Monthly reviews of books written by Indiana authors are made possible by the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Awards and Indiana Humanities. Opinions expressed in this review are solely those of the reviewer, not any affiliated entity.
Indiana has an architectural history as extensive and varied as the landscapes and cultures that have been found across the state from ancient times to the present. Hoosiers can be modest to a fault, and we often underestimate the quality and value of the things around us. An accurate understanding of our often remarkable past is key to truly seeing our present and understanding the possibilities for our future. In the case of our architecture, much of the story is also obscured by the passage of time and the loss of buildings.
As a native Hoosier with a deep interest in Indiana history and design, I was excited to hear that Dr. James A. Glass was writing a book about Indianapolis architecture. Our state’s capital city for the past 200 years and its most populous since the 1850s, Indianapolis plays a key role in the story of Indiana’s built environment. Despite this, the city’s architecture had never before been the subject of an in-depth scholarly study.
While we have an excellent statewide architectural survey program, scholarly books on Indiana architecture have been few and far between. Two notable examples of individual city studies are those of Madison (1986) and Richmond (2003). To treat the architecture of Indianapolis at the level seen in those books is a daunting task due to the sheer volume of subject matter. While Indianapolis and Madison were roughly identical in population in 1850 (both just over 8,000), Indianapolis’ growth rapidly outpaced the state’s other cities. By 1900, Indianapolis had a population of 169,000, more than 21 times that of Madison and five times that of Richmond. Indianapolis’ continuous growth also led to successive redevelopments in many of its early neighborhoods, leaving more layers of architectural history to sift through.
Glass’ Architecture in Indianapolis provides a welcome, in-depth reference on the subject. The author draws from years of research on the city’s built environment to provide a good selection of representative buildings for each period. Because so many key buildings from this period were long ago demolished, this research is critical to providing an accurate picture of the city’s architecture. Glass has organized the book into a series of periods subdivided into chapters by building type. He places the buildings in a context to provide readers with an understanding of common stylistic expressions, enumerating notable features in descriptions of selected buildings.
The book itself is well designed and well illustrated. The images are of good size and excellent quality, essential features for a study of architecture. A minor production oversight seems to be the awkward placement of sources on the biographical feature pages instead in endnotes like the book’s other citations, but its design is, otherwise, of a sophistication suitable to its content. Glass’ Architecture in Indianapolis is a must-have book for scholars of Indiana history, architecture, and anyone with a curiosity about our capital city’s history. Volume 1: 1820-1900 was published in 2024 and Volume 2: 1900-1920 comes out in 2025.
James A. Glass is an Indianapolis-based historic preservation and heritage consultant with over 45 years’ experience as a historian, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer, and professor in the preservation field. He holds a PhD in the history of architecture and historic preservation planning from Cornell University and lectures regularly on the architectural history of other countries and of Indianapolis.
Benjamin L. Ross has been involved in the stewardship of Indiana’s built environment for more than 25 years. He has been entrusted with analyzing, interpreting, and planning for the future of some of the most significant historic sites in the United States, including the homes of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr., and many Hoosier landmarks including Madison’s Shrewsbury-Windle House and Indianapolis’ Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site. A Lafayette native, Ben received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture from Ball State University and has been a historic preservation specialist with RATIO Architects in Indianapolis for the past 17 years. He specializes in combining research with analysis of the physical fabric of historic buildings to reveal their history and evolution. Ben’s personal research focuses on the work of architects in the nineteenth century Midwest and the effects of technology and architectural publications on design in the Hoosier State.
