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The Historic Hills of Marion County and Indianapolis


Landscape history, or perhaps more accurately environmental history, has been a common theme on this blog, especially in regard to how the waterways of Indianapolis have impacted the city, and vice versa. For this post, we’re going to stick to landscapes and the natural environment, but not of the waterway variety. Instead, we’ll examine the history of the some of the hills of Marion County, and Indianapolis.


First, Indianapolis is quite flat. Recollecting to 15 or so years ago, I was attending a John Stewart show at the Murat Temple. One of the first things Stewart commented on when he got out on stage and was describing his flight into Indianapolis, was that (paraphrasing here) “You need some hills.” Now, there are some hilly areas. Especially in the northern parts of the county, and along the White River and Fall Creek valleys, where the terrain becomes hillier and more rolling. There is also some high ground along I-65 south of I-465. But what we’re looking for are hills, a prominence which stands out from the surrounding terrain.

 

The most notable hill is Crown Hill. 19th century historian Berry Sulgrove, never at a loss for descriptive anecdote about the city, commented in his 1884 history of Marion County and Indianapolis that “[t]here are many gentle slopes and small elevations in and around the city, but nothing that deserves the name of hill, except “Crown Hill,” at the cemetery north of the city, and one or two smaller protuberances a mile or two south.”

 

The other two protuberances referenced by Sulgrove are likely Mann Hill located on the far southside, just south of Southport Road at Southwestway Park, and the unnamed hill which rises near Glenns Valley, just south of the now I-69 and I-465 interchange. Note that none of these hills the highest points in Marion County. That is a point in northwest Marion County, although the location is not a “prominence,” or a hill, but a location in northern Pike Township where the land in the north of the county is generally higher than the southern part of the county. The blog Urban Indy tackled the question of the highest (natural) point in Indianapolis over a decade ago, which also centered on the site in Perry Township. But setting aside what location receives the highest point award, let’s look at the history associated with the three hills identified above.


Crown Hill (a/k/a Strawberry Hill or Williams Hill)


Per 2012 numbers from MapIndy, Crown Hill tops out at 840 feet at the Riley grave site. The grave site is slightly elevated from the summit, and at its base the height is 835 feet. A short distance to the east is a wide-open field just south of the tunnel under 38th Street which connects to the two parts of the cemetery. This low spot bottoms out at around 733-734 feet, making a 100-foot elevation change to the top of the Crown Hill. The hill is a ‘kame,’ a remnant of the glacial age when a pile of sand and gravel was spat out by the glaciers as they retreated northward. Contrary to popular belief, Crown Hill is not the highest point in Marion County, as discussed above.


While not the highpoint in the city/county, Crown Hill is perhaps the most well-known 'hill' in the county, mostly because of its location within the cemetery of the same name, and its proximity to downtown. It is the dominating prominence in the Midtown area, although the large number of trees on the cemetery property make it difficult to view the hill as a whole. Its size is clearly visible as one drives north up Michigan Road, which takes a chunk out of the western flank of the hill. However, its 'summit' is mostly clear of obstructions to the south, allowing a fantastic view of downtown, as shown below. Views to the west and north are mostly obstructed by vegetation, while to the east is partially obstructed due to trees in the cemetery, and the generally tree covered area of Midtown.


The land for Crown Hill Cemetery was purchased from several landowners in the early 1860s with the cemetery being formally dedicated on June 1, 1864. Prior to the cemetery, the hill was known locally by a few names, including Williams Hill and Strawberry Hill. The former was the result of the hill being located on land owned by Martin Williams, a nurseryman who had a small log cabin on the southern slope of the hill. A total of 166 acres was purchased from Williams in 1863. We have some idea of what the hill looked like prior to the founding of Crown Hill thanks to the artwork of Christian Schrader, who completed an oil painting of the view from the top of the hill looking south towards Indianapolis in 1861 (image below), a few years prior to the sale of the land. A modern image of the same view is also shown. Michigan Road is visible in both images, moving from the bottom right corner of the images and disappearing in the center horizon. Note the lack of trees in the 1861 painting. Schrader's painting is one of the sources which uses the 'Williams' name for the hill. Another source is historian Ignatius Brown's 1868 history of Indianapolis.

