Carl Fisher, the Man who built Indianapolis and much of the Nation
Forgotten by history, this is the man who built much of Indianapolis. A former bike shop owner and HiWheel racer, he also left a huge imprint upon the nation. A true giant, and the man who made this city a stronghold for The Eagle Bicycle, he has a whole chapter in my book "How Indianapolis Built America and How it will Rebuild It with the National Bicycle Greenway" now available at Amazon.
In "Why the NBG Moved to Indianapolis", in my new book, "NBG Blueprint - Interconnecting America with a Network of Coast to Coast Bicycle Villages", here is the short version about this epic human being -
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"When I was in Ireland (2010-2015) writing my book, “How America Can Bike and Grow Rich, the National Bicycle Greenway in Action” (HBGR), I acquired an in depth understanding of the road that built America, the Lincoln Highway of 1914. It was then that I became aware that not only did it pass through Davis, CA, but that Indianapolis is where the movement for it began. And the force who led the charge for it was a former HiWheel racer and bike shop owner named Carl Fisher (HERE is the chapter I wrote about him in "How Indianapolis Built America and How it will Rebuild It with the National Bicycle Greenway").
In 1909 Fisher led the charge with three others to honor Mayor Bookwalter’s request for a speedway with the world famous Indy 500 car racing track. Also in 1909, his 5-story Fisher Automobile Company was completed to become the first automobile show room in the world. Soon, the world’s first Auto Row led from it. For 1/2 a mile, on Capitol Ave, the street was lined with car related sales and services (tires, brakes, upholstery, bodywork, etc.). Besides selling cars, Fishers turn-of-the-century skyscraper also served as the home office for his car headlight business, Presto-Lite. From his Michigan and Capital location (now a massive lodging complex anchored by Kroger's), he managed factories all over America that made it possible to drive a car at night. Here was also the braintrust for the national highway he foresaw.
In HBGR, in the chapter, “Lessons Learned from America’s First Coast to Coast Highway in Building the NBG”, I talk about how Fisher established the Lincoln Highway Administration (LHA) to build will for his vision of a coast-to-coast car road with Indianapolis at its center. From here, once the home of 97 different car manufacturers, he promoted tirelessly and the red line he drew on a map connecting Indianapolis with San Francisco became a reality in July of 1913 when his Indianapolis based organization used 17 cars and two trucks as a part of the 1,700 mile Hoosier Tour (also called the Indiana–Pacific Indiana Automobile Manufacturers Association Tour) to blaze the exact route they would work to flesh out."