One of the interesting things about looking at maps is that you never quite know what you may find. Even maps from the middle of the 19th Century still offer up surprises from time to time.

In the early days of the state of Indiana, the government at Indianapolis decided to create a series of “state roads,” actually muddy paths, connecting “major” towns throughout the state. Being in Indianapolis, I have tons of examples near me. But one road in that collection seems a little strange, in the grand scheme of things.

In western Marion County, Wayne Township to be exact, there is a road that became US 36…Rockville Road. Now, with a name like Rockville Road, I am betting I don’t need to say where it goes. Now, the history of this road will be the subject of a later post. The old road from Indianapolis to Rockville travels through Danville, the county seat of Hendricks County.

But this was not part of the state road from Indianapolis to Rockville.

The actual Danville State Road was one mile north of Rockville Road. That road is now called 10th Street, at least in Marion County. But the old state road is actually north of Danville. The original state road connected to the National Road at what is now Tibbs Avenue. At the time, there was a village called Mount Jackson there. The original road then turned on Cossell Road to connect to what is now 10th Street. Now, this road is no longer complete between the two points, as Holt Road split Cossell Road in half. Also, the section near 10th Street has been removed for better traffic flow at what is now Winton Avenue. (Side note, Winton Avenue is the original route connecting the National Road at Mount Jackson to the Crawfordsville State Road at what is now 16th Street. The original Crawfordsville State Road will be the subject of a later post.)

The old Danville Road then followed what is now 10th Street for over 13 miles. (In a straight line? How did THAT happen?) It then follows what is now Money Lane to CR 50N/Sycamore Lane. It enters Danville (at least the town limits at the time) on what is now Columbia Street.

The Rockville Road connected to the National Road .75 mile west of the Danville Road. An astute map reader will notice that Rockville Road and Washington Street is not 3/4 mile west of North Tibbs Avenue. This is accurate. But only because the old road connected at what is now Holt Road, not where it connects now. Again, the subject of a later post. Just know that to travel west on the old road, it requires driving through a Steak ‘n Shake parking lot.

This is just one example of there being multiple old roads going to one destination. Indiana is chock full of such old roads.

A look at a county maps of Indiana, especially central and northern parts of the state, reveals something very, I don’t know, interesting about most county roads. They are, relatively, straight in most places. There are exceptions, of course. But the vast majority of roads in this state are very, very, straight line affairs.

But why is this?

Well, the answer predates the very roads in question. Heck, in the case of Indiana, it predates the state, even predates the Indiana territory. The reason that roads tend to be due north/south and east/west was actually stated in the ordinance creating the Northwest Territory – the original designation of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota.

When the law was enacted creating the Northwest Territory, one of the stipulations was that the entire territory would be divided into townships and ranges, with townships being six miles north to south and ranges being six miles east to west. However, the law did realize that the planet wasn’t flat, so these were “roughly” six miles each. At the east and north lines of the township/range, there would be a “correction” of the survey. Each township and range was divided into sections, each roughly one mile square.

A close examination of a map of Marion County shows this very plainly, especially in Perry Township. Looking at Shelby Street, one will notice that every street that comes from the west does a slight northern jog at Shelby Street. With the busiest streets, the two sections are connected by a curve in the road.

Another prime example, in Marion County, of a correction line is Franklin Road north of Troy Avenue. The distance between Franklin Road (the range line) and Post Road, the next section line, is less than one mile. True, it’s barely less than a mile. But it is not quite a mile.

So, you ask, why did this happen? The truth is that it comes down to property ownership and rights. And to avoid what happened in the eastern states, Kentucky and parts of eastern Ohio. Property lines were drawn in those areas by measurements from a landmark, or a tree, or even a rock. With these types of non-exact measurements, there arose many property disputes. Some people lost everything because they found that the property they thought they bought ended up being someone else’s. Quite a few families ended up without anything at all when the property rights were settled.

The idea was that with the survey system put into place, the exact piece of land on the deed couldn’t be argued.

When the land in the new Northwest Territory was sold, it was divided into quarter sections, half sections, and complete sections (usually, there are places that were even divided into eighth sections). Since the sections were so regularly laid out, it ended up a logical extension to make these section division lines into access roads. This, too, can be spotted almost immediately in quite a few counties in Indiana. For instance, if you see a CR 900N, CR 925N, CR 950N, CR 975N and a CR 1000N, those are usually 1/4 mile apart, and are along the section division lines.

