{"id":14169,"date":"2019-03-13T20:10:15","date_gmt":"2019-03-14T03:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/?p=14169"},"modified":"2025-07-25T12:50:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T19:50:49","slug":"evolution-of-the-white-river-indianapolis-1863-to-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2019\/03\/13\/evolution-of-the-white-river-indianapolis-1863-to-present\/","title":{"rendered":"Evolution of the White River, downtown Indianapolis, 1862 to present, w\/ Kingan Pork, Beveridge Paper, Perry W smokestack, Acme-Evans Flour mill, Brower & Love Cotton Mill and the Indiana Bleaching Company"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"EZ <\/a>
EZ Bake Flour with the One America Tower behind it <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Screen <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Velo <\/a>
Velo at NCAA headquartersuarters & wind chime <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

The Kingan Pork Packing plant in the first picture, a drawing, occupied 27 acres on both sides of the river where the Zoo, Victory Park (a baseball stadium) and the rest of\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0White River State Park <\/span><\/span>are located now. They employed 5,000 (mostly Irish) people and were one of the largest meat packing plants in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, Kingan’s\u00a0Indianapolis facility was the largest porkhouse on the planet. For this reason, Indianapolis, for many decades, was the world’s largest supplier of meat<\/strong>. This was so because most of the American diet was centered around pork,\u00a0 which could be preserved with salt, unlike beef which needed refrigeration. As such, just like the Crossroads of America preceded Detroit as the Car Capital of the World, Indianapolis also preceded Chicago as the World’s Top Meat Supplier!<\/p>\n

It was also at this site in 1868 that George Stockman, an engineer with Kingan & Co.,\u00a0invented the meat locker, a way to\u00a0 refrigerate rooms and buildings\u00a0<\/strong>(Thomas Kingan filed patent #140,375 in 1873, 18 years before the refrigerated rail car was invented so beef could be kept fresh). It was this that enabled Kingan to be the world’s first year-round meatpacking operation). About this invention, in\u00a0his 1910 history of greater Indianapolis, historian Jacob P. Dunn, said:<\/p>\n

“If Indianapolis wants to put up a monument for a citizen who did more for all the world than all her professional men and statesmen put together, she has the subject in George W. Stockman.”<\/em><\/p>\n

In adding to the Kingan impact on the American\u00a0 diet, in 1914, Kingan also became the first meatpacker to sell sliced bacon.<\/p>\n

The second photo above shows Beveridge Paper which operated there until the mid 1990’s. The skyscraper centered in the background is the One America building with the\u00a0Perry W smokestack, talked about below, at the right.\u00a0<\/span>Beveridge, which took over the\u00a0Salisbury Vinton Paper Mill in 1862,\u00a0surrounded the Indianapolis Water Works of 1870 when the Indy Canal ran behind the two buildings.\u00a0 North of the Water Works , in 1908,\u00a0 was Sandstrom Short-Turn Buggy, a short-lived horse drawn carriage maker, and then a small neighborhood where the giant lawn is now. Moving north these locations were followed by the Acme-Evans Flour mill,\u00a0 Brower & Love Cotton Mill and the\u00a0 Indiana Bleaching Company, all now home to the NCAA headquarters,\u00a0 NIFS and the playing fields for IUPUI.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bridges you see in the first picture (drawing), the ones between the two buildings, are the old\u00a0Washington St bridge of 1870 (rebuilt in 1902 and 1914)\u00a0 that is now an esplanade that feeds the zoo. To its right, is the covered bridge built in\u00a0 1834 for the\u00a0 National Road when it arrived here from near\u00a0Washington, DC,\u00a0 and allowed its travelers to get as far west as\u00a0 Vandalia, Il, 63 miles short of the Mississippi River.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"

Beveridge Paper & Kingan Pork Packing – sign reads, “Kingan’s Reliable Meats”…. http:\/\/images.indianahistory.org\/cdm\/ref\/collection\/dc012\/id\/2887<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

In the above picture, a Kingan Reliable Meats building can be seen standing next to Beveridge Paper when the Indy Canal drained into the White River behind it.\u00a0 The tall smokestack at the left is\u00a0Perry W one of Indianapolis Power and Light’s coal powered electric plants.\u00a0<\/span>This view changed in 1967 when\u00a0Detroit-based Hygrade Corp which had bought Kingan in 1952 and kept it open for another 14 years burned down a year after it closed its doors.<\/p>\n

Note:\u00a0 Kingan had built\u00a0ice packing plants in Broad Ripple, ten miles to the north, and brought that ice down to the main plant in the summer. Here, with Stockman’s process, they were able to mix the ice with salt to cool whole rooms.\u00a0<\/span>Even though John Gorrie, M.D., was granted the first U. S. Patent (No. 8080) for mechanical refrigeration in 1851 for his invention of the first ice machine, artificial ice, as it was called,\u00a0 was slow to catch on. By the 1890s, however, natural ice became a problem on a national level because of pollution and sewage dumping.<\/p>\n

Note 2: Kingan was founded in Belfast, Ireland 1845. Moved to Indianapolis 1862, 5000 employees. Daily capacity of 10,000 hogs, 1500 cattle, 1,000 sheep, 1000 calves<\/p>\n

Kingan even got insulin for diabetics from the pancreatic glands of the animals they slaughtered. From the bones they made brush handles, buttons, hairpins and knife handles Hides were made into shoes,\u00a0 gloves and traveling bags. The fats and oils became\u00a0 soap<\/p>\n

