Landscape Information
Located on a one-block square in downtown Indianapolis, this memorial to World War I is the second (from south to north) in a series of four plots that comprise the original five-block Indiana War Memorials Plaza plan prepared by Frank Walker and Harry Weeks. Construction commenced in 1926 and though the memorial’s dedication took place in 1933, the site was not completed until 1965.
Berms with evenly-planted crabapple trees and stairs leading to the memorial elevate the entire block and form a plinth to the neoclassical shrine that rises 210 feet, while street level sidewalks line the perimeter. Each face of the rectangular Indiana limestone shrine features five large windows separated by six Ionic columns, topped with sculptures representing Courage, Memory, Peace, Victory, Liberty and Patriotism. The grand north and south stairways to the top of the terraced memorial base are composed of granite and limestone. The southern stairway features a 24-foot bronze casting, Pro Patria. Completed by Henry Hering in 1929, the sculpture depicts a young man draped in an American flag reaching to the sky. The platform at the top of the steps provides sightlines to the other memorials of the plaza to the north and south, and further views of downtown Indianapolis to the east and west. The Meridian and Pennsylvania Street stairs provide access to the memorial’s interior, which currently contains the three-story Indiana War Memorial Museum. The memorial was included in the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza Historic District when it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994.
