Fall Creek Preserve
Four years of community spirit and hard work, with tremendous help from partners, donors and volunteers, turn a raggedy eyesore into an inviting nature park
You’ll find the Millersville at Fall Creek Preserve along the Fall Creek Trail, just south of 56th Street on Fall Creek Parkway, North Drive, Indianapolis.
Come and discover The Millersville at Fall Creek Preserve
Take a littered, overgrown acre of land with a hidden pond… Imagine a tranquil, sustainable community park… And bring great people together to make it happen.
Through an ambitious, multiphase beautification project, we created an award-winning little oasis celebrating the beauty of Fall Creek and an adjacent pond, where visitors can connect with nature, and learn about conservation and Millersville’s history.
This project included:
- Clearing thick, invasive vegetation and overgrown weeds
- Professional park landscape design
- Planting native grasses, shrubs, flowers and trees
- Pond banks stabilization
- A woodland trail to Fall Creek
- A trail-side concrete plaza with limestone benches
- A limestone sculpture honoring what makes Millersville special
The site, before and after
At the Millersville at Fall Creek Preserve, you can enjoy the amazing natural beauty of Fall Creek and a pond that were both, not long ago, mostly hidden treasure. We opened up the views and made the area user-friendly, in harmony with nature and the native landscape. Here are before and after shots…
We began with organized litter and trash cleanups. And then, extensive clearing of overgrown invasive vegetation—honeysuckle and other undesirable plants—around the pond and in spots along the Fall Creek Trail. Both were huge work efforts that would never have been possible without loads of volunteers from Millersville and multiple other organizations.
That paved the way for park landscaping, professionally designed by M J Meneley with Blue Marble Design, with more volunteers helping to plant native grass seed, native flowers, and trees. We also implemented a multi-year maintenance plan to prevent regrowth of invasives and continue with planting.
The pond, which was environmentally stabilized with bioengineered walls, provides a natural habitat for native fish and wildlife.
The art plaza
The landscape design also included a pocket-park rest stop to welcome folks on the Fall Creek Trail or walking by on East 56th Street.
When you stop at the Preserve, you are standing in the heart of Millersville, formerly a town named for the busy grist mills clustered around Fall Creek in the early 1800s.
The park’s round concrete plaza was scored with etchings like those on an old mill grindstone. In the center stands a remarkable limestone sculpture, Millersville Marker, that also recalls Millersville’s history as a mill town, depicting wheat that was ground by mill stones, the flowing creek waters that powered the mills, and birds who have long watched over the beautiful Fall Creek valley.
Take some time to enjoy this magnificent art-in-the-park focal point for our community, which was underwritten with funding from the Arts Council of Indianapolis and Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, and created by Indiana artists Amy Brier and Sharon Fullingim.
Native plants and wildflowers surrounding the plaza were planted – and are cared for each year – by volunteers. And a plaque tells park visitors a little bit about Millersville’s past and present.
A party in the park
After a four-year labor of love, in August 2016, Millersville residents, friends and supporters gathered together for a park dedication and celebration, to thank everyone who had a hand in this huge success.
A million thanks
This incredible project was made possible by our partnership with Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, support through multiple grants, consulting and service providers and other donors, and countless hours of work provided by scores of volunteers over several years. Heartfelt thanks to all who helped, including:
Grants and services from…
- Indianapolis Department of Public Works Land Stewardship
- IndyParks and Greenways
- Keep Indianapolis Beautiful
- SustainIndy / Greater Indy Progress Committee
- Fall Creek Watershed Partnership / Upper White River Watershed Alliance
- Indianapolis Power and Light (IPL)
- Arts Council of Indianapolis
- Northeast Corridor Plan / LISC – UNEC
Volunteer time and effort from…
- Keep Indianapolis Beautiful
- Cathedral High School
- Indiana Hoosier Youth ChalleNGe Academy
- Eli Lilly
- REI
- ConAgra
- Starbucks
- Millersville residents