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1956 Map of Indianapolis

Name: 1956 Topographic Map of Indianapolis
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1956
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1956

About this map

The mid-century state capital and its surrounding central Indiana corridor are detailed in this 1956 mid-century survey. Indianapolis serves as the primary hub, surrounded by emerging suburbs like Speedway and Beech Grove, with Fort Benjamin Harrison anchoring the northeast. The landscape transitions from the urban center to the industrial and agricultural heartlands, where the Wabash River and White River systems define the drainage. Resource extraction is evident through numerous oil wells in the southwest and strip mines concentrated near Brazil.

To the south and west, the terrain becomes more varied as it enters the hilly regions of the Brown County State Park and Morgan-Monroe State Forest. Significant transportation routes, including the Lincoln National Memorial Highway and major rail lines like the New York Central and Pennsylvania, illustrate the region's role as a transit crossroads. The map also captures the sprawling military footprint at Camp Atterbury near the southern edge of the sheet.