Indy's Soldiers and Sailors Monument wins landmark status

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The Soldiers and Sailors Monument in downtown Indianapolis has won National Historic Landmark status.

The 115-year-old limestone tower and its grounds were named to the National Historic Landmarks list on Jan. 11 by Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewel.

The monument that graces the city's center was included as an expansion of the Indiana World War Memorials Historic District, which includes the already-designated World War Memorial Plaza to the north.

The 284-foot-tall tower's landmark nomination cites its exceptional nature. Dedicated in 1902, it's the largest of more than 200 Civil War memorials in the U.S. and the only one that combines large-scale sculpture in bronze and stone.

It set the trend for civic architecture in Indianapolis and led to the construction of the Indiana World War Memorial and its plaza.