Admission to the Union | Sequence in Admission | Sequence in Capitols I Have Visited |
---|---|---|
December 11, 1816 | 19th admitted | 6th visited |
After we paid our respects at the gravesite of former Vice President Schuyler Colfax in South Bend, my father and I drove down to Indianapolis to see the Hoosier State’s capitol building. The facility is made of Indiana limestone and white oak. Construction on it was completed in 1888.
This historical marker gives a brief overview of the history of Indiana’s capital cities and statehouses. Corydon was the capital from its admission into the union in 1816 until 1825, when it was moved to Indianapolis.
With my predisposition to presidential history, I was sure to photograph this historical marker on the capitol grounds that details Abraham Lincoln’s posthumous stop in Indianapolis. Indiana was the second state Lincoln lived in, after his family relocated from Kentucky. The statue atop the plinth in the distance is of former Vice President Thomas A. Hendricks. The real Hendricks is located five miles away at Crown Hill Cemetery.
Four groupings of limestone statues comprise The Westward Journey and stand atop the south portico of the statehouse. They were created by artist Herman Carl Mueller. The Indigenous figures at the artwork’s left hand side represent the natives who once had the land all to themselves, while the three more eastern groupings symbolize the white settlers who came westward across the North American continent and, in turn, forced tribes even farther west.
Sources Consulted and Further Reading
Smithsonian American Art Museum. “(Indians, Reaper, Blacksmith, Pioneer Family), (sculpture).” Accessed February 14, 2022. https://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!siartinventories&uri=full=3100001~!340010~!0#focus.
Visit Indy. “Indiana State Capitol.” Accessed February 7, 2022. https://www.visitindy.com/indianapolis-indiana-state-capitol.