Original Governor’s Mansion in Indianapolis
Built in 1827, the Mansion was located on the circle, where the Soldiers’ and Sailors' Monument is today.
In 1821, Christopher Harrison who was the Indiana State Commissioner in charge of Indianapolis' 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's residence at the center.
In 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'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.
No 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' and Sailors' Monument, which is the structure that is located on the circle today.
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