Indianapolis Street Names

I like Dell Zell Drive, which is off of Keystone Ave a few blocks south of Kessler.

In 1821, Alexander Ralston was commissioned to survey and plat *four* square miles to create Indianapolis, not one. His opinion was that not even one square mile area would be filled, so he just stopped at that. The original square mile is bordered by the streets Steph mentioned (North, East, South, and West). Ralston also helped map Washington D.C.

Here's a little history of the sale of the initial 314 lots:

http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/ihb/publications/indy2tl.html

Here's a pic of Ralston's work:

http://static.flickr.com/24/59059578_63b4ad9adb_o.jpg

My favorite Indy street is 71st St., or is that 73rd St.? Or maybe it's Meridian Hills Blvd.? No, wait! It's Westlane Rd.! (Here is the link - http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=39.881355,-86.168175&spn=0.033225,0.065394&hl=en - zoom in and scroll west to see all the name changes)

BTW, 86th St. becomes 82nd and vice versa when it crosses the White River, not at Allisonville Rd.

Don't forget the always famous intersection of Fall Creek and Fall Creek! (http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=39.870025,-86.041617&spn=0.016615,0.032697&hl=en)

USAToday had report on a contest for odd street names

http://tinyurl.com/gxcf5

The contest was held by "the car Connection" website:

http://tinyurl.com/jlpcj

Doesn't look like any Indy names were nominated.

We did notice the other day that a new strange street name has appeared in Indy. Where 96th street and Westfield Boulevard intersect, 96th street jogs south a bit to avoid 465. Since the roundabout was installed at the intersection, the street sign at that little jog now says "Real Street." So if any one asks, it is a real street.

Ah yes, "Real" street. That name actually predates the roundabout. Because it just magically changes into 96th, I was thinking "surreal" might be better.

? many years ago I had relatives that lived at 4627 n. arsenal. was this street name changed to indianola at some time in the past. arsenal park is on indianola between 46th and 49th street thank you;

I found an old war rations books from 1942 for me, age 1, weight 18 pounds and the address is 6131 Indianola Ave., Indianapolis, Indiana. Where in the world is this? Is there still a house there? My family moved to Midland, Texas when I was 3 and a half, and about all I can remember of Indianapolis is going to the Episcopal church to be baptized, and stamping tin cans flat.

How did Post Road in Indianapolis (Lawrence) get its name? I see in the US Constitution that congress was authorized to establish "Post Roads". (Article I, Section Eight of the U.S. Constitution specifically authorizes Congress the enumerated power "to establish post offices and post roads."). For over 20 yrs I assumed that the "Post Rd" in Indianapolis was named that because it led to Ft Harrison. Do you know if this is just a coincidence or was there a post office on Post Rd originally? The post office bldg still in existence today at old Ft Harrison was (is) most recently used as a coffee house but sits about one block west of Post Road.

I am 63 and was raised very close to Post Road. I remember my dad saying that Post Road was built from Ft. Harrison to US 421 to move troops.

I find street names an interesting subject, I live on Ruckle Street just off of 106th, and I've always been curious about the origin of the name, also as an interesting side note, I recently watched the program, America: The Story of Us, on the History Channel and it said the United States is pretty much the only county in the world that has street names that are numbers and letters, i.e. 106th Street, A Street etc. and this is because the U.S. grew so quickly that there was usually no time to name streets before they were populated.

Hi Don, you can check our schedule here on the website to see when we'll be close to your area. We haven't gotten up to northern Ohio as much as we'd like, but we do still get up that way occasionally. When we do we'd love to have you and your wife at the show! God Bless you and see ya soon!