It’s almost surreal to imagine electric streetcars gliding through downtown Yorktown on Smith Street today, but that was normal a hundred years ago. Indiana’s interurban system played a pivotal part role in our state’s transportation history, but it’s largely forgotten eighty years since the last cars flew by. Nevertheless, traces of the interurban’s legacy linger in town.
The interurban was a network of electric, self-propelled railcars that connected us with our neighbors, facilitated freight, and contributed to our economic and social development. Early examples popped up here and there, but the enormous Union Traction Company was incorporated in 1899. The company sucked up a variety of competitors as it built additional routes, and one was the Indianapolis-Anderson-Muncie line1.
The first interurban car rolled through Yorktown on September 20, 19002. UTC’s branch through Yorktown began at the Muncie terminal at the northwest corner of Seymour and Mulberry Street. From there, it traveled west on Howard Street, south on Council, and west again on Powers. The line met up with the New York Central south of what’s now State Road 32 near Nichols Avenue3.
The interurban followed the railroad for three miles before heading due west toward Yorktown at South Nebo Road. From there, the UTC continued west to Adaline, where it curved to cross Buck Creek and continued along Smith Street4. Just west of Yorktown proper, the interurban took a left turn south at Marsh Road. There, it met back up with the railroad on its way to Daleville and Chesterfield as it traveled towards Anderson5.
The interurban was wildly popular and effective at connecting neighboring communities. More than 25,000 passengers used it every year by the close of the 1930s6! Unfortunately, modern modes of transportation eventually caught up with it. The Union Traction Company was superseded by the Indiana Railroad, and the last interurban car came through Yorktown on January 19, 19417. The service was replaced by a more economical fleet of buses.
Over time, the UTC’s tracks were dismantled and its right-of-way was repurposed. In Delaware County, much of it was used by the highway department to build new roads8. Despite that, some of its old infrastructure is still visible around Yorktown. For starters, about a third of a mile of the interurban path sits just north of the railroad! CSX uses the interurban’s old right-of-way west of Nebo as an access road. I saw a pair of curious kids biking down the gravel drive just the other day.
I’ve been told that an abutment from the old interurban bridge sits just south of Coffee Cravings-Re/Max- The Frozen Boulder. Unfortunately, I’ve never been able to find it. That said, I’d bet dollars to donuts that the concrete retaining wall in front of the landmark home at 8951 West Smith Street dates to the interurban days. The house sits just behind the tracks’ old crossing over Buck Creek.
Other interurban artifacts may be hiding in plain sight, but the most prominent reminders of the railroad’s presence -seven UTC right-of-way markers- stand just south of Yorktown’s American Legion post. If they’re anything like the ones INDOT installs, the concrete posts once delineated the interurban’s right-of-way for operations purposes. If you saw one back in the day, you knew you were on or near land operated by the Union Traction Company.
I don’t know why seven markers stand in a row at the American Legion, but I do know that Yorktown’s interurban station once stood just south of the building at the northeast corner of Smith Street and Broadway. Perhaps the markers were moved to their present site when Yorktown’s Veterans Plaza was built just after the new millennium or when Smith Street –State Road 32– was reconfigured in 20079.
However the markers arrived at their present location, they remain a tangible connection to Yorktown’s past. The simple concrete posts played a critical role in delineating the paths of the electric rail line that went through town, and they’re tributes to a transformative period in our state’s history. Yorktown’s right-of-way markers are more than just the physical remnants of a bygone era. They’re significant artifacts that tie us to the legacy of our changing community.
Sources Cited
1 Former Traction Workers To Meet (1941, July 16). The Muncie Star. p. 5.
2 First Train To Yorktown (1900, September 20). The Muncie Star. p. 8.
3 Indiana Railroads and Abandoned Interurban Rails (2023, October 8). Map. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
4 Greene, D. (1978, March 23). Seen and Heard in Our Neighborhood. The Muncie Star. p. 4.
5 (See footnote 2).
6 Spurgeon, B. (1999, May 27). Muncie passengers had a choice of Indianapolis interurbans to use. The Muncie Star Press. p. 26.
7 Last Interurban Ends Chapter In History Of Transportation (1941, January 19). The Muncie Star. p. 9.
8 Report Delay in Land Acquisition for Ind. 32 East (1957, May 3). The Muncie Star. p. 40.
9 Slabaugh, S. (2006, July 14). Yorktown wants charm. The Muncie Star Press. p. 3.
Do you know if the Interurban went to Mounds Park from Yorktown to drop off passengers at the Amusement Park?
It didn’t go directly to Mounds from Yorktown, but it did by means of another stop in Anderson.
Those old interurban lines have always fascinated me.
They’re really interesting! Lots of old infrastructure is still in place, too.