West Washington Street

West Washington Street. Indianapolis. When the gentleman smoking the pipe glanced at the camera in 1937, he had no idea that people in future generations would be glancing at him and looking past him into Indianapolis history., Perhaps our pipe smoker purchased his suit at one of the department stores that competed across from each other on Washington Street , The L.S. Ayres and Co. store and the H.P. Wasson and Co. store., This view west on Washington Street from Meridian Street is what countless Americans saw as they traveled the National Road that linked the East Coast with the western states. You can spot the "U.S. 40" designation on a lamppost., Washington Street has always been a focal point of Indianapolis commerce and entertainment, a fitting role for the street that was originally intended to serve as "Main Street" when the city was founded in 1821. At 120 feet wide, Washington Street was designed to be the widest street in the city., You can see the 1921 Hotel Lincoln and the 1902 Claypool Hotel , two of the city's leading hotels of the period , across from each other at the intersection of Washington and Illinois streets.