The image of the oil painting above was drawn from a Facebook post made by Crown Hill Cemetery. A black and white image appears in the book Indianapolis Remembered: Christian Schrader's Sketches of Early Indianapolis.


Strawberry Hill seems to be the most well-known and referenced name for the hill, aside from the modern Crown Hill designation. The strawberry name appears frequently in materials relating to Crown Hill, usually connecting the name to wild strawberries which were said to have grown on the hill and enjoyed by picnickers who had driven north out of the city for a tour in the country. Other reports suggest that Martin Williams grew strawberries himself and sold them to visitors. Whatever the truth, the common denominator is that strawberries were somehow associated with the property. The summit of Crown Hill as seen from the base of the hill looking north is shown below.



Mann Hill


Like Crown Hill, Mann Hill is a ‘kame,’ and another relic of the glaciers which once steamrolled across Indiana. Located on the far southwest side of the city, the hill is oriented north to south along the White River just north of the county line. From highpoints in downtown, and even from the top of Crown Hill, Mann Hill appears as a large bump on the southern horizon. From Mann Road on its west side, the hill, which tops out at 828 feet appears as a tree covered mound, although driving into Southwestway Park reveals the hill is taller than it appears. Also, the hill appears much taller from the east, where its eastern side runs all the way down to the lowlands along the river, giving that side a far more steeper and massive feeling than the more gently sloping west side which is shown below.


The name of the hill is the result of the Mann family, whose members owned land along the White River which included the hill in the late 1800s. However, the name "Mann Hill" was not used in local newspapers until 1902. The hill has been associated with Native American activity, and there have been archeological surveys done on the property, on the hill itself, and around the golf course on the southern end of the hill. I discuss Mann Hill in this post about the Native American presence around Indianapolis at the time of the city’s founding, which explores the significance of the hill to the Native American population in the area.


Mann Hill nearly became part of what would become Fort Benjamin Harrison in the early 1900s. Around this time the US Army was looking to construct a new post somewhere near Indianapolis and was scouting locations around Marion County. Army officials expressed interest in sites on the southwest side of the city, near the small towns of Valley Mills and West Newton. There were two competing tracts of land dubbed, appropriately enough, the Valley Mills and West Newton sites, each being promoted by separate business partnerships interested in facilitating the land sale to the federal government. The image below is from the 1901 Baist map, which shows the area for the proposed Army post. Valley Mills and West Newton are highlighted in yellow, and the location of Mann Hill is marked with a red "X." The road crossing the White River at the Antrim Post Office is Southport Road.

The proximity of the Indianapolis & Vincennes Railroad, and the adjacent Indianapolis-Martinsville interurban line near both of these towns was a positive for the placement of the post. Additionally, statement from Army personnel suggested that Mann Hill could serve as the backstop for the post's rifle range.


The Indianapolis News reported in January of 1903 that the Valley Mills site was preferred due to having more frontage on the rail lines, but that Army also wanted the Mann Hill site for the rifle range. This would create an "L" shaped parcel of land for the post and provide some frontage on the river.


While the Valley Mills site was favored, the construction of the post was predicated on the sale of the Federal Arsenal grounds near downtown Indianapolis (site of Arsenal Tech High School today) with the money from that sale being used for the new post. Attempts to purchase the Arsenal were made, but funds remained short. B.M. Ralston, who was one of the developers promoting the land near Valley Mills and West Newton, encouraged city leaders to find the money to complete the sale, noting that "[i]f this is done, the people from the court house tower, the Soldiers Monument or any of the high buildings in the city can see "Old Glory" floating in the breezes from a flag staff on Mann Hill, over the hundreds of Uncle Sam's happy solider boys in blue." It had been noted in a prior article that the clock on the Marion County courthouse tower could be seen through a pair of field glasses from atop Mann Hill.


