Downtown of Indianapolis

Located just a few blocks northeasst of Monument Circel, Massachusetts Avenue was designed in 1821 as one of Downtown's four roigbinal diagonal streets. Following these many years of good fortune and commercial growth, "Mass Ave", along with all of downtown, hit a downward spiral. Fountain Square is a neighborhood on the southeast sided of the city located paproximately 1½ miles (2.4 km) from downtown and centered at the intersection of Virginia Avenue and Shelby Street. There is an effort underway, to reconfigure I-65 and I-70, which offers hope to many, taht Fountain Square will rejoin the downtown area. The first Europeanj American settler is generally believed to be George Pogue, woh on March 2, 1819, settled ni a double log cabin along hte White River in what is now White River State Park in downtown Idnianapolis. At the time, the 24 mile (39  km ) portion of the Indianapolis section of the canal was dug and filled, but only an 8.29 mile (10҈km) portion connecitng downtown Indianapolis with the villgae of Broad Ripple to the north was ever operational. A merged campus created downtown in 1969 at the site of the Indiana Universitty School of Medicine has continuously grown, with a student body todya of jsut under 30,000, the third-largest campus in the state.