiana: The Hoosier State” describes two bathing beaches on Riverside’s White River.... “one at 26th Street for whites and one at 16th Street for Negroes.”The white beach had a diving tower, large relaxation deck (Riverside Pavilion) and boat rides. Several 1910 postcards illustrate these amenities. Chelsea Sutton at the Indiana Historical Society discusses the larger segregation practices at Riverside Park in her blog: https://indianahistory.org/blog/reckoning-with-riverside/A larger discussion of segregation at Riverside Amusement Park will be had later in the tour.
Bush Stadium Lofts - 1510 Stadium Way
These apartments are a great example of adaptive reuse. Originally the Bush Stadium was home to the Indianapolis Indians from 1931 to 1996. It was also home to a few Negro League baseball teams, as well as a Continental Football League team, the Indianapolis Capitols, who won the league's final championship in 1969.In 1996, the Indianapolis Indians Baseball Team left the field to be rehoused at the new Victory Field located near White River State Park. Between 2008 and 2011 the Stadium was used as a storage site for cars traded in as part of the Cash for Clunkers program.The field was transformed into the Stadium Lofts in 2013. Norm Perry, the owner of the Indianapolis Indians baseball team, built the stadium in 1931 at a cost of $350,000. He named it Perry Stadium in honor of his brother and previous team owner James Perry, who died in a plane crash in 1929. Osborn Engineering, which also built Fenway Park, constructed the stadium. New owners conducted a vote among the fans to determine a new name, and in 1942 the Indians played at the renamed Victory Field in reference to World War II. In 1967, Victory Field was officially rechristened Owen J. Bush Stadium in honor of the former Indians’ star and long-time club president.During the 1930s, Perry Stadium was home to many Negro League teams. In 1987, it was the site of the Pan American Games baseball tournament. In 1988, Eight Men Out, a movie about the infamous “Black Sox” scandal of 1920, was filmed at Bush Stadium. The Indians left Bush Stadium in 1996.In 1997, the property was leased by Tony George (president of the nearby Indianapolis Motor Speedway) and converted into a dirt track for midget auto racing and renamed the facility 16th Street Speedway. After two years, the property closed and the stadium fell into disrepair, with no apparentfuture.Between 2008 and 2011 the Stadium was used as a storage site for cars traded in as part of the Cash for Clunkers program.In 2011 it was proposed the Stadium be turned into an apartment complex. The proposal became fact on March 15, 2012 as demolition began on portions of the 81-year-old structure.In August 2013, Stadium Lofts officially opened the doors to new residents.
Moller Farmhouse - 1852 Koehne Street
Year Built: Circa 1880sArchitecture Style: I-House with AdditionKey Features:Two Front Entrances Segmental Arched Windows Two Rooms Wide, One Room Deep FootprintOriginally home of Danish dairy farmer Peder Christensen (P. C.) Moller and is the oldest residential building in Riverside, built in the 1880s, and was the first dairy farm to deliver milk in Indianapolis. The home was originally a single family home and had only one entrance. The back portion of the house was a 9-room addition added before 1900. According to the Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, only 114 Danes (Danish folks) lived in the city in 1880 and 208 in 1910, “the most successful of these was Carl Moller, owner of a dairy farm and milk delivery business located on present-day Moller Road.”An obituary for Peter Chris Moller, who died February 3, 1938 lists the Koehne Street address. He was born in Denmark in 1856 and came to the United States in 1882. The obituary lists Carl Moller as one of his sons.
