Map of Beech Grove city, Indiana

Beech Grove is a city in Marion County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city’s population is 14,717. The city is located within the Indianapolis metropolitan area. Beech Grove is designated an “excluded city” under Indiana law, as it is not part of the consolidated government of Indianapolis and Marion County.

Online Interactive Map

Click on to view map in "full screen" mode.

Beech Grove location map. Where is Beech Grove city?

History

By the turn of the 20th century, the Beech Grove area was a rural section of Marion County. Notable residents included poet and women’s-rights activist Sarah Tittle (Barrett) Bolton (1814–1893) and Indianapolis financier Francis McClintock Churchman (1833–1891).

Bolton’s farm, “Beech Bank”, and Churchman’s cattle farm, “Beech Grove Farm”, both reflected the abundance of beech trees in this area. This would eventually provide the reason for the city’s name, although an early railroad stop in the area was known as “Ingallstown”. The city’s Sarah T. Bolton Park, situated on some of the former Beech Bank farmland, still contains several large beech trees along its southern boundary.

The actual city came into existence as a company town for a new railroad repair facility, the Beech Grove Shops, constructed by the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad (nicknamed the “Big Four”). Through acquisitions and mergers over the years, the railroad shops have been run by the New York Central, Penn Central and, presently, Amtrak rail systems. The complex sits on 108 acres (0.44 km) with 700,000 square feet (65,000 m) underroof. In 2007, Amtrak had 550 employees working there. In recognition of the city’s heritage as a railroad town, Amtrak’s business car 10001 is named The Beech Grove and is often used by agency officials when they travel the system.

Although Beech Grove was incorporated in late 1906, it did not see rapid growth until the completion of the railroad facility in 1908; by July 1907, for example, there were only four homes and two businesses in place.

Beech Grove grew with two annexations after World War II, with the final one (1967) taking place just before the Unigov legislation which merged Indianapolis with most of the rest of Marion County, preventing future annexation.

Two famous actors have listed Beech Grove as their birthplace—Clifton Webb (November 19, 1889–1966) and Steve McQueen (March 24, 1930–1980). Webb was born before Beech Grove came into existence as a separate entity, while McQueen was born at the city’s St. Francis Hospital.

On October 15, 1948, Beech Grove received the honor of a visit by a sitting President of the United States. Harry S. Truman, a Mason, came to the city’s Masonic Lodge during his legendary ‘whistle stop’ re-election campaign to participate in a ceremony involving a member of his staff who was one of its members.

Within the traditional focus in Indiana on high-school basketball, the Beech Grove Hornets have earned two Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) State Championships. Its girls team won first, in Class 3A of the 2003 tournament. From that team, senior Katie Gearlds won both the IHSAA’s Patricia Roy Mental Attitude Award (for Class 3A) and the “Miss Basketball” honor for the entire State. She went on to be a four-year starter for Purdue University from 2003 to 2007, and was the first Hornet graduate to play in an American professional sports major league (for the WNBA’s Seattle Storm in the 2007 season). Its boys team won its only State Championship, also in Class 3A, of the 2022 tournament. During the non-class years before 1996, the school had earned only three Sectional (equivalent to District in some states) titles (two by the boys’ team in 1966 and 1992, and one by the girls’ team in 1978); since the change to classes in Indiana high-school basketball, the boys’ team has won one Class 3A Sectional title (2008).

The Hornets’ most consistent state-level athletic success has come in wrestling, in which five students have won a total of seven individual state titles (Ralf Edwards and Gary Pierson in 1972, Ethan Harris in 2005, Danny Coyne in 2006, and a three-year unbeaten run by Steven Bradley from 1996 to 1998). The 1972 wrestling team endured the closest-ever runner-up finish in IHSAA wrestling history, ending up a half-point behind Bloomington. 60 Hornet wrestlers have qualified for the IHSAA State Finals (with several appearing two, three or four times), winning 55 placement medals. Also, in swimming, Andy McVey won two IHSAA individual titles in 1986, setting State records for that time; he had come back from a false-start disqualification in the 1985 finals, in which he had been favored to win. Andy won also this Herman F. Keller Mental Attitude Award.

Beech Grove High School’s “Marching Hornets” band program has earned four Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) State Band Finals berths in its history, during the long service of former director James Williams. The present band, directed by alumnus Cory Wynn with the help of Scott Bradford and Chad Barton, has sought to return to that level of success, earning their first ISSMA Regional Gold rating in nine years in 2005. The Marching Hornets continue to achieve great levels of success on the marching music field. After 2005, the band has returned to the level of success that they had during the James Williams years. They have grown to become one of ISSMAs Class C “powerhouses” in the South. In 2009, 2010 and 2011, the Marching Hornets returned to the state finals in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, for the first time in 19 years, where they placed 5th in Class C on 2009, 7th in Class C in 2010, and 2nd in Class C in 2011. They would continue to reach state finals in Class C in 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016. During the 2017 season, Beech Grove High School’s growing enrollment reclassified the Marching Hornets as a Class B program. The Marching Hornets would take 5th place in 2017— their inaugural season in Class B.

Some Beech Grove streets have been named in honor of notable citizens, such as Byland Drive (Mayor Richard Byland); Fletcher Lane (former Fire Chief, City Councilman, and business owner Robert Fletcher); Killian Drive (Father Peter Killian); Newcomer Lane (Town Board member and businessman W. S. Newcomer); and Ticen Street (Town Board member Willard Ticen). A quartet of parallel streets in the northern part are named, in alphabetical order from south to north, for the cities of Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland and Detroit. In June 2007, a sign post on Hornet Avenue was given in honor of Katie Gearlds, honoring her arrival into the WNBA. In 2015 a new senior housing addition included the street Buckley Drive honoring former Fire Chief and Mayor Dennis Buckley. Brunson Drive, named for early settler, and Fire Fighter, Vernis H “Bud” Brunson.

Beech Grove Road Map

Beech Grove city Satellite Map

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.39 square miles (11.37 km), all land.

The city’s elevation, measured in feet above sea level, ranges from 766 (the Beech Creek waterway, where it is crossed by South 9th Avenue) to 845 (the northeastern portion of the Amtrak railroad property). It is higher than that of downtown Indianapolis.

The city contains several small non-navigable waterways. Beech Creek, McFarland Creek, Pullman Creek, and Victory Run all feed into Lick Creek, which (after leaving the city limits) feeds into the West Fork of the White River.

The city is located within parts of four of Marion County’s townships. In order of city land size, those townships are Perry, Franklin, Center, and Warren. In order of city population, the list is Perry, Center, and Franklin; the Warren Township section is uninhabited railroad land.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Beech Grove has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated “Cfa” on climate maps.

See also