Sons of Indy: John Dillinger and Carl Fisher

John Dillinger 

The above picture of the infamous John Dillinger is from a sketch which appeared in Nuvo Magazine. It is one of my favorite pictures. Read another interesting link on Dillinger here.


L. Spencer Riggs, Author, Historian, My Cousin.


L. Spencer Riggs is my cousin. He is famous in racing circles as an author and journalist. Even though I live in Indianapolis, I do not know much about racing. However, Lynn [as the family calls him] is also a historian. Since this is also an interest of mine, our paths cross.

I published an article of Lynn's in my tabloid a few years ago on Carl Fisher. Fisher is one of the most colorful people to ever come out of Indy and it is amazing how little the public knows of him. This article had been used previous to my publishing as the basis of the PBS biography on Fisher.

In addition to founding the Indianapolis Speedway, Fisher made the first national highway [The Lincoln Highway] and developed Miami Beach, Florida.

Lynn also wrote an excellent article on Dillinger. I am still looking for it. Dillinger was from Indiana. Lynn knew his barber and mechanic who he interviewed for the story. As I was trying to find Lynn's article, I found that the same people who made the Fisher documentary for PBS, also made one on Dillinger. It is possible Lynn collaborated on the Dillinger documentary also, but I will have to
research it more.

Another tidbit of history is that both Dillinger and Fisher are buried at the Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis. They both died the same year, 1934. Fisher has an elaborate and magnificent edifice while Dillinger's is very simple. Fisher's place seems forgotten even though he gave so much to Indy. Dillinger's grave is visited by thousands from all over [see photo here] the world and the ground keepers have to be vigilant to keep parts of the tombstone from being chipped away as souvenirs.



*Update 1/18/05 I was just browsing the web when I found one site which has Carl Fisher as its bio of the day. I have pasted it below:
http://img.infoplease.com/images/cgfisher1.gif





Entrepreneur, developer of racetracks, roadways, and resorts
Born: Jan. 12, 1874
Birthplace: Greensburg, Indiana

Carl Fisher grew up in Indianapolis. He quit school at age 12 to work in a grocery store. Within a few years, he had opened bicycle shop, and later launched a car dealership. In 1904, he began the Prest-O-Light company, which sold headlights to most of the car manufacturers in the United States. By 1913, he sold Prest-O-Light for $9 million dollars. During his years at Prest-O-Light, Fisher conceived of the idea of building an automobile testing ground and race track. On Aug. 19, 1909, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway held its first race. But accidents and the deaths of six people caused this first race to be cancelled—the crushed stone and tar track was deemed too dangerous for racing. Fisher then paved the track with 3.2 million bricks. The first 500-mile race, called the International Sweepstakes, took place on May 30, 1911. The Indianapolis 500, as it was later called, became an annual event and the most famous of American automobile races. Fisher’s next two enterprises also involved road building. He was responsible for building the Lincoln Highway in 1913, the first transcontinental highway in the United States, which stretched from New York to San Francisco. He was also responsible for the development of the Dixie Highway, completed in 1916, which stretched from Chicago to Miami.
His next venture was the development of Miami Beach, which was then just a mangrove swamp. From 1920 to 1925, he oversaw the transformation of Miami Beach into a vacation resort. He also began work on transforming Montauk, at the tip of Long Island, New York, into a resort—“the Miami Beach of the North.” But in 1926, disaster struck when a hurricane hit Miami Beach. Much of the resort was destroyed, tourism dropped off, and Fisher’s finances suffered. By 1932, he was completely bankrupt. This tireless and resourceful businessman died seven years later.
Died: July 15, 1939