History of Sledding in the Circle City
- Ed Fujawa
- 3 hours ago
- 7 min read
A few years ago, I did a blog post about the former sledding hill at Butler University, on the north end of the Butler Bowl football field. That hill was a popular location on the north side for sledding adventures from the 1920s onward. But this was far from the only location around the relatively flat terrain of Indianapolis where sledding was enjoyed by the residents of the Circle City.
Sledding was a winter pastime even in the early years of Indianapolis. The eponymous diaries of Calvin Fletcher make several references to sledding, usually in the context of his children partaking in the activity. Sleds were also often advertised in local newspapers for sale at local stores. The advertisement below is from the Indianapolis News in 1873. Hildebrand & Fugate’s was a hardware store located at 21 W. Washington Street.
Sledding, or coasting, as it was sometimes called (separate from sleighing which was when carriages were exchanged for sleighs), was enjoyed at various spots around the city, although hills in Indianapolis are not common, and those that are available, are not very large. In 1883, the Indianapolis News reported that local children were using large piles of sawdust in the mill area on the west side of downtown as sledding hills.
In early 1900, a sledding “incline” was constructed in Military Park. The incline was 16 feet high, although the launch platform was placed on the berm of the Central Canal, which runs along the southern boundary of the park, adding to the incline’s height. The incline was reportedly very popular with local children, although the need for the kids to go to school cut into their sledding time. “To-day the sport was somewhat interrupted with by the fact that schools and truant officers exist,” observed the Indianapolis News on December 16, 1901. The incline was disassembled and stored during warm weather, but by 1907, a parks board report noted that the timbers used for the incline were failing, and it is not clear if the incline was replaced.
Some private residences had sufficient hills for sledding. The country estate of William Ketcham, a local attorney and former Indiana attorney general, was located in the 4000 block of North Illinois and sat on a deep lot along a low ridgeline on the west side of the street. The Indianapolis Star reported that “society is coasting down the hill at the Ketcham home,” and that parties held by the Ketcham's would often feature sledding excursions down the hill towards Illinois Street. The illustration below from 1903 depicts the sledding at the Ketcham home.
With the formation of the Indianapolis park system in the late 1890s and early 1900s, more public property became available for sledding, with inclines and hills, no matter the size, across the city being used for sledding.
In 1926, the Indianapolis News reported that Garfield, Riverside, Douglass and Brookside Parks were popular for sledding. The hills at these parks were a bit limited, with the slopes leading down to the creeks and waterways flowing through the parks being the main sites. One of the most popular sites appeared to be Riverside Park, with the more sizable bluff along Cold Spring Road on the west side of the now defunct Riverside Golf Course, across the street from the entrance of Marion University, being a focus for coasting. The images below show this hill first 1984 (from the Indy Parks Archives at the Indianapolis Public Library) and in 1936.
In 1927, the city took sledding in its parks a step further with the construction of a concrete toboggan run on the ridge line at Coffin Golf Course, near the Iron Skillet Restaurant (which closed this past year). The map excerpt below shows the location of the toboggan run highlighted in yellow. North (and 30th Street on the right in this image, and the Iron Skillet building is circled in red.
The image below shows Jesse P. McCune, the director of the city's recreation department, demonstrating the use of the toboggan run in 1930. McCune had constructed the toboggan run using cement leftover from other projects.
The toboggan run would often be sprayed with water to provide a glaze of ice to ensure speed as the chute sent sledders onto the flat ground of the golf course east of the Iron Skillet. The toboggan would be launched by way of a platform which would tilt downward and send the sled onto the track. The images below are from the Indianapolis News, December 26, 1935, and December 15, 1945, showing the launch mechanism, and the extent of the cement toboggan run.
A newspaper report in 1935 claimed a speed of 70 mph could be obtained, although considering the limited height of the ridge line, this seems to be a wildly optimistic estimate. The toboggan run remained active for the next few decades. In the early 1950s, discussions began to construct a new sledding hill at Riverside Park, parallel with 30th Street. This turned into the soapbox derby track which still exists today, although it was advertised as being available for sledding during the winter months (unclear if it is still used for sledding). By the late 1970s it appears the toboggan run had been discontinued. There was discussion to construct a larger run at Eagle Creek Park as part of a winter sports area (which included downhill skiing) that never materialized. A toboggan run was also considered for the side of Mann Hill at Southwestway Park, but that too was never constructed.
