Indianapolis Water Quality: Yesterday
Long before Indianapolis became the vibrant and bustling capital of Indiana in 1825, the banks of the White River were home to the Lenape, who built camps along the waterway for the best access. Indianapolis residents today can still trace their tap water back to this historic source.
The 19th century ushered in a period of effervescence and establishment for the region. As the new settlers built the new capital city’s government and infrastructure, a more formal water system took shape. Both a resource and a danger, the city’s proximity to White River and Fall Creek caused record flooding of low lying areas in the 1820s.
Indianapolis’s water system could have made headlines its famous Indiana Central Canal, which intended to connect the Wabash and Erie Canal to the Ohio River. Left unfinished due to the financial crisis of the Panic of 1837, the canal cuts through the city’s downtown and now provides residents with beautiful opportunities for waterside leisure.