Again, there are exceptions to this straight survey rule. Two examples are Clarksville and Vincennes, which were survey in relation to the Ohio River and Wabash River, respectively. The Clarksville surveys stem from the fact that the area was given by the Commonwealth of Virginia (from the belief that the entire area belonged to Virginia as Illinois County) to Revolutionary War veterans.

Another major example is the Michigan Road surveys from north of Logansport to South Bend. A quick glance at a survey map of the old road will show that the sections are numbered sequentially by the mile, while the surrounding area is survey in relation to the “Second Prime Meridian,” a line designated to separate ranges east and west in Indiana.

The other exception that I will mention here is the “Gore” of Indiana. In the early history of the territory (1795), a boundary line between the United States and the Natives of the area was drawn from the Indian-Kentuck Creek on the Ohio River (on the Kentucky side) to Fort Recovery in what is now Ohio. (The line can be spotted most easily by the fact that it forms the western line of Dearborn County, Indiana.) While both sides of the line are surveyed in the standard mile sections and six mile townships and ranges, the area east of the line is surveyed as Ohio, while west of the line is surveyed as Indiana. As such, the lines (as well as the range and township numbers) don’t line up across the boundary line.

Starting in 1847, the city of Indianapolis had been a railroad center. With the opening of the first line on 1 October 1847 (the Madison & Indianapolis), the number of railroads just grew. Before the end of the 19th Century, Indianapolis had many railroad lines going in every direction. Except due south. That would change in the early 20th Century when the last railroad line to be built to the Hoosier capital was completed. That railroad was authorized to enter the city as the “Indianapolis Southern Railway.”

The Indianapolis Southern Railway was organized under the general laws of Indiana on 16 August 1899. The idea was to connect Indianapolis to the coal fields in the Greene County, Indiana, area and to Effingham, Illinois. While coal from the Greene County area was already arriving in Indianapolis via two lines of the Vandalia (the main Terre Haute line and the Vincennes line), the idea was that having more access to coal would drive the cost down. It also didn’t hurt that the franchise that was granted stipulated that there would be no more than 1/2 cent per ton-mile for coal transportation to Indianapolis.

It wasn’t until 11 April 1902 that an ordinance allowing the Indianapolis Southern Railway into Indianapolis was approved. “AN ORDINANCE ratifying, confirming and approving a certain contract and agreement made and entered into on the seventeenth day of March, 1902, between the City of Indianapolis, by and through it Board of Public Works, and the Indianapolis Southern Railway.” The ordinance specifically mentions the several “streets, alleys and public places” that the railroad was allowed to build their route. The original route was described as follows: “beginning on the south line of Southern Avenue, running thence northwardly, crossing said Southern avenue about ten (10) feet east of its intersection with the east line of Ruecker street (Southern avenue being the south line of the city limits of the City of Indianapolis), and running thence northwardly to a point where such line intersects Pogue’s Run at about the south line of Wisconsin street in the said City of Indianapolis; thence following along the line of Pogue’s Run from the south line of Wisconsin street to Merrill street, and thence continuing northward to South street and crossing South street at a point 130 feet east of the intersection of the south line of South street and the east line of Missouri street.” The ordinance goes on to describe how it is to connect to the Indianapolis Union tracks at South Capitol avenue.

The first change to come to the whole Indianapolis Southern project was when, on 12 June 1904, it was announced that the Illinois Central Railroad had acquired trackage rights on the not yet completed Indianapolis Southern. The officers of the IS was VERY adamant about the fact that the IS had NOT been purchased by the IC. The IS would complete its construction, and operate when completed.

The Indianapolis Star of 12 June 1904 reports that “it has been understood for some time that the Illinois Central was furnishing money to construct the road, which will now give Indianapolis another of the strongest systems of roads in the west. The Indianapolis Southern connects with the former Indiana & Illinois railroad, which runs from Effingham, Ill., to Switz City.” The Star also goes on to state that Indianapolis will benefit from another road company to the city. (To that point, the majority of lines into Indianapolis were either PRR or NYC affiliated. The Vandalia and Panhandle were Pennsylvania Lines. The Big Four was affiliated with the NYC, and the Lake Erie and Western [became Nickel Plate] was owned by the NYC.)