The Valley Mills and West Newton sites fell out of favor when local physicians expressed concern about how "sanitary" the site was. The proximity to the city dump was cited, as was the large amounts of pollution which were dumped in the White River just upstream from the proposed Army post site. Some of these concerns were withdrawn when it was revealed that the local physicians were misinformed regarding how close the post would be to the city dump. However, the sanitary condition of the land continued to linger, and by February, a new site on the northeast side of the city was selected for the new Army post.


With Fort Benjamin Harrison being constructed in Lawrance instead of the Valley Mills/West Newton sites, Mann Hill would remain in a mostly natural state on the rural southwest side for the next several decades. However, starting in the 1920s, the hill would be used for annual hill climbing competitions, a popular pastime where cars and/or motorcycles would try to drive up the slope of a steep hill in the shortest amount of time, or simply see who could complete the uphill run. Motorcycles seemed the vehicle of choice on Mann Hill, and this activity continued into the 1970s. The events were popular with what was described as thousands of people crowding upon on the hill to watch multiple heats of racers try to conquer the hill. Stock motorcycles as well as customized models were raced. It is not clear what side of the hill was used for these events, although the images below, from a 1959 Indianapolis Star Magazine report (apologies for the poor quality of the photos) seem to suggest that the riders were trying to climb the east side of the hill, which was the steepest. The north side of the hill is also rather steep and could have been used as well. The middle image below looks to be looking northward towards Indianapolis while the motorcycle climbs the eastern slope. The image on the right shows the crowds along the course. As of 1959, there was no minimum age for participants (minors needed parental consent) although women were not permitted to compete.



Land for Southwestway Park was first obtained in 1961 by the city to the south and west of the hill. Additional land purchases were made and in 1968 the city was pushing to purchase Mann Hill itself and three appraisers provided a valuation, although, due to a misunderstanding, the top 50 feet of the hill was left out of the appraisal since it was believed to be owned by someone other than the person who owned the rest of the hill. Whatever the issue, Mann Hill was purchased, which greatly expanded Southwestway Park.


In 1974, the city was planning to use the park, and Mann Hill, for a “mechanical park,” where off road vehicles could be used. However, funding was being sought from the Federal Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, which determined that the motorcycle hill climbs were destroying the significance of the hill due to the extensive erosion on the slopes of the hill over the many years the hill climbs were hosted at the hill. The last advertised hill climb competition was in 1971 (although there may be less organized events happening too) and signs were posted prohibiting motorcycle use in the park and on the hill. Parks director Sue Ann Gilroy announced that a committee had been formed to find a new location for motorized off road riding, although this never materialized in Marion County. The aerial images below show Mann Hill in 1941, 1962, and 2008. The blue dot is the "summit." The line on the right (east) side of the summit in the second two photos is a utility right of way for high tension power lines which run across the park.


The parks department planned to use Mann Hill for winter sports (there was even a reference to skiing on Mann Hill), along with summer activities including hiking, baseball, and tennis. The winter activities, especially skiing, never really happened (you can snowshoe and cross-country ski) although the park has seen increased use over the past decade thanks to the construction of numerous mountain bike and multi-use trails. These trials are built using sustainable methods (bench cut, not fall line trails) which help minimize damage to the hill and erosion. In fact, the summit of the hill, completely enclosed with trees, has a small clearing which is an intersection for trails on the hill. Two trails which climb up the hill meet at the top, and then two one-way trails descend via a specially constructed downhill trail, and a downhill flow trail. The image below shows the summit, along with a group of mountain bikers back in 2013, when trails were first being constructed at the park.

Photo Credit: Kristen Dietel Schwark

And now for some gratuitous racing action, here is the author descending one of the flow trails off the summit of Mann Hill during the 2016 Category 2 Men's DINO mountain bike race at Southwestway.



