Beech Grove

Early—20th—century Indianapolis was developing into a major transportation center. The extension of rail lines operated by the Big Four Railroad, the Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, and St. Louis Railway, invaded farmland 5 miles southeast of the busy Indianapolis Union Station. By 1904, the native beech trees neighbored the construction of the Big Four Shops, a facility charged with the production of steam locomotives. The shops brought jobs, an immediate draw for commercial and residentia...