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02/24/2007: "The Indiana Railroad and My Hometown"

listening to: Backyardigans on Noggin
reading: A World Out of Time by Larry Niven

Less than a 100 years ago, before the existence of paved roads, most of the communities in Indiana were connected together by a network of Electric Railways. Though these cars ran on rails, people didn't call them trains. They were owned and operated by Traction Companies. People called them Interurbans.

From IndianaRailroads.org.

When I was a child taking Indiana History in the 4th grade, we learned about the Indiana Railroad – aka The Interurban Railroad – a series of electrically powered commuter trains throughout the Hoosier state. I never forgot this part of my childhood education, partially because not only did the Indiana Railroad run through my hometown of Akron, Indiana, but also merely 200 yards from my childhood home. I have always taken this nugget of knowledge with me, but I never had any use for it. That fact and fifty cents would get me a newspaper. I never put it on my resume.

However, a few weeks ago, I had inspiration to find some proof of what I had been told about my hometown. From the comfort of my living room, and with some coffee at my side, I began my web research.

I found out rather quickly that The Indiana Railroad was actually a series of independently owned railways across Indiana linked together at strategic points. The picture below clearly shows the different lines of ownership (picture from MetraFan on AOL).

However, that map does not give you a good perspective of the geography of Indiana. Take a look at the map below, and you gain that perspective (picture from the Indiana University Library).

The line that ran through my hometown was called the Winona Railroad Company, and it served the communities – from south to north – of Peru, Chili, Akron, Mentone, Warsaw, Milford, and Goshen. With that knowledge, I could focus my search on my local community.

The only significant historical article I have found on-line so far on the Winona Railroad is one written by the Warsaw Times Union back in 1986. This first excerpt gives an explanation why the railroad was justified and built:

America, at the turn of the century, was devoting a great deal of its energies to achieving technological superiority over the rest of the world. This was the era of great inventors and inventions, and among these inventions was the electric trolley. The trolley cars were powered by electricity which was supplied to the trolley by means of an overhead wire.

The necessity of getting visitors between Warsaw and Winona Lake seemed, to the board of directors of the Winona Institutions, as a natural use of the electric trolley, and as a result of Winona and Warsaw Railroad was incorporated on Oct. 30, 1902, to carry guests to and from Winona Lake.

During the first three months of operation the W and W carried around 200,000 passengers for five cents a ride. Other street trolleys were springing up everywhere in the Midwest, and some were now building outside city limits to connect towns and cities. These connecting lines were being called interurban railroads. It suddenly seemed that just as every town was determined to have a steam railroad in the 1860s and 1870s, that these same towns now were determined to have an interurban railroad.

The Winona Interurban Railway was incorporated on June 12, 1905, and the articles of incorporation indicated some ambitious ideas. They were going to construct railways from a hub in Warsaw to Goshen, Peru, Wabash, Fort Wayne, Columbia City, Plymouth, Valparaiso, Logansport, Rochester, Huntington, and Syracuse. Phase one of their construction plans called for the construction of the line between Warsaw and Goshen.

The marketing people of the day stated the railroad had an average tributary population of 1,200 people per mile living within a strip of 1.5 miles on either side of the track between Goshen and Warsaw, but not including the population of the cities listed above. The Winona was considered a real boon. An authority on Indiana Interurbans stated that present day citizens would find it impossible to realize the isolation which was the lot of the typical rural resident around 1900.

Here is an excerpt specifically referring to the area around Akron:

The nine-mile segment between Mentone and Akron followed a route that was approximately one-half mile east of present day State Rd. 19, until State Rd. 19 makes an easterly jog in Fulton County on County Rd 100 South. At this jog point the Winona ran parallel on the west side of State Rd. 19 until it reached Akron. There was a small rail-yard on the north side of Akron in the area of the present day stables. The line continued down the main street of Akron, which then had a population of 1,000. After going through the downtown area the line angled east to the area of the present Pike Lumber Company. The line went over the now abandoned Erie Railroad, first with a timber bridge and later with a concrete and steel structure. The south abutment of the bridge is still visible.

