This research and documentation project of surviving Indianapolis automobile factories examines the importance of Indianapolis, Indiana, as a center of automobile manufacturing in its early days. Automobile factories appeared in the city as early as 1895, and were often an outgrowth of bicycle or carriage-building companies. This followed a national trend. As the industry grew, Indianapolis firms continued to produce low-volume, high-quality cars instead of the more popular, low-cost cars being produced by Ford and other Michigan-based manufacturers. The recession of 1921 and the Great Depression of 1929 decimated the market for expensive cars and by 1937 all Indianapolis-based firms were out of the automobile business. A number of their production facilities remain and are employed in a variety of uses. This project documents these buildings and recommends a range of adaptive re-uses based on successful conversions. / Department of Architecture
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/186122 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Saldibar, Joseph P. |
| Contributors | Wolner, Edward W. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | xiii, 200 leaves : ill., maps ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n-us-in |
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