A consolidation occurred on 22 June 1906, combining the Illinois and Indiana Railroad and the Indianapolis Southern Railway to become the Indianapolis Southern Railroad company. According to ICC documents filed during World War I, the construction of the line was completed by this company.

In 1911, the Illinois Central alleged that it was owed $1,181,698.22 (to 1 July 1910) in interest on a $10 million bond issued by the Indianapolis Southern. Since that 1 Jul 1910, only $125,000 was paid towards the arrearage. The management of the Indianapolis Southern didn’t dispute the bill at all. A decree was rendered in the United States Circuit Court for Eastern Illinois providing that the railroad be foreclosed and sold to cover the expenses, unless the principal and interest accrued was paid by 19 February 1911.

The Illinois Central purchased the Indianapolis Southern Railroad at foreclosure on 22 May 1911. The line from Newton, Illinois to Indianapolis would become the Indiana Railroad (INRD) in 1986.

Roads all over Indiana have been moved for assorted reasons. I mentioned this a couple of days ago with it comes to State Road 67. Sometimes, it is nature that causes repeated floodings, enough to make the state decide to move the road. Sometimes, it is government officials that make the decision to flood the road permanently. This is the case with SR 9 at Mount Etna, Indiana.

When the new state road system was implemented in 1926, the designation SR 9 was given to the road that connected Marion to Huntington. Now, the original SR 9 hasn’t moved that much over the years. At least not in the rural areas. But the Army Corps of Engineers decided in 1966 that a flood control project along the Salamonie River was much needed. The state agreed.

The old path of SR 9 took it directly through the town of Mount Etna, roughly half way between Marion and Huntington. A quick glance at the Google map of the area can give a dead giveaway where the original route was. (See Link below.) It is not often when a road is so straight forward when traveling between destinations…especially when the road is over 100 years old.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7381841,-85.5656057,14.15z

It is at this point that I would like to mention that I believe this route to be also part of the original Indianapolis-Fort Wayne State Road laid out in the 1830s.

So the original SR 9 route stayed in place from 1926 to 1967. The new route ended up being just 1/2 mile west of the old road, and built across Salamonie Lake. The lake was created with the building of the dam in 1966. This left the town of Mount Etna currently off the beaten path, so to speak.

Google maps research, using the satellite photo option, shows that the old road actually goes right up to the lake on the north shore. Also, the utility lines, that normally line the right of way of every state road, whether current or replaced, are shown to cross the lake very close to the old road. (Note. While it is not always true, a really easy way to tell slight changes in the path of a road is looking at the utility lines. It truly is a dead giveaway when the road was slightly straightened or a curve was eased during the history of the road. Often times, they are rarely touched due to the disruptions caused by moving them. It is especially useful when one notices that most of the bypasses put in across Indiana tend not to have these utility lines if they are absolutely new construction. This may not always be the case, but it is a first hint to look for if you think something has been moved.)

Tracing the old road from the north shore, it goes basically due north at CR 600W until just before it connecting back to the current SR 9. However, the section north of CR 400S is not accessible, as another part of Salamonie Lake has taken out another section of the old road. From the SR 9 end, it looks like it is blocked with a gate…at least according to Google maps.

This is another planned “Road Trip 1926” road trip that will be taken and recorded at some point. The entire premise behind the “Road Trip 1926” idea is that in February 2018, I posted in the Facebook ITH group strip maps of the original 1926 state roads using the magic of “Google maps and Microsoft Paint.” Those posts are still available on the Facebook group. I am also trying to figure out how to move them here without being completely pointless. That day will come. Until then, feel free to check out the original posts.

Back in the last 1990s, I remember walking along the (now) CSX line that was once the original Madison & Indianapolis Railroad. While I was walking, I noticed a manhole cover with a keystone on it, and the letters “PL.” It is the same logo that I noticed in mosaic form at the corner of Maryland and Alabama Streets before the construction of Bankers Life Fieldhouse and its attendant structures.