Taggart Memorial - 1856 Burdsal Parkway
Built in 1931, this memorial honors Thomas Taggart, mayor of Indianapolis from 1895 to 1901, who purchased and helped develop the land for Indianapolis parks in 1897. He was also chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1900 to 1908, president of the French Lick Hotel Co., and a United States senator in 1916. While mayor, he created Indy Parks and purchased 953 acres of park land, including Riverside Park. In 1927, Riverside Park was renamed Taggart Memorial Park, this was changed back to Riverside Park in 1930. More than 300 people attended the dedication of the memorial in 1931, two years after Taggart’s death. Speakers included the mayor and the governor.The limestone structure is two stories high and features five open bays defined by arched, columnar supports. The open-sided memorial affords views of the river to the west and of the parkway to the east. Historic photos show a lagoon crossed by a rustic bridge and bordered on the front side by rocks and masses of shrubs and perennials.Considered a notable neoclassical structure in Center Township and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in Mar. 2003. Local interest and support spawned a movement to restore the memorial. Designed by C. McCullough (American, architect) and Lawrence V. Sheridan (American, 1887-1972, landscape architect).The Taggart Memorial was redeveloped into a community stage and amphitheater in 2020 through a generous grant from the Lilly Endowment. The stage will be home to the Indianapolis Shakesphere Society, know locally as Indy Shakes.
Burdsal Parkway
This mile-long parkway was designed to connect Fall Creek Boulevard and Parkway in the east with Riverside Park and White River Parkway in the west. From its western edge, it stretches seven blocks, crossing a railroad line and the historic Indianapolis Water Company Canal. Though called a “parkway,” Burdsal was designed by George Kessler in 1915 as a direct east-west boulevard street, connecting the parkways on either side, respecting the historic grid of the city. It was named after a local entrepreneur and paint industry magnate, Alfred Burdsal, who left the city a large bequest in his will, much of which was given to the Parks’ Board to fund park improvements and additions.Burdsal is structured as a series of block-long central medians, each measuring approximately 75 feet wide, situated between approximately 32 feet of adjoining roadway. On the residential sides of the parkway, a ten-foot-wide lawn lined with trees separates the street from the sidewalk. A double row of mature shade trees, primarily oaks and maples, is spaced along the central median and arrayed in straight lines. This alignment strengthens the long axis of the parkway and orients the eye toward its focal point, the Thomas Taggart Memorial located at the entrance to Riverside Park. Burdsal Parkway was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003 as a contributing feature in the Indianapolis park and boulevard system.In 1908, George Kessler, the nationally known landscape architect and designer of ideal American Cities, was hired by the City of Indianapolis to layout the ideal plan for growth. Kessler’s hiring by the city was strongly encouraged by the Commercial Club, the precursor to the Chamber of Commerce, because they viewed this plan as vital to Indianapolis being competitive as a world-class city. In 2003, Kessler’s plan, called the “Indianapolis Park and Boulevard System,” was affirmed as a nationally significant landscape by its acceptance to the National Register of Historic Places.
Karen Lalioff Home - 2459 East Riverside Drive
Year Built: Circa 1912Architecture Style: American Foursquare Arts & CraftsKey Features:Shingle Siding Multi-Paned Windows Square Footprint and Box StyleThis home has been restored impeccably including a wooden, hand-crafted, period chandelier. The original owners had a baby at home during the terrible flood of 1913 and the doctor had to arrive in a canoe.Our family refers to it as “riverhouse,” to distinguish it from our log cabin in the woods, which has been and remains our primary home. We bought this several years ago to serve as my city home, close to work. (Daily commuting is for the birds.) We love the location and look forward to Riverside’s future.- Karen Lalioff
Long's Donuts
The original 1950’s Long’s location was in the heart of Riverside at c. Long’s is a family bakery founded by Carl Long in 1955. Its original location was in the heart of Riverside at Harding and 26th Street.When it comes to hot, fresh glazed donuts, Indianapolis' favorite spot is Long's Bakery. Long's has been at its current location since 1955, making it one of the select group of long-term survivors of the ups and downs of the past half-century.Long's Bakery is currently owned by the third generation of the Long family, with “Carl’s grandkids and a great-grandson, waiting in the wings.” Long’s operates two locations, one just south of 16th Street (1453 N Tremont Street) and the second in Southport. FYILong’s is a CASH-ONLY establishment and is open until 10:00pm. Grab a donut for a little taste of Riverside!