The Winona continued through Fulton County into Miami County with an 11-mile segment to Chili where the Winona passed under the now abandoned Vandalia Railroad.

Some comments on this:

Railroad Route From Mentone to Akron

I had never known the actual route of the Winona Railroad until I had read a few articles, so I never knew that the railroad paralleled Highway 19. I have traveled this route from Akron north towards Mentone thousands of times, and there is no obvious evidence that a railroad existed along side this road. Obviously, there were huge changes in the landscape once the ties and tracks were removed.

The Erie Railroad – mentioned above – used to maintain a railroad that ran southeast to northwest through the south side of Akron, and was removed in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Years have gone by, trees have grown up, and some of the land has been developed, and you might miss the fact that a railroad once existed there. So, it’s not unreasonable to assume that I would have completely missed a railroad that had not been around for much of the 20th Century.

However, if I use my imagination, I can probably see where the railroad splits from the highway. As you travel north out of Akron, Highway 19 jogs to the west for about ½ a mile. It is where the highway turns that I think I can visualize where the railroad continued. The next time I visit my hometown, I will have to look at this junction with more knowledgeable eyes. Again, I have passed this turn thousands of times in my life, but this will be like looking at it for the first time.

Here is a satellite map of this very junction. The road coming from the south is Highway 19. It turns left. However, you can see a road continuing north, but just slightly to the west. That is a private driveway, and sure enough, it is consistent with where the interurban railroad would have been.

Route Through Town

I know where the rail yard used to be because I know where the stables are. The tight residential area north of the Akron stoplight comes to an abrupt halt. The Akron Elementary School is on the right, and horse stables are to the left. Here is a satellite picture of this area.

The text says that the railroad continues into town. I can only imagine that either the street was once much more narrow, or the houses along the west side of Highway 19 are a lot newer than I think. The street is wide enough for parking on either side along the curb, so it’s probable that the railroad was once where part of the street used to be.

Route Through the South Side of Town

From there, the text says that the railroad angles east towards Pike Lumber Company. Here is where a larger mystery begins for me. First consider that once you get south of the stoplight, the highway does make a slight angle to the east. However, after about 100 yards, the road takes a smaller angle back south. Did the railroad continue southeast to Pike Lumber as the article implies, or merely towards Pike Lumber? I cannot picture where the abutment mentioned above is. I never ventured much towards that part of town, even though it was just down the road from my father’s grain mill.

The satellite image explains everything. What appears to be the abutment is deep on private property. When the railroad still existed, I never did walk down it and explore it. So, assuming what you see below is the abutment, I have literally never seen it, although I spent a lot of time near it.

Route Through the Rest of Fulton County

This is the portion of the route that would come very close to my childhood home. I can visualize where I was once told the route ran, but I am in need of proof at this point. Do you see the green square on the south side of the road that runs along the horizontal center of the image below? That is my childhood home. The vertical line that splits the image is where I always thought the railroad had run. In this particular area, currently existing fence line is at the top of a ridge that climbs from west to east. The immediate land to the east and to my childhood home is fairly flat.

While rummaging through web sites trying to find more information, I found a link to the IUPUI (Indiana University – Purdue University of Indianapolis) University Digital Collections. There is a early 20th Century plat book collection on their web site.

When I finally found my county and township, I was able to confirm exactly where the railroad had run. There must not have been road names back then. Take it on faith that the little pond in the middle of this spliced map is on my road. The pond is on the west of Highway 19, and my childhood home is on the right of the Winona Railroad.

So, where do I go from here? I would love to find some pictures and more detailed history of the railroad that once ran through my hometown. I’ve been trying to find some historical pictures, but have not had any luck so far. There are some resources at the Akron library, but there is no telling when I would be able to go there to dig up moldy old books and rotting microfilm.

Nonetheless, I have satisfied part of my curiosity. I’ve discovered some of the more obscure points on the World Wide Web (who looks at old Hoosier plat books?), but have also exposed what seem to be serious holes in the on-line documentation of my hometown history. It makes me wonder how many others there are like me looking for the history of their childhood from afar, and are falling short.