Sundial 1006
- Dial City: Indianapolis
- Dial State/Province: Indiana
- Dial Country: USA
- Lat: 39° 49.290' N
- Dial Nr: 1006
- Dial Type: Horizontal Dial
- Dial Access: Public
- Lon: 86° 8.833' W
- Dial Owner: City of Indianapolis
- Dial Designer: Expo Design and Barbara Zech
- Dial Maker: Keep Indianapolis Beautiful
- Dial Date: 2002
- Location:
- 3602 Watson Road, Indianapolis, IN 46025 Triangular park bounded by Watson Rd, E. 36th St, From street the sundial is hidden behind a wall of flowers and bushes
- Description:
- Nestled among the trees in a small triangular park is a monumental horizontal sundial with oversized hour marks. The apparent method of reading the Roman hours that are all south of the 6am - 6pm line, is to look at the shadow then gaze across the sundial to read (upside down) the hour. The hours are 6, 9 ,12, 3, and 6. On the north side of the 6am-6pm line are 3 plaques where the normal 9, 12, and 3 hours should be. One is a plaque for Robert McCord who planted and maintained the park during the 60's until his death. Another plaque records that the McCord Park sundial is dedicated to a local police officer, William Whitfield, who was the first African American police officer killed in the line of duty in Indianapolis. His name is engraved on the central part of the large triangular sundial gnomon. Surrounding the base of the sundial are ceramic tiles from Barbara Zech, a local clay artist who fired the tiles created by students from the nearby school. The tiles have the theme of "home" and "community". The park renovations were headed by the group Keep Indianapolis Beautiful.
- Inscription:
- Officer Whitfield was shot by an unknown gunman on June 18, 1922 in an alley just west of 3600 N College Avenue. Officer Whitfield was sent to the hospital and lingered near death for several months. He passed away on November 27, 1922. The case remains unsolved. Officer Whitfield was the first black Indianapolis Police Department officer to give his life in the line of duty. At the time of his death, he was buried in an unmarked grave. On November 30, 1998, IPD honored Officer Whitfield with full honors funeral at Crown Hill Cemetery. A headstone was purchased for his grave with donations made by IPD employees.
- Other References:
- From 1922 to 1998 Officer Whitfield remained in an unmarked grave at Crown Hill Cemetery. Then in August 1998, a write-up of the circumstances of Officer Whitfield’s death and burial appeared in an IPD newsletter. Inspired by the article, members of the police department established a fund to buy a grave marker for the fallen officer. It took only three hours to raise the monies needed for the purchase. On November 30, 1998, full honors were given,
Last Update:
2020-11-22 13:01