German architect Bruno Schmitz won the commission in February 1888, beating out Percy Stone of London for the design. Schmitz knew monuments. He brought a neoclassical vision that would take thirteen years and $598,318 to realize, a sum that would exceed $500 million if replicated today. The obelisk rose from oolitic limestone quarried in Owen County, Indiana, the same geological formation that gave the state its reputation as the limestone capital of the world. Rudolf Schwarz carved massive limestone groupings of War and Peace for the base. Nikolaus Geiger and George Brewster wrapped bronze astragals around the shaft. John Mahoney sculpted bronze statues of George Rogers Clark, William Henry Harrison, and James Whitcomb to represent Indiana's role in earlier American conflicts. At the summit, Brewster placed Victory, a ten-ton winged figure modeled on Nike, the Greek goddess, facing south with sword, torch, and eagle. The statue became known as Miss Indiana.

The dedication on May 15, 1902, was Indianapolis at its most ceremonial. The day began at 8 a.m. with a parade of flags and veterans from three wars: the Mexican-American, Civil, and Spanish-American. General Lew Wallace, the Hoosier who wrote Ben-Hur, served as master of ceremonies. Governor Winfield T. Durbin and former Secretary of State John W. Foster delivered speeches. Then James Whitcomb Riley, Indiana's beloved poet, stepped forward and read "The Soldier," a poem composed specifically for the occasion. John Philip Sousa contributed "The Messiah of the Nations," a march he had written for the event. The formal ceremony gave way to a second afternoon parade, an evening vesper service, and fireworks that lit the Indiana sky. The bells of Christ Church rang out, and its choir sang "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" to close the day.

Monument Circle is more than a traffic roundabout. The circular, brick-paved street where Meridian and Market intersect has been the focal point of Indianapolis since Alexander Ralston platted the city in 1821. Today the Circle is lined with the Hilbert Circle Theatre, home of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Columbia Club, Christ Church Cathedral, and the Circle Tower, a 1930 building with Egyptian-motif ornamentation. The monument itself contains an elevator to an observation deck and formerly housed the Colonel Eli Lilly Civil War Museum in its basement until water leakage forced a move to the Indiana War Memorial in 2018. In 2019, more than 369,000 visitors rode the elevator or climbed the stairs. Every Christmas since 1962, cables of lights have transformed the monument into what Indianapolis calls the world's largest Christmas tree, garlands stretching from base to summit.

The monument has embedded itself into Indianapolis so thoroughly that it appears on the city's flag, a graphic representation of Monument Circle and its two intersecting streets. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department features the monument on its badge. The Indy Eleven soccer team placed Victory prominently in its logo. President Benjamin Harrison, who had once delivered speeches at the site during its earlier incarnation as Circle Park, returned as president to lay the cornerstone. The monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and became part of the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza National Historic Landmark District in 2016. In 2011, the ten-ton Victory statue was removed for restoration and returned to her perch atop the obelisk, still facing south, still holding her torch above the Crossroads of America.