American Legion Mall

700 North Pennsylvania St.

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The American Legion Mall stretches between two city blocks, from St. Clair Street on the north to North Street on the south. The mall is flanked by two American Legion facilities- the National headquarters, built in 1950, on the east, and the headquarters for the American Legion’s Dept. of Indiana, built in 1925, on the west. This space is open and host to many events and festivities during the year.

The American Legion headquarters was built with Indiana limestone and was a gift to the American Legion from the people of Indiana. At the time of construction in 1950, this was a $2.5 million gift.

In 1931, the Sunken Garden/Cenotaph Square was built on the north part of the mall to pay tribute to Hoosiers who have died in war. It also remembers the nation’s first casualty of World War I. This person was James Bethal Gresham of Evansville, IN. He served with the 16th Infantry of the American Expeditionary Forces. The tomb for James Bethal Gresham is surrounded by four art-deco pillars that are topped with gold eagles.