Unnamed Hill a/k/a Glenns Valley Hill (or maybe Murphy Hill)


This last hill is a prominent landmark for travelers driving along SR 37/I-69 on the southside of the city, but it does not seem to really have a name. As shown below, and viewed from the new interchange on Southport Road, the hill appears heavily wooded, although it is less prominent than in the past due to extensive development around the hill. The hill, which is located just south of I-465 on the left as you drive south on I-69 (near the crossroads known as Glenns Valley), tops out at 837 feet and appears as something of a twin to Mann Hill (it's also a kame), 2.5 miles to the west. While the summits of Mann and Crown Hills can be visited by the public, the high point on this hill is on private property.

The 1948 USGS topographic map below shows Mann Hill on the left, and what we will call the Glenns Valley Hill, on the right. Glenns Valley Hill is part of a larger bow-shaped ridgeline which runs roughly north to south and is bisected by Bluff Road. The green tinting indicates tree cover, which is very much lacking on Mann Hill at the time. Note that State Road 37 (let alone I-69) does not appear on this map.

The early surveys of Marion County done around 1821, do not include the hill in their maps (Crown and Mann Hills are also not noted in these surveys). One of the earliest confirmed references I located for the hill is in the 1835 abstract for the construction of the Central Canal. The canal’s route ran along the western flank of the hill. In fact, today there is a small creek which parallels Belmont Avenue which follows the route of the canal along the west side of the hill. Farther south, several sections of the canal are still visible today. At some point, the unfinished canal bed became the natural creek which flows today. The abstract for the canal references a lock which was to be constructed at the base of the “Big Hill.” The "Bluffs" mentioned on section 15 of this abstract are the Bluffs of the White River, located near present day Waverly, and discussed in this blog post.

Later, the hill was referred to as the Glenns Valley Hill, a reference to the small village of Glenns Valley which sat on the hill’s southern side, along the Bluff Road. Today, the intersection of Bluff Road and Morgantown Road is the center of the Glenns Valley area.

The Glenns Valley Hill name was heavily used in the early 1900s, especially in 1906, when, like would later happen with Mann Hill, hill climbing competitions became popular at the site. Instead of motorcycles, automobiles were used to climb the Glenns Valley Hill, with numerous newspapers reporting on the events in 1906. Advertisements for cars in local newspapers even included boasts about how the vehicle faired at the Glenns Valley Hill climbs.


The hill climbs seem limited to 1906, and by the 1920s to 1930s, newspapers would wax poetic about the glories of the hill climbs at Glenns Valley. Little use of the name is made in newspapers after the 1930s. The late 1950s and early 1960s saw several references to the Glenns Valley Hill in the context of traffic backups and jams along State Road 37, which ran past the hill.

In the 1950s homesites began to be constructed on the still heavily wooded hill and by the 1970s about two dozen homes had been built on and around the hill. United States Geological Survey maps from the 1940s onward include no name for the hill (as shown above), although its counterpart to the west always has the “Mann Hill” name. I did find one reference in the 1980s to the hill being called Murphy Hill. A look at the 1931 Condit map of Marion County shows an Oren Murphy owning part of the hill. Other prominent names from this area are the Glenn and Orme families. Note that the SR 37 on the map below is the Bluff Road. This map, like the USGS map above, predated the construction of the modern SR 37.

If anyone local to this area has any recollection of what name this hill went by other than Glenns Valley Hill or Murphy Hill, please let me know. I will certainly update this blog if additional information is obtained. Also, if anyone has historic images of these hills, or even of the hill climbing competitions, please let me know. This post is the type that local residents likely have additional information or images which may not be readily available to researchers.



Sources


Indianapolis News: August 5, 1899, December 23, 1902, December 26, 1902, January 14, 1903, January 15, 1903, January 17, 1903, March 9, 1903, May 1, 1954,


Indianapolis Star: June 14, 1959, March 22, 1968, October 17, 1974, December 3, 1989,






The Story of Crown Hill, Anna Nichols (1928), https://archive.org/details/storyofcrownhill0000anna/mode/2up


Logan's History of Indianapolis from 1818, Ignatius Brown (1868), https://archive.org/details/loganshistoryofi00brow/page/n195/mode/2up






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