John Puryear

If not for an ordinance proposed by one of the first African American city councilmen in Indianapolis, Capitol Avenue would be Tennessee Street and Senate Avenue would be Mississippi Street.

While all major streets in Downtown Indianapolis were named for states, these major streets, where numerous African Americans once lived, received their names from John A. Puryear who wanted those street names in his district changed because they were named for slave states.  Puryear had once been enslaved in North Carolina, his home state. 

Puryear also wanted to name a four-block long downtown street Midway, but one of Puryear’s white peers on the council thought it best that the street be named for Puryear. That passageway became Puryear Street in 1895 and remains that name today.  It is the first alley north of St. Joseph Street and runs from Pennsylvania Street near the Marion County Central Library to New Jersey Street in the Old Northside.

Serving on the council from 1892 to 1897, Puryear did far more than rename streets.  He fought to have salaries of black city workers increased to be in line with salaries of white workers. He also made sure people in predominantly black communities had access to fire alarm box keys so they could trigger the alarm in the event of a fire.

Puryear was a founding member of the Indianapolis Business League.  The league fought for equal rights for businesses.  As a founding member of the Afro American Realty Company, he helped blacks obtain mortgages and home owner insurance when blacks were traditionally discriminated against by mainstream companies.

Puryear was himself a successful businessman.  He started a packing and moving company, Puryear and Porter, which he operated with Will H. Porter, one of the co-founders of The Indianapolis Recorder.  Puryear died in 1930 at age 75 and is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery.