Stories by author "Elena Rippel": 6
Stories
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
It took Ray Harroun 6 hours and 42 minutes to win the first Indianapolis 500 on May 30, 1911. Speeding past the checkered flag in his bright yellow Marmon “Wasp,” Harroun had driven the five hundred miles at an average speed of 74.6 mph. Today’s…
Bush Stadium
Early History
Bush Stadium was constructed in 1931 by the Osborn Engineering Company, the firm responsible for several famous ballparks including Cleveland’s League Park, Boston’s Fenway Park, and New York’s Yankee Stadium. Local architects added…
Lucas Oil Stadium and the Colts
It was on the snowy night of March 28, 1984, when the Baltimore Colts became the Indianapolis Colts. After loading everything they could remove from their Maryland training complex into twelve moving vans, the Colts made the long journey to…
The Athenaeum
Following the failed revolutions of 1848, many Germans emigrated to the United States to escape turmoil. They incorporated aspects of German culture into their lives in the United States. By 1860, 20% of Indianapolis residents came from a…
Market Square Arena
Perched like a giant flying saucer resting on two parking garages, Market Square Arena was perhaps an aptly styled venue for Elvis Presley’s final public performance (June 26, 1977). Built in 1974 and host to a wide variety of sporting and…
Early Baseball in Indianapolis
In 2010, a team of professors and students from Ball State University used digital mapping technologies to identify the exact location of Washington Ball Park. Decades of development and change, including the construction of the Indianapolis Zoo,…