Indianapolis: The Story of a City

by Edward A. Leary

Here is an exciting contribution to the American story - the first major work on the nation's 10th largest city in nearly 100 years. It is a story filled with high drama and laced with Hoosier humor and folklore, and it covers more than 150 years - from the "New Purchase" Treaty that cleared the Indians from central Indiana to "Unigov," a bold experiment in municipal government now being tested in the 1970s.

Situated at the crossroads of America, Indianapolis has been a railroad, automobile and interurban capital, home of the 500-Mile Race and the cradle of countless unorthodox political, social and religious movements. It has been a jazz and theatrical center, a literary and publishing center, the home of super-patriots and flaming radicals. And it has been the home or the stamping grounds of Oliver P. Morton, Henry Ward Beecher, Lew Wallace, Kin Hubbard, James Whitcomb Riley, Paul V. McNutt, D.C. Stephenson, Hoagy Carmichael, Eugene V. Debs, and others.

More than the story of a city, this is the story of Indiana, land of Hoosiers, and in a very real sense the story of America.

Genres: History

261 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

Reviews

[Jan]

Love this book thus far...just trying to imagine Indiana, Indianapolis as a vast and swampy forest!

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were interesting chapters, and it was pretty well-written, but the 1970 publication definitely made it feel dated. There were sections where I wasn't sure how much whitewashing was going on, especially in the post-KKK chapter where he talked about all the racial progress that had been made. He mentions there's still some work to be done to improve trust between the black community and police. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Leary was more interested in political and business machinations than I am, which made parts of it a bit of a slog. The elements I found most interesting as a local were the random facts that connect forward to the city as I know it today. The very early days when the city a sparsely-populated swamp, and the descriptions of the city at specific points were really interesting.

There were also a few gems that he mentioned, but didn't give NEARLY enough information about. For example, this all we get on an unnamed "Buffalo Boy," who deserves so much more:

"The lad, a black boy in his teens, had appeared in town in an outlandish hat with a crimson band, leading a grizzled old buffalo which he sometimes rode, to the delight of the town children. Arrested for some minor offense and clapped into the log jail, he set it on fire during the night and in the excitement escaped by riding off on his buffalo."