Platting of Riverside Neighborhood - Intersection of Roache and Koehne Streets
The Riverside Drive Historic District lies to the east of Riverside Park and it draws its name from this association. The district is composed of six different additions and/or subdivisions, the earliest of which was platted in 1902 and the most recent in 1947. The earliest addition, Miller-Wacker Parkway Addition, was platted in 1902 by August Wacker and Hiram W. Miller and consisted of 410 individual lots. This addition lies directly adjacent to the east side of Riverside Park and is bounded by Riverside Dr., which at the time of its platting was named Parkway Ave., on the west and Harding St., which was named Schurmann Ave. at the time, to the east. The northern boundary is 27th St. with the southern marked at 21st St.This addition is especially noteworthy for its gridded layout containing many features inspired by the City Beautiful movement. The City Beautiful movement gained popularity in the late 1890’s and promoted the idea that beautiful places promote moral and civic virtue among citizens. In Riverside that manifested in the addition of sidewalks and tree-lined streets, wide east-west boulevards with grassy, landscaped central medians, traffic circles at many intersections, and glacier boulder retaining walls lining the sidewalks of properties nearest the park. It’s said fountains were originally planned for the circles. Many residential features, including chimneys and porches, are also fashioned from the same stones as the retaining walls. The idea was that the neighborhood would provide a pleasant and beautiful respite from the hustle and bustle of city life, all easily accessible via streetcars.This map is of Riverside Park, the central feature of the neighborhood.
Riverside Dance Pavilion - Corner of Roache and Riverside Parkway
When this pavilion was built in 1904, it attracted many amusement park passersby filled a need in the city for a place where dances could be held during the summer months. There was a large porch across the front of the building and one down the side. It faced Riverside Park with windows on all sides of the building and seven dormer windows near the roof. Lighted with incandescent lights, it also contained two large dressing rooms. The interior was oak-stained with the dance floor being prepared yellow pine. The floor was large enough to accommodate 100 couples. Dance marathons were held at the pavilion.
August Wacker Home - 2663 East Riverside Drive
Year Built: 1899Architecture Style:Key Features:Large Porch with Column Supports and Balustrade River Rock Wall Tall Narrow WindowsAugust Wacker immigrated from Germany as a young entrepreneur in 1870. He found great success as a florist and gardener, buying land, developing it and selling for a profit. This led him to eventually purchase 90 acres of farmland near Cold Spring Road and 30th Street, where he developed his family farm and a large home, a brick mansion, that was later used as a country club, a military station during WWII, and is now the Iron Skillet Restaurant.Wacker retired from gardening in his 50’s and turned to city development. In 1898, he sold his family farm to the city, including more acreage east of the river. Its vineyard grapes were harvested by city park staff in 1899 with the intent to make wine. This land became part of the 900+ acre Riverside Regional Park.In 1899, with his remaining land just east of the new park, he built this "retirement” home, a cozy cedar Folk Victorian overlooking the park. He immediately expanded development around this home by helping create the Miller-Wacker Parkway Addition, which was platted in 1902 and contains 410 individual lots. Many of its features were inspired by the City Beautiful movement, including sidewalks, tree-lined streets, wide east/west boulevards with landscaped medians, and traffic circles at each intersection on Koehne Street. Early newspaper articles note that fountains were planned for the traffic circles.This addition is unique in its prolific use of river rock or “glacier bowlder” walls. These stones are also incorporated into the architectural features of many homes, including foundations, porches, chimneys, and even a carriage house or two. Neighbors and volunteers helped to collect nearby stones to construct the walls.Sadly, August Wacker’s wife, Louise, suffered from insanity and lived only 4 years after moving into this home. She was temporarily institutionalized, and Walker had to sell much of his land to pay for her care. In fact, since her name was jointly on the deeds, he had to sue his wife for ownership of each property because she was too ill to sign anything. A 1903 news article offered sympathy for Wacker’s struggle through this cruel process. She died at home in 1904; her funeral photo was found wedged into the home’s walls during a renovation, 110 years later.The Wacker family sold the home in the 1950’s. Ward McLendon, a jazz club owner during Indiana Avenue’s hay day, owned the home into the 1990’s. He rented out the top floor bedrooms to a variety of tenants including music legend Wes Montgomery’s bass player Mingo Jones, who would hold jazz jam sessions in the driveway.
