Indianapolis was founded in 1821 and designed from the ground up to serve as the state capital of Indiana. The name, concocted by Judge Jeremiah Sullivan of the Indiana Supreme Court, is an amalgam of Indiana with the Greek suffix polis ("city"), and was chosen to reflect the city's status as a state capital. The Fall Creek Settlement was a swampy region along the White River, inhabited by fur traders, settlers, and scattered Native American villages. However, the area's central location within Indiana made it the perfect location for the new state capital. Alexander Ralston, a protégé of French architect Pierre L'Enfant, was selected to design the city. He laid out Indianapolis in a circular pattern, incorporating many of the design elements his mentor had used in designing Washington D.C. The state capital was officially moved to Indianapolis from Corydon in 1825.

Although originally founded to serve as a center of government, Indianapolis flourished with the arrival of the railroad in 1847. As the city spread beyond its original one-square-mile design, it became a manufacturing and commercial center, as well as a transportation hub. Indianapolis' wheel-like design served it well in this capacity, as the roads that formed its spokes extended out to connect Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Lousiville, and St. Louis, earning the city its nickname "The Crossroads of America."