Ransom Place Historic District

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Ransom Place Historic District
Ransom Place Historical Marker.jpg
Section of the Ransom Place historical marker at the corner of St. Clair and Camp streets in Indianapolis
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Location map Indianapolis.png
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LocationRoughly bounded by 10th, St. Clair, West and Paca Sts., Indianapolis, Indiana
Coordinates 39°46′44″N86°10′11″W / 39.77889°N 86.16972°W / 39.77889; -86.16972
Area6 acres (2.4 ha)
Architectural styleQueen Anne, L-Plan Cottage
NRHP reference No. 92001650 [1]
Added to NRHPDecember 10, 1992

Ransom Place Historic District is a national historic district in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The district consists mainly of a six-square block in a historically Black residential section of Indianapolis, located just one block from Indiana Avenue. It was originally developed during the 1880s and 1890s, coinciding with the growth of Indiana Avenue as the central commercial district for Indianapolis's Black population at that time. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. [2] [1]

Contents

Historical significance

Panel of Ransom Place Historic Marker featuring Second Christian Church (photo taken in 1913) Panel of Ransom Place Historic Marker featuring Second Christian Church.jpg
Panel of Ransom Place Historic Marker featuring Second Christian Church (photo taken in 1913)

At its peak, Ransom Place (although not known as "Ransom Place" at that time) was the site of numerous Black-owned businesses, including churches, clubs, community centers, restaurants, shops, and theaters. Many residents had prominent careers as well. [3] The best-known resident of this area was Freeman Ransom, a lawyer, businessman, and civil rights activist who also worked with Madame C. J. Walker as her legal counsel and the general manager of her company. [2] His son, Willard Ransom also lived in the neighborhood, and he worked as a local chapter president of the NAACP in the 1940s and 1950s. [2] [4]

The district was officially renamed to Ransom Place in 1992 in Freeman Ransom's honor. [5] This district was designated as "most intact neighborhood associated with [the] city's African-American population" by the Indiana Historical Bureau in Ransom Place's historical marker. [6]

Decline and restoration

By the 1950s, when the Indiana Avenue community began to decline as other opportunities drew Black residents away, the area became a target for razing by the city of Indianapolis. Starting in the 1960s and continuing into the 1980s, city leaders worked with Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) to clear land for the expansion of the university.

Houses along Camp Street in Ransom Place, taken in 2011 Camp Street in Ransom Place.jpg
Houses along Camp Street in Ransom Place, taken in 2011

Due to community worry about the possibility of continued growth of IUPUI, residents Lathan Frayser, Addie Jones, Wilma Bailey, Mary Frisby, Jean Spears, and Teresa Crawford-Cottingham formed the Ransom Place Neighborhood Association (RPNA) in August 1991. [7] This was the first recorded use of "Ransom Place" as the name of the district. [3]

This nonprofit focused on encouraging preservation of Ransom Place homes and promoting the neighborhood's history. After gaining recognition on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992, the neighborhood experienced a revitalization effort throughout the rest of the decade. [3] Today, the association hosts many community events, helps fund property improvements, and operates a community garden. [8]

Architecture

The architecture of the district includes many representative examples of Queen Anne style architecture. A notable building in this district is the former Second Christian Church, which was used from 1910 to 2003 until the congregation relocated to a new building near the Butler University campus. [9]

See also

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Freeman Briley Ransom (1880–1947) was an American lawyer, businessman and civic activist in Indianapolis, Indiana. From 1911 until his death he served as legal counsel and general manager for the Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company as well as Madame C.J. Walker's personal attorney. Robert Brokenburr was his law partner.

Roberts Settlement was an early rural settlement in Jackson Township, Hamilton County, Indiana. Dating from the 1830s, its first settlers were free people of color, most of whom migrated from Beech Settlement, located 40 miles (64 km) southeast in rural Rush County, Indiana. Many of Roberts Settlement's early pioneers were born in eastern North Carolina and Virginia. Some of its settlers were ex-slaves. The neighborhood received its name from the large contingent of its residents who had the surname of Roberts. By the 1870s the farming community had a population of approximately 300 residents. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the settlement's population began to decline, largely due to changing economic conditions that included rising costs of farming. Fewer than six families remained at the settlement by the mid-1920s. Most of Indiana's early black rural settlements, including Roberts Settlement, no longer exist. Roberts Chapel, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, serves as the site for the community's annual reunions of its friends and the descendants of former residents.

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Willard "Mike" Blystone Ransom (1916–1995) was an American lawyer, businessman, community civic leader, and a civil rights activist in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was a leader within the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Indiana during the early years of the civil rights movement.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Ransom Place Historic District". National Park Service. December 10, 1992. Retrieved April 10, 2023. With accompanying pictures
  3. 1 2 3 "Ransom Place". indyencyclopedia.org. January 5, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  4. "Willard B. (Mike) Ransom". Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. February 5, 2021. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  5. "Ransom Place Historic District". National Park Service. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
  6. IHB (December 7, 2020). "Ransom Place Historic District". IHB. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  7. "Ransom Place recognized as Neighborhood of the Month". Indianapolis Recorder. February 6, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  8. "Ransom.Place". Ransom.Place. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  9. "Light of the World Christian Church". www.lovelwcc.org. Retrieved March 9, 2023.