place

Camp Morton

1861 establishments in IndianaAmerican Civil War army postsAmerican Civil War prison campsDefunct prisons in IndianaHistory of Indianapolis
Indiana State FairIndiana in the American Civil War
Prisoners at Camp Morton, c. 1863
Prisoners at Camp Morton, c. 1863

Camp Morton was a military training ground and a Union prisoner-of-war camp in Indianapolis, Indiana, during the American Civil War. It was named for Indiana governor Oliver Morton. Prior to the war, the site served as the fairgrounds for the Indiana State Fair. During the war, Camp Morton was initially used as a military training ground. The first Union troops arrived at the camp in April 1861. After the fall of Fort Donelson and the Battle of Shiloh, the site was converted into a prisoner-of-war camp. The first Confederate prisoners arrived at Camp Morton on February 22, 1862; its last prisoners were paroled on June 12, 1865. At the conclusion of the war, the property resumed its role as the fairgrounds for the Indiana State Fair. In 1891 the property was sold and developed into a residential neighborhood known as Morton Place, a part of the Herron-Morton Place Historic District. Camp Morton was established on a 36-acre (150,000 m2) tract of land that bordered present-day Central Avenue and Nineteenth, Twenty-second, and Talbott Streets. It was among the largest of the Union's eight prison camps established for Confederate noncommissioned officers and privates. Between 1862 and 1865, the camp's average prison population was 3,214; it averaged fifty deaths per month. Its maximum prison population reached 4,999 in July 1864. More than 1,700 prisoners died at the camp during its four years of operation. While the military facilities at Camp Morton no longer exist, the remains of 1,616 Confederate soldiers and sailors who died while prisoners at the camp are interred at Indianapolis's Crown Hill Cemetery. Several monuments and historical markers commemorate Camp Morton, including a bust of Richard Owen, a camp commandant, at the Indiana Statehouse, and memorials to the Confederate prisoners who died at the camp at Indianapolis's Garfield Park and Crown Hill.The memorial at Garfield Park was dismantled on June 8, 2020.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Camp Morton (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Camp Morton
North Alabama Street, Indianapolis Herron Morton

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 39.794655555556 ° E -86.152261111111 °
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Address

North Alabama Street 2027
46202 Indianapolis, Herron Morton
Indiana, United States
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Prisoners at Camp Morton, c. 1863
Prisoners at Camp Morton, c. 1863
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Nearby Places

Fall Creek Place, Indianapolis

Fall Creek Place is one of many revitalized neighborhoods in inner Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The neighborhood is bounded by Meridian Street on the west, Fall Creek Parkway on the north, just east of College Avenue on the east, and 22nd Street on the south. Before the project's Phase IV began in 2006, its eastern boundary was Park Avenue. The neighborhood consists of narrow, tree lined streets. Victorian homes from the late 19th century are the most prevalent house type as well as new homes built in period design. In the 1980s, the neighborhood fell into serious disrepair; entire city blocks were left abandoned. In 2001, city efforts to redevelop the area into a mixed-income residential community began. In 2003, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded Indianapolis with a Homeownership Zone Award for the way the city used a $4 million HUD grant to stimulate other public and private investment in the Fall Creek Place redevelopment.[1] Also in 2003, the American Planning Association selected Fall Creek Place as the winner of the 2003 Outstanding Planning Award for "Implementing Smart Growth." [2] In 2006, the National League of Cities gave Indianapolis the silver winner Award for Municipal Excellence for cities over 500,000 in population for the Fall Creek Place redevelopment project.[3] and [4] The area was previously nicknamed "Dodge City," referring to the infamous western town of Dodge City, Kansas where there were shootouts in the streets. The area was plagued with frequent drive-bys during the 1980s and 1990s. The Eastern boundary of Fall Creek Place was moved to the alley east of College Avenue in 2006. K-6 students are zoned to Indianapolis Public Schools 27 and 60.