{"id":696,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:48:37","latitude":39.768538462066800320826587267220020294189453125,"longitude":-86.158046722412109375,"title":"Original Governor’s Mansion in Indianapolis","subtitle":"Built in 1827, the Mansion was located on the circle, where the Soldiers’ and Sailors&#039; Monument is today.","fullsize":"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/fullsize/2f077b8966a84d898e159f93a74b82bd.jpg","address":"","all_locations":[],"zoom":16,"creator":["Chris Weintraut"],"description":"In 1821, Christopher Harrison who was the Indiana State Commissioner in charge of Indianapolis&#039; planning hired Alexander Ralston to lay out the capital. Ralston designed a square-mile area with a spoke and grid pattern leading to the center of the town. In the center of the map was a circle for markets and religious institutions, with a governor&#039;s residence at the center.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nIn 1827, the Indiana General Assembly commissioned a large two-story yellow brick building with a low hip roof to be constructed on the city circle as the Governor&#039;s residence. The house was built in the middle of the circle, fifty feet from the road on every side. Each side was identical with a large front door. Each entry had a hallway leading to the middle, forming a cross in the center of the building. The second floor, likewise, had four identical rooms and center hallways. The building was enclosed with a wooden fence on the street to keep out livestock.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nNo governor ever lived in the residence as Esther Ray, wife of the then-Governor James Brown Ray, refused reside at the mansion due to the lack of privacy. Instead, Supreme Court judges were allowed to use rooms in the mansion as their chambers. Supreme Court Justice Isaac Blackford spent most of his free time writing opinions on Indiana court cases in a room on the second floor. In 1857, the legislature ordered the mansion sold as it was falling into decay. The building was ultimately razed and sold for construction materials. In 1887, construction began on the Soldiers&#039; and Sailors&#039; Monument, which is the structure that is located on the circle today.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["\"Alexander Ralston.\" Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. https://indyencyclopedia.org/alexander-ralston/.","Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. n.d. \"Governor's Residences.\" https://indyencyclopedia.org/governor-s-residence/.","\"Plats of the town of Indianapolis, 1831, Plat 13.\" Indiana Memory Digital Collections. Indiana Historical Society.  https://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15078coll8/id/3782.","Sketch of Governor's Mansion by Christian Schrader, ca. 1850. Credit: Bass Photo Co Collection, Indiana Historical Society. Retrieved from<br />\r\nhttps://indyencyclopedia.org/governor-s-residence/.","\"Soldiers and Sailors Monument.\" Indiana War Memorials Foundation.  https://www.indianawarmemorials.org/explore/soldiers-and-sailors-monument/.","Thornton, W. W., and Douglas Fivecoat. 2005. Isaac Blackford: The Indiana Blackstone. Indianapolis, IN: Indiana Supreme Court."],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/fullsize/2f077b8966a84d898e159f93a74b82bd.jpg":{"id":3371,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Governor’s Mansion","description":"A sketch by Christian Schrader circa 1850, of the original Governor&#039;s Mansion, located in Indianapolis, Indiana where the Soldiers&#039; and Sailors&#039; Monument stands today. This building was constructed as the Governor&#039;s residence in 1827. | https://images.indianahistory.org/digital/api/singleitem/image/dc012/14460/default.jpg | 1850 | Christain Schrader","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/2f077b8966a84d898e159f93a74b82bd.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/fullsize/86f7174414dff0da2413f04550304075.jpg":{"id":3372,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Scanned Image of the original Land Plat for the Circle in 1831.","description":"This 1831 plat of Indianapolis shows the central area with &quot;Governor&#039;s Mansion&quot; marked in the circular space at the city&#039;s center. Alexander Ralston designed this layout, placing the mansion in what was then called Governor&#039;s Circle. | https://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15078coll8/id/3782 | 1831","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/86f7174414dff0da2413f04550304075.jpg"}}}