One of the Hardest-Hit Neighborhoods in Indianapolis: A Tour Guide to Historic Fountain Square

The Fountain Square is one among the six cultural districts covering a total area of about 1.07 km2 in Indianapolis. Some few years before, the Fountain Square neighborhood had sparse population. It was since the1870s with rapid commercial growth the area started developing and became extremely congested. It was the German immigration that fueled further development in the area. The very character in the neighborhood underwent changes with the German-American merchants and Germans settling in the area.

The Fountain Square website

http://www.fountainsquareindy.com/

Fountain square played a very significant part in Indianapolis theater heritage. It continued to fill the downtown area from the southern side bringing in independent banks, multiple movie theatres, social centers offering wide ranges of ethnicities, retail shops to name a few.

The economic depression of the 1950s was revived by the Fountain Square. In the 1970s with the construction of the interstate system, hundreds of churches, businesses houses were demolished which added fuel to suburban flight.

The Fountain Square: History

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_Square,_Indianapolis

It was from the 1990s that the Fountain Square business area started benefiting from the concentrated reinvestment. There came about a number of small professional offices, live entertainment, antiques, studios and galleries. Today it has become tourist attraction for the different kinds of small professional offices, live entertainment, unique restaurants, and art galleries.

There is a dance hall inside where you can dine together and enjoy the dance shows. Different new homeowners as well as the long-time residents have joined hands to improve the quality of the area there by making it one of the major tourist attractions.

The Fountain Square tour

http://www.polis.iupui.edu/RUC/Neighborhoods/FountainSquare/FSNarrative.htm