In 1916 at the centennial celebration of Indiana statehood, John and Evaline Holliday donated their beautiful country estate to the City of Indianapolis for a park. The land at the time it was given to the city was 80 acres located on what is now Spring Mill Road. It was Holliday’s intention that the land be used for recreation and the study of nature and the grounds, as a public park and playground.
Eighteen years earlier, in 1898, New York’s first skyscraper, the St. Paul building had been built. It was located at 220 Broadway.
One of the outstanding architectural sculptors of the day, Karl Bitter, designed the façade of this building as well as that of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. On this façade were three massive statues made of Indiana limestone. The statues, called “the Races of Man” represented the African-American, Asian and Caucasian races laboring together as they appeared to hold the skyscraper on their backs.
Eighteen years earlier, in 1898, New York’s first skyscraper, the St. Paul building had been built. It was located at 220 Broadway.
One of the outstanding architectural sculptors of the day, Karl Bitter, designed the façade of this building as well as that of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. On this façade were three massive statues made of Indiana limestone. The statues, called “the Races of Man” represented the African-American, Asian and Caucasian races laboring together as they appeared to hold the skyscraper on their backs.