Mote 3: A 1926 article in the Indianapolis News<\/strong> provided a lot of the facts about Kingan as did this article<\/a> in Historic\u00a0Indianapolis<\/strong>. Historic Sanborn Insurance Maps<\/strong> also played a big part.<\/p>\n

Note 4: Brigette Cook Jones<\/strong>, Hancock County Tourism Director fleshed out the IPL smokestack as well as the\u00a0Washington St. bridge that s there now which had been wrongly thought to be a rebuild of the National Rd Bridge of 1834.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  The Kingan Pork Packing plant in the first picture, a drawing, occupied 27 acres on both sides of the… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[127,83,128],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-indy-built-america","category-indianapolis","category-indianapolis-history"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3VuuR-3Gx","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14392,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2019\/05\/15\/how-sasaki-associates-transformed-the-indianapolis-riverfront\/","url_meta":{"origin":14169,"position":0},"title":"Boston based Sasaki Associates Transformation of the Indianapolis Riverfront!","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"May 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"As I work the story of the revitalization of the astonishing Indianapolis riverfront for part 2 of\u00a0How Indianapolis Built America, I came across this beautiful slide show\u00a0 representation of what this area looks like today\u00a0 It is what the Boston-based architectural firm,\u00a0Sasaki\u00a0Design Associates, created and delivered for this area. Spread\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Indianapolis History"","block_context":{"text":"Indianapolis History","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/category\/indianapolis-history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Screen-Shot-2019-05-15-at-10.15.18-AM.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Screen-Shot-2019-05-15-at-10.15.18-AM.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Screen-Shot-2019-05-15-at-10.15.18-AM.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Screen-Shot-2019-05-15-at-10.15.18-AM.png?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17951,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2025\/07\/26\/nbg-indianapolis-history-index\/","url_meta":{"origin":14169,"position":1},"title":"NBG Indianapolis History Index","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"July 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Athenaeum (Das Deustsche Haus) Built 1893 Bicycle Stair Ramp at the Athenaeum Boston based Sasaki Associates Transformation of the Indianapolis Riverfront! Cadillac Co. of Indiana\/Automobile College Carl Fisher\u2019s original bike shop on Pennsylvania Ave Carl Fisher saturated Indianapolis with the Eagle HiWheel Indianapolis and the Nation, the Houses that Carl\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Indianapolis History"","block_context":{"text":"Indianapolis History","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/category\/indianapolis-history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15036,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2019\/10\/12\/one-of-first-lighted-baseball-parks-in-nation-now-indianapolis-zoo\/","url_meta":{"origin":14169,"position":2},"title":"West Washington Street Park, one of first Lighted Baseball Parks in Nation, now Indianapolis Zoo","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"October 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Where the Indianapolis Zoo is now used to be one of the first lighted baseball parks in the nation. Called West Washington Street Park, it was also one of its biggest - it held 20,000 people. Before that though, Indianapolis baseball roots went all the way back to 1876 when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Indianapolis History"","block_context":{"text":"Indianapolis History","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/category\/indianapolis-history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/56927258_2289218958032470_966822994032721920_n-1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/56927258_2289218958032470_966822994032721920_n-1.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/56927258_2289218958032470_966822994032721920_n-1.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13553,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2018\/10\/06\/indianapolis-water-co-first-1870-water-pumphouse-in-white-river-state-parlk\/","url_meta":{"origin":14169,"position":3},"title":"Indianapolis Water Co First 1870 Water Pumphouse in White River State Park","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"October 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This one-story, brick structure with slate roof and copper finishings, sits in White River State Park next to the White River at the approach to the old\u00a0Washington Street Bridge that connects, as an esplanade, to the\u00a0Indianapolis Zoo. It\u00a0was built\u00a0 in 1870. \u00a0 \u00a0 In 1908 the\u00a0Indianapolis Water Company, which bought\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Indianapolis"","block_context":{"text":"Indianapolis","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/category\/indianapolis\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/43233559_2170149443272756_2713900898454601728_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/43233559_2170149443272756_2713900898454601728_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/43233559_2170149443272756_2713900898454601728_n.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/43233559_2170149443272756_2713900898454601728_n.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16503,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2022\/03\/04\/indianapolis-points-of-interest-index\/","url_meta":{"origin":14169,"position":4},"title":"Indianapolis Points of Interest Index","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"March 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"-\u00a0\u00a0Athenaeum (Das Deustsche Haus) Built 1893 - Belmont Beach - Central Canal -\u00a0Christ Church, an Episcopal church built in 1857 on Monument Circl - Circle City Industrial -\u00a0Louis Schwitzer, First IMS Winner and Builder of Circle City Industrial Complex -\u00a0City Market 1886 with Bicycle Garage Indy -\u00a0Columbia Club at the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Indianapolis"","block_context":{"text":"Indianapolis","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/category\/indianapolis\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TopOfMonumentLadyVictory.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15268,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2020\/02\/04\/indianapolis-community-to-be-represented-by-former-white-river-state-park-executive\/","url_meta":{"origin":14169,"position":5},"title":"Indianapolis Community to be Represented by Former White River State Park Executive","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"February 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Had an awesome meeting with Alex Umlauf for our Sep 27, 2020 17th National Mayors' Ride reception on the bridge that replaced the original Gateway to the West, an honor that St Louis somehow assumed for themselves. 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