Historical Sites

Geology buffs will find some of the most outstanding geological features in central Indiana in Southwestway Park. Formed during the last glacial period and undeveloped since, Mann Hill is a kame, or a large mound of sand and gravel outwash that was deposited at the edge of retreating glaciers. A 3-acre gaminoid fen wetland can also be found at the park.

Built in 1870, Potter’s Bridge is the only remaining covered bridge in Marion or Hamilton Counties. The bridge over White River has been restored for pedestrian use and is the centerpiece of the 66-acre Potter’s Bridge Park.

This brick Italianate structure served as the original water pumping station for the Indianapolis Water Company between 1870 and 1969, providing some of the earliest pressurized water and drinking water to much of Indianapolis.

Now home to Riverside High School, the Art Moderne design building was built in 1938 by the depression-era Works Progress Administration. The building contained unique training features like a mock navigation bridge, boiler room, a floodable training room, and a rifle range, and its inland location made it an important strategic meeting location for military leadership during World War II.

Three portions of the Central Canal are visible along the White River. Part of the Indiana Mammoth Internal Improvement Act of 1836, the Central Canal was envisioned as part of a series of canals, highways, and later, railroads, that crisscrossed the state. Few of the ill-timed projects were ever finished because of the onset of the Great Depression, but you can see a remnant of the construction at Lafayette Trace Park, a reimagination into the Downtown Canalwalk in downtown Indianapolis and White River State Park, and as a trail-lined waterway that conveys water from the river in Broad Ripple south toward downtown Indy.

During the era of segregated public parks and swimming pools, Black residents found a naturally-sandy but heavily-polluted section of the White River just south of 16th Street in Indy as one of the few places they could access water recreation. During times of low water you’ll still find a sandy beach beneath the ruins of the Emrichsville Dam, and residents of the Haughville neighborhood are working to honor the site’s history.

In the early 20th Century the economic barons of Indianapolis built a series of exquisite mansions along the hills of the White River north of downtown Indy. Oldfields, also called the Lilly House and Gardens, is completely restored on the Newfields campus. The Marian University campus nearby is home to the Allison Mansion, also known as the Riverdale Estate, which featured a garden designed by prominent landscape architect Jens Jensen that has been partially restored. Marian is also home to the Sommers Mansion and the Wheeler-Stokely Mansion, all converted for university use. Across the river you’ll also find the Golden Hill Historic District that features several notable but private residences.

One of the largest nominations in the National Register of Historic Places recognizes the city planning work championed by landscape architect and city planner George Kessler. For nearly two decades, Kessler developed a connected network of parks, stream-based parkways, and tree-lined boulevards inspired by the City Beautiful movement.

Life-sized replica structures and a mock archaeological excavation compliment the Taylor Center of Natural History, bringing to life the communities built by successive American Indian peoples for nearly 1,000 years before the arrival of European settlers.