I had always known that that old route was part of the Pennsylvania Railroad, as if the bridge that crossed Pleasant Run Parkway in Garfield Park wasn’t enough of a dead giveaway. The Pennsylvania Railroad always seemed to be a very important part of my family’s life, given that my mother grew up with the PRR Main Line between Pittsburgh and Altoona in her back yard, and my father’s father ran trains along that very line as an engineer. Doing genealogy in later years, the PRR would show up in many an occupation field on census images. The Pennsy was important!

What I didn’t know at the time, and what most people still don’t because of the time that has passed, is that the Pennsylvania Railroad, for the longest time, didn’t officially appear anywhere in Indiana until after 1921. The lines that we know of as the PRR, the Panhandle (Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis), the Vandalia, and the Fort Wayne (Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago) were all actually combined into a holding company called “The Pennsylvania Company.” While the people in Philadelphia running the PRR held controlling interest, the lines in question were generally run as separate lines.

And collectively, they were called the “Pennsylvania Lines West of Pittsburgh and Erie.” This might seem strange, until one considers that the official original charter of the Pennsylvania Railroad was for a railroad that was to connect Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. That’s it. Everything else outside of that was outside the scope of the PRR charter. Also, I had seen, in numerous sources, that PRR management in Philadelphia wanted to keep ties to other companies to a minimum.

So, what does this have to do with Indiana Transportation History? Well, honestly, the railroad that had the most trackage in Indiana were railroads that came under the “PLWPE,” or Pennsylvania Company, umbrella. Through consolidations, the PLWPE ended up connecting Pittsburgh to Indianapolis, Logansport, St. Louis, Fort Wayne, Louisville and any number of smaller towns along the way. Logansport and Fort Wayne became major railroad cities thanks to the PLWPE.

But in the wave of consolidations, the Pennsylvania Company was eliminated and the lines it controlled ended up falling into the Pennsylvania Railroad proper. This occurred in 1921. Many places still have monuments to the Pennsylvania Railroad. There are many bridges that still have the keystone logo either painted or pressed into them across Indiana. But there are very few remnants of the old PL logo.

I went back after a few years to find that the old manhole cover was long gone. While I would have never taken it in the first place, I dreaded the fact that it was probably in a scrap yard someplace without any consideration that even at the time it might have been 100 years old or better. The old mosaic from Maryland and Alabama Streets was saved, for a while, by the Indiana Transportation Museum in Noblesville. But since they were evicted from Forest Park, I am not even sure if that is still around. (No political comments about that whole fiasco, please. Suffice it to say that there are things I would rather do than visit Noblesville ever again. Appendectomy with a chain saw comes to mind.) It makes me wonder if the ITM managed to save that piece of history, or if the city of Noblesville just destroyed it. Anyone with answers, I would appreciate them.

I do really hope they saved it. Not only for the history, but also due to the very fact that it would be more in place where the ITM is now than it ever was in Noblesville. Heck, the ITM is in Logansport on the old Pennsylvania Line West of Pittsburgh and Erie to Kokomo.

Over the years, the Indiana State Highway Commission (and the descendants – Department of Highways and INDOT) has often built new roads to bypass curves, hills and towns. There are many old state road routes all over the state that were moved for the convenience and efficiency of travelers. But sometimes, the state bypasses a place simply because it ends up keeping the road open more often.

The original 1926 route of SR 67 followed the Pennsylvania Railroad (nee Indianapolis & Vincennes) between Spencer and Gosport. Just about four miles along the old SR 67 route from Spencer is the town of Romona. It is just a very small location that I found while working on a SR 67 project.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3267796,-86.729666,535m/data=!3m1!1e3

The history of SR 67 is unique in the annals of Indiana State Roads. With very few exceptions, the state roads follow the same pattern as the United States highways. SR 67 was laid out across Indiana diagonally, with the powers that be believing that the pending US 67 would come across Indiana towards Toledo or Cleveland, Ohio. As it turned out, US 67 kept going north across west central Illinois. So SR 67 was wishful thinking that never happened.

Along the way, the original route of SR 67 followed both the old I&V, but also stayed very close to White River.

And there, my friends, creates the problems.

Since the creation of SR 67 in 1926, I have found no less than five different articles, in five different years, talking about the closure of SR 67 in the vicinity of Romona. (One I found from as far away as South Bend, in the South Bend Tribune of 3 March 1929.) Apparently the State Highway Commission decided by 1938 to bypass this entire section, connecting SR 67 almost due west from Gosport to SR 43 (now US 231), three miles north of the old route that went into Romona.

