Ransom Place neighborhood preserves Indianapolis' Black history

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Avenue was the center of Indianapolis' Black culture, but most of the buildings that could tell that story are gone. The best reminder is a small group of houses that are federally protected from the wrecking ball.

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Ransom Place is all that remains of a once-sprawling neighborhood of homes and businesses built by Indianapolis' Black elite. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

The district was named after Freeman Ransom shortly before it achieved historic status. Ransom lived in the neighborhood and served as Madam CJ Walker's lawyer and business manager.

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The homes in Ransom Place date back to the 1880s and are located near Indiana Avenue and the Walker Theatre. The remaining historic neighborhood is bounded by 10th, West, St. Clair, and Paca Streets.

Susan Hall Dotson of the Indiana Historical Society said it was extremely unlikely for the homes to survive after the urban renewal and demolition that hollowed out Indiana Avenue.

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"Universities and medical centers all took homes, businesses, and land to expand their dreams. The land all around [Ransom Place] was not spared," Hall Dotson said. "Was it renewal or was it erasure?"

The homes were protected largely because of the efforts of Jean Spears, who formed the Ransom Place Neighborhood Association in 1991 and led the charge for the district's historic status.

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"She preserved this place because it was necessary to remember correctly who had been here and how," said her daughter, fellow preservationist Claudia Polley.

Hall Dotson said Spears' mission helped save the homes and tell the complete story of Indiana Avenue's history.

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"In spite of all of the things that were there to keep the neighborhood back including urban renewal and progress, they stood firm," Hall Dotson said.