Indiana's building, by J. F. Johnson of Indianapolis, was, Todd wrote, neither Renaissance nor classic but "on the Queen Anne order, like some old manor house." It stood 48 by 90 feet on a three-cornered lot, its lower story of donated Bedford stone (Todd says sandstone; the Bedford quarries are limestone), approached through a rough stone gateway twelve feet high under a tile canopy. There was a veranda of Old Hickory furniture and a lobby with a fireplace at each end. Upstairs was a hammer-beamed music room and a library of Indiana authors, more than 15,000 volumes according to the Official Guide. The Guide adds that it was the only State building without a motion-picture theater.
Thomas R. Marshall chose the site while he was governor, before he became Vice President. Former Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks gave the oration at the dedication on March 8, 1915, and a maple was planted on Indiana Day, June 26. Its ceremonial tree was one of 33 planted at State and foreign buildings during the fair and moved to Golden Gate Park early in 1916 as the Exposition Grove (Todd vol. 3, ch. LXXXVI).
