Alexander Ralston (1771 – January 5, 1827) was a Scottish-American surveyor who was one of two co-architects for the design of the city of
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
. He also helped to design
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
Life
Alexander Ralston was born in
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
in 1771. In Britain he was an engineer working for the
Baron of Roslin on his estate before immigrating to the United States after the
American Revolution
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
. An assistant to the French-American architect
Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant in 1791, Ralston helped L'Enfant lay out the city plan for
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
(see
L'Enfant Plan
The L'Enfant Plan for the city of Washington, D.C. is the urban plan developed in 1791 by Major Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant for George Washington, the first president of the United States. It is regarded as a landmark in urban design and h ...
).
[(1) ]
(2) Ralston came to
Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
sometime before 1815, leaving the east partly because of his involvement with
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 d ...
and the
Burr conspiracy
The Burr conspiracy of 1805-1807, was a treasonous plot alleged to have been planned by American politician and former military officer Aaron Burr (1756-1836), in the years during and after his single term as the third Vice President of the Unite ...
. He settled on a homestead in southern Indiana.
[*]
He was first hired in 1820 by
Christopher Harrison, the state commissioner overseeing the survey of
Indianapolis
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
, and charged with helping to survey the city. With co-surveyor
Elias Pym Fordham, Ralston's was later commissioned by the Indiana General Assembly to make a city plan for Indianapolis, developed in 1821. His original plan called for a city of only , with a Governor's Circle, a large circular commons, the original site of the
Governor's mansion, at the very center of the city. The Governor's mansion was demolished in 1857. In its place stands a 284-foot-tall (86.5-meter-tall) neoclassical limestone and bronze monument, the
Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument. Ralston's design borrows heavily from the city plan of Washington, D.C.
[
Construction on Indianapolis began in earnest, with most of his plan being implemented by 1850. The city has subsequently expanded far beyond his original conception, but the downtown area remained nearly unaltered from Ralston's original city plan. Ralston died in his Indianapolis home on January 5, 1827, and was buried at Greenlawn Cemetery. In 1874, his remains were moved and reburied in ]Crown Hill Cemetery
Crown Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at 700 West 38th Street in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. The privately owned cemetery was established in 1863 at Strawberry Hill, whose summit was renamed "The Crown", a high poi ...
in Indianapolis. His gravestone is engraved with an image of his plat of the city's initial design.
File:Indiana governors mansion1825.jpg, The second Indiana Governor's Residence
The Indiana Governor's Residence is the official home of the family of the governor of Indiana and is located in Indianapolis, Indiana. In use since 1973, it is the sixth official residence of Indiana's governors. The current tenant is Governor ...
designed by Ralston
File:Plat of Indianapolis by Alexander Ralston.jpg, The plat, or plot design, for the city of Indianapolis
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
as designed by Ralston
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ralston, Alexander
Architects from Indianapolis
1771 births
1827 deaths
Burials at Crown Hill Cemetery
Scottish architects
American architects
American surveyors
Scottish surveyors