Sledding safety was also a frequent concern in the city, and news reports make references to many accidents. At times, sledding brought tragedy, especially when local youth took to sledding on local streets following snowfall. In 1926, on the day after Christmas, George Hettle, a 12 year old who lived on the southside of the city, was struck by a car while sledding on Meridian Street. George was seen sledding along the streetcar tracks when he was struck by the vehicle. The driver stopped and took him to the hospital, where he later died. His death spurred a warning from the chief of police and county coroner to parents to not let their children “use the city streets for coasting purposes” Said Dr. Paul Robinson, coroner: “The practice of children coasting in the street must be stopped at any cost, and the death of the boy Sunday night is an example of the termination of many of the coasting parties resulting in the death or serious injury to boys and girls.” The police helpfully added that the parents of any children found using the streets for sledding would be arrested for child neglect.
The city embraced the tendency of residents to use roadways for sledding by closing off certain sections of roadway to prevent interactions with vehicles during the winter of 1932. One such site was in Butler-Tarkington, where Capitol Avenue was closed from 52nd to 54th Street, a stretch of roadway that includes a steep downhill, thanks to the ridge line (which is actually part of the southern side of the White River valley) that runs through the neighborhood. Per a report on November 18, 1932, the snow along this section was in poor condition, so the sledding closure was switched to the stretch of 52nd Street between Capitol and Boulevard Place, which also has a steep hill, as shown below.
The practice of closing streets continued and expanded to include sites across the city. The listing below shows the streets closed for sledding in late 1935.
In 1939, the city designated certain areas of local parks, specifically Ellenberger, Garfield, and Highland Parks, for sledding purposes Highland Park was a particularly attractive to sledders. The appropriately named park is situated on one of the higher points in the city, sitting just east of downtown (great view of the city here, if you have never had a chance to visit). As a result, it was popular with sledders. However, the best way to sled the hill is on its western and northern sides, which lead to Dorman and New York Streets, respectively. This arrangement caused problems. In 1991, a sledder was struck and killed on New York when he was sledding on the northside of the hill and coasted into the street.
A week later, city officials announced plans to plant trees and other landscaping on the north side of the hill in an effort to prevent sledding. Neighbors had circulated a petition seeking the construction of a fence at the edge of the hill. “We don’t think a fence is a good idea,” said David H. Arland, spokesman for Mayor William Hudnut. “You can get hurt running into a fence too.” It appears that a combination of landscaping, and a fence was installed after the 1991 tragedy. Today, Highland Park has fence around its perimeter.
In more recent history, the various Indy Parks locations have continued to be the main sites for sledding in the county. Paul Ruster Park on the far eastside of the county had a sledding hill constructed in the early 1980s. Perhaps the most impressive, purpose-built sledding hill in the county is not at a city park, but at Fort Harrison State Park. Constructed on the site of an old water treatment plant at the former army base, the hill was constructed in 2001, several years after the base was closed and after the property became a state park in 1996.
Sources
Indianapolis Star: December 18, 1903, December 27, 1913, February 3, 1929, February 9, 1930, November 18, 1932, December 21, 1936, April 19, 1953, July 5, 1953, January 27, 1979, February 9, 1991,
Indianapolis News: December 22, 1873, December 26, 1883, October 30, 1899, December 9, 1901, December 21, 1901, December 27, 1926, December 23, 1935, December 26, 1935, January 20, 1936, January 24, 1939, December 27, 1939, February 14, 1944, December 15, 1945, February 1, 1991, February 15, 1993,
Indianapolis Journal: February 4, 1900
Coffin Golf Course site plan, topographic, sump pump, electrical plans, gas and water, Ball State University https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/IndplsPDArc/id/5287/rec/2
Annual message of the mayor of Indianapolis, 1902, https://www.digitalindy.org/digital/collection/IH/id/11969/rec/3
Report of the Board of Park Commissioners for 1904, https://www.digitalindy.org/digital/collection/ipr/id/35689/rec/17
Board of Park Commissioners Meeting minutes, 1928, https://www.digitalindy.org/digital/collection/ipr/id/38430/rec/21