The old route also had the problem of crossing the Pennsylvania Railroad at least three times between Spencer and Gosport. The Google map linked above should show the old State Highway Commission bridge over Mill Creek at Romona. I am not quite sure exactly what is left to drive on there. I would bet money that the bridge is long out of commission. I am also not quite sure if the area on the north side of that bridge is actually on private property or not.

I am not quite sure why, of all places, this place has captured my thoughts. Maybe it’s because I am so used to small places like this when visiting where my parents grew up. I don’t know. I am planning on something called a “Road Trip 1926” along the original (or as much as possible) SR 67. And Romona is a place I want to see. I guess we will find out when I get there this summer. Anyone want to ride along?

This is a continuation of yesterday’s post.

Five Points Road from SR 29 to the Belt. SR 29 being Southeastern Avenue now, this project would start at the town of Five Points, traveling two miles south to what is now Thompson Road, which was to become part of a belt road around the city of Indianapolis.

Southport Road from Southport to Fort Road. As best as I can tell, the Fort Road mentioned here would have to be what is now Franklin Road, since the Fort (now Post) never even made it much past the line of Hanna Avenue, some three miles north of Southport Road.

McFarland Road from Southport to the Belt. Again, the belt, at this point, being Thompson Road. This road is still in existence.

Keystone Avenue from Troy Ave. to Shelbyville Road. Keystone Avenue on the southside of Marion County was built in sections. This section mentioned would connect Keystone to a road along the same line that stretched from Shelbyville to Thompson Roads. Shelbyville Road mentioned is now Carson Ave.

Churchman Avenue from Keystone Avenue to Minnesota Street. This project is basically paving Churchman Avenue in the subject area. It had been improved from Keystone Avenue to Beech Grove at this point, so this was moving the improvments closer to Indianapolis.

Sumner Avenue from US 31 to Harding Street. US 31, at this time, was Madison Avenue.

Rockville Road from US 40 to US 36. Confused? This is the “new” section of Rockville Road, connecting Washington Street at Eagle Creek to Rockville Avenue (originally Rockville Road) northwest of Holt Road and Washington Street.

Cossel Drive from Tibbs Avenue to SR 34. Cossel Drive, now Cossel Road, connected Tibbs Avenue at the Mount Jackson Cemetery to Crawfordsville Road at Winton Avenue in Speedway. This route is now cut in two by Holt Road just south of Michigan Street.

Myers Road from Emrichsville bridge to US 52. The Emrichsville bridge was ultimately replaced with the current 16th St. bridge in 1948.

73rd Street from SR 29 to Spring Mill Road. The section from SR 29 (Michigan Road) to Ditch Road is now called Westlane Road. The entire section listed would be SR 434 for a few decades.

High School Road from SR 34 to West 10th St. If this project was built, it has long since disappeared.

High School Road bridge over Pennsylvania Railroad. This is the old railroad tracks forming the northern boundary of Indianapolis International Airport.

West 56th Street from Belt Road to County Line. Basically, this is from what is now Dandy Trail west to the Hendricks-Marion County line. Even with the creation of Eagle Creek Reservoir, this route remains today.

According to the Star, as listed to the right, 16th Street would be widened across the city, and connected between SR 29 (Northwestern Avenue) and US 52/SR 34 (Lafayette Road and 16th Street).

The article also mentions that the proposed Bely Highway would include the Thompson Road bridge over White River. I am not quite sure where the Indian Creek bridge mentioned is. There are numerous places in Marion County that have had the name Indian Creek over the years. And, as mentioned before, the Sherman Drive bridge, to the best of my knowledge, was never built.

The last section of this article mentions the concept of connecting the northwest part of the county, along 86th Street, to Fort Harrison. This would connect US 52 to SR 29, US 31 and SR 13. As mentioned, this would also become part of the SR 534/SR 100 complex in the 1940s.

Mentioned is the “deathtrap” at the Pennsylvania RR crossing at Morris Street. Again, if the current situation was an improvement, the old crossing must have been absolutely horrible.

The last paragraph mentions the routes that would be included in the proposed Belt Highway that would never completely come into being.

