The Ayres Clock has been located at the corner of Washington and Meridian Sts. since 1936.  A remnant of the era when people would use public clocks to tell time, it was named for the L.S. Ayres department store that occupied the building the clock is attached to for most of the twentieth century. The clock itself quickly became much more than just a timepiece–it was widely known as an iconic landmark. “Meet me under the Ayres Clock” was a popular saying.  The clock is 8 ft. in height, is located 29 feet above street level, and weighs 10,000 pounds. Since 1947 a sculpted cherub has appeared as if by magic on the clock each Thanksgiving to mark the holiday season, and disappears just as suddenly after New Year’s Day.

L.S. Ayres opened in 1905 in the structure that was purpose-built by the Indianapolis architectural firm of Vonnegut and Bohn. The May Department Store Co. (the parent company of Macy’s) bought Ayres in 1986, but the store closed in 1992. Other department stores have occupied the space since. The clock is owned by the City of Indianapolis and is taken care of by Indiana Landmarks.

The clock has been repaired several times in its history, most recently in 2016 (to repair the clockworks) and 2020 (to repair the clock frame and structure). As a sign of the iconic nature of the clock, in 2016 more than 350 people and organizations donated $60,000 to the repair effort in just 24 days.