Burdsal Parkway

This mile-long parkway was designed to connect Fall Creek Boulevard and Parkway in the east with Riverside Park and White River Parkway in the west. From its western edge, it stretches seven blocks, crossing a railroad line and the historic Indianapolis Water Company Canal. Though called a “parkway,” Burdsal was designed by George Kessler in 1915 as a direct east-west boulevard street, connecting the parkways on either side, respecting the historic grid of the city. It was named after a local entrepreneur and paint industry magnate, Alfred Burdsal, who left the city a large bequest in his will, much of which was given to the Parks’ Board to fund park improvements and additions.

Burdsal is structured as a series of block-long central medians, each measuring approximately 75 feet wide, situated between approximately 32 feet of adjoining roadway. On the residential sides of the parkway, a ten-foot-wide lawn lined with trees separates the street from the sidewalk. A double row of mature shade trees, primarily oaks and maples, is spaced along the central median and arrayed in straight lines. This alignment strengthens the long axis of the parkway and orients the eye toward its focal point, the Thomas Taggart Memorial located at the entrance to Riverside Park. Burdsal Parkway was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003 as a contributing feature in the Indianapolis park and boulevard system.

In 1908, George Kessler, the nationally known landscape architect and designer of ideal American Cities, was hired by the City of Indianapolis to layout the ideal plan for growth. Kessler’s hiring by the city was strongly encouraged by the Commercial Club, the precursor to the Chamber of Commerce, because they viewed this plan as vital to Indianapolis being competitive as a world-class city. In 2003, Kessler’s plan, called the “Indianapolis Park and Boulevard System,” was affirmed as a nationally significant landscape by its acceptance to the National Register of Historic Places.