Alexander Ralston
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Alexander Ralston (1771-1827) was one of two co-architects for the design of the city of Indianapolis, Indiana.
An assistant to the French architect Pierre L'Enfant, Ralston helped L'Enfant plan Washington, DC.
With co-surveyor Elias Pym Fordham, Ralston's original plan for Indianapolis, developed in 1821, called for a city of only 1 square mile, with its Governor's Circle, a large circular commons, the original site of the Governor's mansion at the very center of the city.
The Governor's mansion was finally demolished in 1857. In its place stands a 284-foot-tall (86.5-meter-tall) neoclassical limestone and bronze monument, the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument.
Ralston died in 1827 and was buried at Greenlawn Cemetery. In 1874 his remains were moved and reburied in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis. His gravestone is engraved with an image of his plat of the city's initial design.
[edit] Sources
- Annual Budget Organization Chart of the City of Indianapolis, from the City of Indianapolis official web site, which notes the city's origin