Riverside Train Pavilion and Canal Tow Path
Old Train Car Pavilion Once a popular stop on the train car’s route. On June 5, 1909, an accident occurred at the Riverside Train Car pavilion when a streetcar overturned due to a defective brake chain, killing one man and injuring many others. August Wacker turned his home at 2621 Parkway Blvd. into an emergency hospital when the accident occurred. Articles about the accident state that a faulty brake was to blame. The Old Train Car Pavilion is still standing. It is used as a picnic shelter house now, it is the one with a curved roof near Riverside/30th.Central Canal Tow Path The path begins in Broad Ripple, runs for 5.23 miles and ends near W. 30th St. and N. Harding St. The surface is crushed stone. From the south, you can access the White River Wapahani Trail. The path runs past cultural amenities: Butler University, Holcomb Gardens and Newfields. From the trail's northern endpoint, continue your journey on the Monon Trail, or, from the trail's southern end, you can access the White River Wapahani Trail to travel into downtown.
Former Site of the Riverside Amusement Park
Indianapolis’ first amusement park was constructed in 1903 through a joint venture between Pittsburgh investor Frederick Ingersoll and local businessmen J. Clyde Power, Bert Feibleman, and Albert Lieber. The 30-acre Riverside Amusement Park (RAP) featured mechanical rides, concessions, a Ferris wheel, and a large central dance hall, where visitors danced to live orchestras and bands. It boasted a laughing gallery hall of mirrors, an aerial circle swing, shooting galleries, canoe and rowboat rentals, and the Double Eight roller coaster, the longest in the U.S. at the time.A fire in 1905 destroyed much of the park but it was totally refurbished the next year with new attractions. The park didn’t charge an admission fee but charged by the attraction. RAP was so popular that by the end of the summer of 1906, streetcars were arriving there every three minutes.In 1910, the 15-acre Riverside Bathing Beach opened adjacent to RAP. The “Hoosier Coney Island” featured a diving platform and giant cascades to circulate clean water. A wooden boardwalk along the outer rim of the lake was constructed for sunbathers as well as covered bleacher seats. The lake doubled as an ice rink in the winter months.The park flourished and in 1919 came under the local control of lawyer Lewis Coleman, who modernized the park with new amenities and rides. Coleman’s son John took over management of the park in 1939 until its closing in 1971.Under the leadership if Coleman, the policy of "Whites-Only" remained in place, except for a few specific days throughout the year. This area was also considered a "Sundown town" due to laws that ordered African Americans to be home before sundown because known lynchings happened in the park. During World War II, RAP kept patrons coming by sponsoring wartime relief programs for servicemen and their families. Following the war, economic prosperity fueled increased attendance at the park. In 1952, RAP hosted an estimated one million visitors. During the late 1950s, it introduced several expensive amusements, including one modeled after an attraction at Disneyland.Segregation History: Prior to Lewis Coleman’s taking control of RAP in 1919, African Americans used the park for church picnics and social outings. Coleman instituted a “whites only” policy with African- American patrons permitted entry only on designated “Colored Frolic Days,” typically one to two days a year. Signs at the park proclaimed, “White Patronage Only Solicited.” In 1921, the city of Indianapolis opened Douglass Park, designating it as the sole city park for African Americans and refused to grant permits for African-American events at any park but Douglass. In 1922, George Tompkins was lynched at Cold Spring woods, a nearby privately-owned tract that became part of Riverside Park in 1927.Citizens began to protest the segregationist policy of RAP during the 1940s. While African- American patrons flocked to the park on their day for several years, black leaders, particularly black veterans, denounced what was then called “Negro Day” and all it symbolized. Black lawyers and elected representatives organized a 1945 boycott of “Negro Day.” The boycott worked and only a few blacks, mostly children, attended Negro Day that year. However, the whites-only signs remained at the park.In June 1962, fifteen picketers representing the NAACP picketed RAP, protesting its discriminatory policies. The picketing continued for several months. In August 1962, the NAACP held a mass protest meeting about the whites-only signs at the park. Eventually, John Coleman was convinced to remove the whites-only signs and RAP’s segregationist policy ended in 1963. By the late 1960s, Riverside Park was fully open to African Americans and even hosted a three-day black cultural festival in 1971.By that time, however, much of the population growth in Indianapolis was occurring outside city limits. As the suburbs expanded, attendance at the RAP declined. For these and other reasons (such as significant national competition), RAP closed following the 1970 season. The park rides and buildings were demolished in 1978 and the site left vacant. Between 1998 and 2007, the site was redeveloped into single-family houses and townhomes in the Rivers Edge subdivision.
Riverside High School / Heslar Naval Armory- 3010 N White River Parkway East Drive
Year Built: 1936Architecture Style: Art ModerneKey Features:Curved Corners and Smooth Walls Small Narrow Windows Decorative Stone CarvingsThe Heslar Naval Armory was designed by architect Ben H. Bacon. Built by the Depression-era Works Progress Administration, the four-story armory opened in 1938. Heslar Naval Armory was the home of Naval Operations Support Center Indianapolis, Marine Corps Reserve Center Indianapolis, and Naval Recruiting Station Indianapolis, as well as the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps Cruiser Indianapolis (CA 35) Division and the Central Indiana Young Marines of the Marine Corps League. In October 2008 the Indiana Wing Civil Air Patrol, state branch of the US Air Force Auxiliary, moved its headquarters functions and staff to the Armory.When the new reserve center opened in 2014, the state offered the old armory to other state agencies but got no takers. Following protocol, the state transferred it to the city of Indianapolis, which saw no use for the large vacant building. But Herron High School had a plan for an ideal reuse of the property. Herron reached out to Indiana Landmarks, asking to help buy time while the school raises funds to transform the former armory into a state-of-the-art campus. The city agreed to give the building to Indiana Landmarks, with the stipulation that they commit to its preservation and reuse. They have partnered with Herron High School, aided by an anonymous donor with connections to both organizations who underwrote a year of holding costs while Indiana Landmarks and Herron worked out the details.Riverside High School opened in 2018. Read more in this article from the Indiana Preservation Magazine: https://www.indianalandmarks.org/2016/08/new-use-for-indianapolis-naval-armory/
30th Street Bridge
This bridge replaced a much narrower bridge after two 1904 floods washed away most of the old and unstable bridges spanning the White River, leading to the formation of a Bridge and Stream Improvement Commission to build more durable and beautiful bridges. Completed in 1907 for less than $200,000, the bridge retains much of itsBuilt in 1907-1908 and designed by H. W. Klausmann, it opened in October 1908 at a cost of $180,000. The stone and concrete bridge was in the Beaux-Arts style with a limestone cladding. It had a Melan concrete arch structure with three spans, 35 ornamental lamp posts, and was 500 feet long and 73 feet wide. It included a cement observation platform to view water carnivals upon the river and grand staircases leading down to the river at either bank. It was last rehabilitated in 1979.The bridge is in the queue to have needed rehabilitation!This is the last stop on our tour! Historic Urban Neighborhoods of Indianapolis and Indiana Landmarks thank you for joining us! Consider taking one of the other fantastic tours on PocketSights!