In 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression caused by the stock market crash of October 1929, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt embarked on his “new deal” plan of reviving the economy. While I will not be arguing the pros or cons of this plan (it is beyond the scope of this site), I will be commenting on the plans as announced in the Indianapolis Star of 28 June 1933.

The headline of the newspaper clearly states that this will include $1.4 million in expenditures and employ 1,200 people. The projects included are “long contemplated” and that no large number of jobs will be available for at least two months.

There are six sections of the newspaper dedicated to the listing of these projects. While I could list them and be done with it, my plan is to not only list the project, but to also give a current day update of what the project was. You will notice that some of these projects never came to fruition. Some were removed by upgrades and bypasses. Some were just removed because it’s very hard to drive a car through a water feature.

16th Street bridge over Fall Creek. At the time, 16th Street’s east end from the west side was at Indiana Ave. This bridge would allow 16th Street to connect to Northwestern Ave., or SR 29 at the time.

Thompson Road bridge over White River. At the time, there was only one crossing of White River in all of Perry and Decatur Townships, that at Southport Road. This bridge was built, creating a second crossing of the river. This bridge was removed with the coming of I-465. The interstate bridge was built just north of the Thompson Road bridge.

Sherman Drive bridge over Fall Creek. I show no evidence that this bridge was ever built.

86th Street bridge over Eagle Creek. This would become part of SR 534/SR 100 in less than a decade.

Morris Street underpass of the Pennsylvania Railroad. If anyone of you have ever seen this underpass, you get the very distinct impression that it was a quick job without a lot of thought process.

86th Street from SR 13 to Moore Road. This would be the connecting project to the bridge listed above. At the time, SR 13 was Allisonville Road, which later became SR 37. This project would be eventually included in the SR 534/SR 100 belt highway plan.

Dandy Trail from US 52 (Lafayette Road) to SR 34 (Crawfordsville Road). The northern section of this project would eventually be removed as part of the Eagle Creek Reservoir project. Yes, the road is currently under water.

Harding Street from SR 34 to High School Road. For those from Indianapolis, and are as confused as I was when I read this, fear not. The current Harding Street runs north and south, not connecting the two places mentioned. However, the Harding Street listed here became 10th Street at some point. It makes a lot more sense that way, right?

High School Road from Southern Avenue to Valley Mills. Parts of this project would be removed with the expansion of what is now Indianapolis International Airport. Valley Mills is roughly at the corner of High School Road and Mooresville Road (SR 67 at the time).

Thompson Road from Valley Mills to US 31. Most of this was built, sort of. There is a now missing section between current SR 37 (Harding St.) and old SR 37 (Bluff Rd.). I can’t find any evidence this was ever built.

Thompson Road from Shelbyville Road to SR 29. SR 29 was the designation of what is now Southeastern Ave. This project was to improve the road conditions, which at the time (apparently) it was still a dirt road.

Fort Benjamin Road from County Line to Fort Harrison. A fifteen mile road? As best as I can tell, this would be Post Road, which never made it to the Marion-Johnson County Line.

Hague Road from Fort Harrison to Castleton. As best as I can tell, that would be to 82nd St.

Salt Lake Road from Dandy Trail to US 52. As best as I can tell, this was the original name for what is now 34th St.

46th Street from Millersville to SR 67. This road was removed in section between the two points, ending in a cul-de-sac just west of SR 67 (Pendleton Pike).

Shadeland Drive from 56th St. to SR 67. Ultimately, this would become part of the SR 534/SR 100 loop. SR 67, again, was Pendleton Pike.

56th Street from Brendonwood to Hague Road. Brendonwood was at Fall Creek. The Hague Road listed here would have to be, I assume, what is now Boy Scout Road.

Sherman Drive from 46th St. to SR 13 (Allisonville Road). As with the Fall Creek bridge listed in the previous section, I show no evidence this was ever built.

52nd St. from Keystone Av. to SR 13. This is still in existence.

21st St. from Shadeland to Cumberland. Still in existence.

Prospect St. from Emerson Ave. to US 52 (Brookville Road). This would have been built right beside the interurban tracks and the south edge of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Hawthorne Yards. I show no evidence it ever was built.

With last week’s entries concerning the Purdue Special crash of 31 October 1903, this week starts with what the Indianapolis Star, of 1 November 1903, called “in the history of Indiana there have been but four railroad disasters which can at all compare in magnitude with the wreck of the Purdue special.”

