Created By: Historic Urban Neighborhoods of Indianapolis
Year Built: 1925
Architecture Style: Craftsman
Key Features:
This is the former home of legendary pioneering motorcycle and race car driver Erwin G. “Cannon Ball” Baker. His friends called him “Bake.”
Born in 1882 in Southeast Indiana, he was raised in a log cabin. His family moved to Indianapolis when he was 12 years old. As a kid Baker worked in factories & once even joined a traveling acrobatic Vaudeville show.
But by the early 1900s motorcycle racing was one of the most popular sports in America and Baker fell in love. He bought an Indian Motorcycle, won local races and came to the attention of The Indian Motorcycle Company.
He won one of the first races at the newly constructed Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909, a 10-mile race on a treacherous unpaved track. The Motorcycle Company immediately hired him to promote their brand.
In 1914 he achieved national fame by riding “The Indian” from San Diego to New York City -- 3,379 miles in 11 days, 11 hours. Like Charles Lindbergh’s Atlantic Ocean Crossing, Baker’s daring solitary run was through deserts, miles of muddy roads and sometimes on railroad tracks. On arrival, a New York reporter called him “Cannon Ball” after the famous Casey Jones train; it stuck, and Baker copyrighted his new nickname. He went on to set numerous speed and distance records across America’s early unpaved highways.
Louis Chevrolet recruited and Henry Ford promoted his 1922 Indy 500 race car entry. He had mechanical problems and came in 11th. But by then his career was in full speed.
Many automobile and racing companies, like Indiana’s Stutz Motor Company, sought him out to test their cars for reliability and to promote their brands. Baker’s motto was, “No record, No money.” But he always delivered. In 1927 promoting a Buick truck he carried two tons of Atlantic Ocean water from NJ and 6 days later poured the water into the Pacific Ocean near San Francisco, California.
NASCAR named him its first Commissioner at its founding in 1947, he served until 1960. He accomplished 143 cross country runs, logged 48,000 test miles on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track, and traveled 5.5 million miles in his lifetime. Motorcycle enthusiasts still celebrate his Cannonball Runs. It was full speed ahead across America’s open roads.
Baker built this house 1925 and lived with his wife Eleanor and son Sherman. Sherman tragically died of a tooth infection at the age of 14. Cannon Ball sadly was on the road at the time. Baker married a second time when his wife died of a stroke while they traveled back from California on vacation.
He loved Garfield Park and he tinkered in the garage here. He received a U.S.patent by inventing a “Gas Engine Fuel Economizer.” He thought the device would make him a million bucks. It didn’t. He also developed a single-cylinder rotary engine for his motorcycle and rode the bike across the country in 1941.
He loved sitting on his porch calling the neighborhood kids over to tell them about his numerous adventures. He died in 1960 of a heart attack and is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery. He was later inducted into several motorsport halls of fame.
To learn more about the historic marker, visit here: https://www.in.gov/history/markers/4381.htm
To learn more about Cannonball Baker, visit here: https://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/history/people-of-ims/indianapolis-500-drivers/eg-cannonball-baker
This point of interest is part of the tour: Garfield Park Neighborhood
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