INDIANAPOLIS — Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell officially named the Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Indianapolis a National Historic Landmark. The monument has been included as an expansion of the Indiana World War Memorials Historic District, which includes the already-designated World War Memorial Plaza to the north. The new nomination recognizes these world-class civic designs that have shaped the image of Indianapolis. DHPA assisted in the review of the nomination, per our Federal mandate.
IN 1887 the newly formed the Board of Monument Commissioners held an international competition and ultimately selected a design by Bruno Schmitz, one of the best-known monument designers in Germany. Built of Indiana limestone, the monument stands 284.5 feet tall from street level. In 1902, when it was dedicated, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument dominated Monument Circle.
The National Historic Landmark nomination cites the exceptional nature of the Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Not only is the monument the largest of the over 200 Civil War memorials in the U.S., it is the only one that combines large-scale sculpture in bronze and stone. The monument also set the trend for civic architecture in Indianapolis, which led to the construction of the Indiana World War Memorial and its plaza in the 1920s. Together, the monuments and sculpture of the Indiana World War Memorials Historic District form a world-class civic design.