26 June 1901: Wabash Railroad at Cass

A crash on the Wabash Railroad at Cass, four miles east of Logansport, killed 14 people and injured “probably” 50 people when heavy rains caused a washout of the rails. The consist of the train was “three baggage and express cars, three coaches, three sleepers and the private car of Superintendent W. M. Cotter, of the Iron Mountain railway.”

“In a flash the ground sank away beneath the engine, and the train, with the exception of the three sleepers and the private car, rolled over a high embankment.”

The Indianapolis News of 26 June 1901 simply lists the dead as “fourteen Italian immigrants.” The next section of the article listed the “fatally injured.” These are listed as John Adams, fireman; Mrs. Mattie Cruse, Italian, New York; Luigi Venini; and An unknown Italian.

10 March 1897: Evansville & Terre Haute at Hazleton

At 3 AM, Train #5, known as the Chicago and Nashville limited, approached the White River bridge two miles north of Hazleton, which is roughly half way between Princeton and Vincennes. The area around the railroad had been flooding, and the water at the White River bridge was about 20 feet deep. This weakened the embankment holding the southern approach of the bridge.

Slowing down from an original speed of 25, the train was still running fairly fast when it reached the embankment. At a spot 150 yards south of the bridge, the track slid out from under the locomotive without warning. The embankment, acting as a levee, gave way letting massive amounts of water through, making the breach even larger.

Details of the damage are quite striking. According to the source I am using, the Princeton (Indiana) Clarion of 11 March 1897, “the engine wenr over in the ditch, about ten feet east of the track, landed in five feet of water and careened over on its side. The baggage car followed head end first down into the washout. The smoker was telescoped be the baggage car and had its top cut off down to the level of the windows. This car broke loose and floated off. The ladies coach and the sleeper remained on the track and none of the occupants were injured in the least.”

The article went on to state “it will be impossible to get the ladies’ coach and smoker out until the water goes down. The dead bodies in the smoker cannot be recovered and more than likely they will be washed away and never found.”

11 January 1891: Monon, two miles north of Crawfordsville

Unfortunately, I am unable to find any sources for this crash other than the 1903 Indianapolis Star article that mentions it in the first place. Eleven people were killed when, while negotiating a curve before entering Crawfordsville, the rails spread throwing the train down a 20 foot embankment. This almost immediately started a fire which consumed the train.

The article goes on to say that the legal entanglements for this crash were so outrageous that a Greencastle woman finally, a few months before the 1 November 1903 article in the Star, recovered a large verdict for the death of her husband.

All information and clippings used in this article are courtesy of newspapers.com.

Originally published 14 August 2016.

Went on a short drive today…from Cumberland to Franklin. Coming home from Franklin, I followed the roughly original route of the Noblesville-Franklin State Road.

For those that don’t know, the NFSR (somehow, I’ve yet to be able to follow the complete route) was built between the two titled cities, traveling through Marion County on the far east side (five miles from the Marion/Hancock County Line). If that location sounds familiar to you, it should. The name was shortened to “Franklin Road” in the early 20th century.

Anyway. Traveling from Franklin north, the road follows “Hurricane Road” north from the corner of Forsythe and Hamilton to the junction of CR 700 N. There are a lot of twists and turns on this road. It is also very peaceful, as there is nothing but houses and cornfields most of the way.

Just north of the crossing of Hurricane Creek (north of CR 600N) is a historical marker concerning the Whetzel Trace…one of the first trails into the center of Indiana. The Trace was blazed from Laurel, IN, to Waverly on the Bluffs of the Ohio River.

At CR 700N, the road turns east for 1/4 mile, the follows CR 440E (aka Franklin Road) the rest of the way north.

As best as I can tell, from maps of Marion County from 1876, the NFSR followed what is now Franklin Road (with the exceptions of the areas at I-70 and I-74) north to what is now 52nd St. It turned west at that point, following 52nd St. and Boy Scout Road to the Fall Creek Road. From there it gets sketchy. It could have gone up Hague to 96th St., it could have gone up now non-existent roads through Castleton and Vertland to the Allisonville (originally the Fort Wayne State) Road. Who knows.

If you have any ideas, I would be willing to listen.