Pogue's Run is a corridor that Native Americans and wildlife followed long before the arrival of pioneer settlers. One of those pioneers was a blacksmith named George Pogue in 1819 who settled on a hill overlooking the stream, some small distance from its confluence with the White River. The waterway begins near Arlington Avenue and East 34th Street and flows southwest to the I-65/I-70 overpass near Michigan Street and then underground downtown to the White River. Today, the lower portions of Pogues Run flow through concrete aqueducts beneath downtown Indianapolis but the upper run is a prime candidate for greenway development and is a vital link in the Indy Parks Greenways vision.
Greenway Description
In 2003, the Department of Public Works completed a flood control and wetland mitigation project on the Pogues Run Basin at I-70 and Emerson Avenue. The flood basin includes a 1.5-mile loop trail, a new parking lot, wetland and prairie vegetation, and many open, grassy areas. It was discovered that the Basin would be a perfect location to create a partnership between the Herron School of Art and Design, the Caleb Mills Organization and others to provide art for the cultural enrichment of the community, thus creating the Pogues Run Art and Nature Park. Herron students were asked to design artistic pieces that related to the natural environment that would serve well outdoors, and that were aesthetically enhance the existing site elements. Herron students utilized the fall 2005 semester to design concepts and models and the final bench will installed in spring 2007. Pogues Run Art and Nature Park will serve as the northern terminus of Pogues Run Trail, which will travel southwest to connect to Brookside and Spades Parks, the Monon Trail, an the Massachusetts Avenue Cultural District.
