[22][23] Contemporary Indianapolis is home to two major league sports teams, three Fortune 500 companies, eight university campuses, and numerous cultural institutions, including the world's largest children's museum.

Governor Oliver P. Morton, a major supporter of President Abraham Lincoln, quickly made Indianapolis a rallying place for Union army troops.

[52] On May 20, 1863, Union soldiers attempted to disrupt a statewide Democratic convention at Indianapolis, forcing an adjournment of the proceedings, sarcastically referred to as the Battle of Pogue's Run.

[54] On April 30, 1865, Lincoln's funeral train made a stop at Indianapolis, where an estimated crowd of more than 100,000 people passed the assassinated president's bier at the Indiana Statehouse.

Major downtown revitalization projects continued through the 1990s, including the openings of Circle Centre Mall, Victory Field, and Gainbridge Fieldhouse, as well as ongoing redevelopment of the Canal and White River State Park area.

In 2020, the George Floyd protests in Indiana prompted a series of local police reforms and renewed efforts to bolster social services for mental health treatment and homelessness.

[91] The consolidated city-county borders the adjacent counties of Boone to the northwest; Hamilton to the north; Hancock to the east; Shelby to the southeast; Johnson to the south; Morgan to the southwest; and Hendricks to the west.

In 1821, the Indiana General Assembly selected a site near the confluence of the White River and Fall Creek to serve as the new state capital, adopting a plan co-designed by surveyors Alexander Ralston and Elias Pym Fordham.

[103] As a result of the city's expansive land area, Indianapolis has a unique urban-to-rural transect, ranging from dense urban neighborhoods to suburban tract housing subdivisions, to rural villages.

[104] Typical of American cities in the Midwest, Indianapolis urbanized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, resulting in the development of relatively dense, well-defined neighborhoods clustered around streetcar corridors, especially in Center Township.

[113] Noted as one of the finest examples of the City Beautiful movement design in the U.S., the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza Historic District began construction in 1921 in downtown Indianapolis.

[114][115] The district, a National Historic Landmark, encompasses several examples of neoclassical architecture, including the American Legion, Central Library, and Birch Bayh Federal Building and United States Courthouse.

[134] Based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's alternative classification system, the city is located in the Eastern Corn Belt Plains, an area of the country known for its fertile soil.

[142][143] Birds native to the area include the northern cardinal, wood thrush, eastern screech owl, mourning dove, pileated and red-bellied woodpeckers, and wild turkey.

[199][200] Other notable companies based in the city include AES Indiana, Allison Transmission, Barnes & Thornburg, Calumet, Inc., CountryMark, Emmis Corporation, Finish Line, Herff Jones, Klipsch Audio Technologies, Lids, Lucas Oil Products, OneAmerica Financial, Republic Airways Holdings, Simon Property Group, Steak 'n Shake, Sun King Brewing, Wheaton World Wide Moving, and Zipp.

[216] The city's major hospitality facilities are clustered in downtown Indianapolis, including the Indiana Convention Center, Lucas Oil Stadium, and some 8,500 hotel rooms.

[235] The museum's 152-acre (62 ha) Newfields' campus includes Oldfields (Lilly House), the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park: 100 Acres, eight gardens, and four performance spaces.

[258] "The Avenue" produced greats such as David Baker, Slide Hampton, Freddie Hubbard, J. J. Johnson, James Spaulding, and the Montgomery Brothers (Buddy, Monk, and Wes).

Other notable venues include Butler University's Clowes Memorial Hall[266] and Melody Inn in Butler–Tarkington, and the Frank and Katrina Basile Opera Center and the Jazz Kitchen in Meridian–Kessler.

[268][269] Indianapolis is home to a variety of national professional musical organizations, including the American Piano Awards,[270] Bands of America, Drum Corps International, and the Percussive Arts Society.

Several notable poets and writers based in the city achieved national prominence and critical acclaim during this period, including James Whitcomb Riley, Booth Tarkington, and Meredith Nicholson.

[280] Indianapolis is home to bestselling young adult fiction writer John Green, known for his critically acclaimed 2012 novel The Fault in Our Stars, set in the city.

Other notable interments at the cemetery include three U.S. vice presidents (Fairbanks, Hendricks, and Marshall), notorious American gangster John Dillinger,[292] and First Lady Caroline Harrison.

[329][330] Television programs that have shot on location in the city include 100 Days to Indy, American Ninja Warrior,[331] Antiques Roadshow,[332] College GameDay,[333] Cops,[334] Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,[335] Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,[336] Gaycation,[337] Ghost Hunters,[338] Good Bones,[339] Hard Knocks,[340] House Hunters,[341] Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,[342] Man v. Food,[335] Parks and Recreation,[343][344] Say I Do,[345] SportsCenter,[346] Today,[347] and What Would You Do?

[363] Two NCAA D-I athletic programs are based in Indianapolis: the Butler Bulldogs of the Big East Conference and the IU Indy Jaguars of the Horizon League.

[370] Completed in 1909 as an automotive test track, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a National Historic Landmark and the world's largest sports venue by capacity, with 235,000 permanent seats.

[373][374] The city's Indianapolis Speedrome is believed to be the oldest operating figure 8 racing venue in the U.S.[375] Beyond its many auto races, Indianapolis hosts numerous other sporting events throughout the year, including the NFL Scouting Combine in February, the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in May,[376] the Circle City Classic in September,[377] the Monumental Marathon in November, and the Big Ten Football Championship Game and Indy Classic in December.

[396] The Indiana National Guard's major command units and joint headquarters staff are based at the former Stout Army Air Field on the city's southwest side.

[440] The Indianapolis television market area is served by 11 full-power stations, including WTTV 4 (CBS),[441] WRTV 6 (ABC),[442] WISH-TV 8 (The CW),[443] WTHR 13 (NBC),[444] WFYI-TV 20 (PBS),[445] WNDY-TV 23 (MyNetworkTV), WHMB-TV 40 (Univision), WCLJ-TV 42 (Bounce TV), WXIN 59 (Fox),[446] WIPX-TV 63 (Ion), and WDTI 69 (Daystar).

[462] Indianapolis's transportation infrastructure consists of a complex network that includes a local public bus system, several private intercity bus providers, Amtrak passenger rail service, four freight rail lines, four primary and two auxiliary Interstate Highways, two airports, a heliport, bikeshare system, 115 miles (185 km) of bike lanes,[306] and 110 miles (177 km) of trails and greenways.