The interurban hasn’t run through Central Indiana for more than eighty years, but its remnants still dot the landscape if you know where to look. One of those survivors is a modest old station and powerhouse tucked just east of Springport in rural Henry County. I happened to be driving by the other day when, naturally, I had to pull over and snap a few photos. Some pieces of history are just too interesting to pass up.
Springport was platted by James Clements in 1868, when the Fort Wayne, Muncie, and Cincinnati Railroad was extended through the northern part of Henry County1. The community took its name from the number of natural springs in the area near the railroad station2, none of which I’ve been able to find.
A post office was established in 18693, and it’s been in operation ever since! The most prominent building in the community of 131 people is probably the Classical Revival Springport Christian Church. It punches far above its weight for a town of Springport’s size.
The interurban -a network of electric rail cars that traveled from town to town and operated in this area from about 1900 to 1940- reached Springport in 1913. Starting in New Castle, the tracks swerved northwest of downtown from North 12th Street to kiss Memorial Park before bearing northeast following the path of Raintree Drive.
There, they swung back parallel to today’s Norfolk Southern main line. The interurban followed it for several miles before separating south of Springport. After reaching the station on the town’s east side, the tracks passed Oakville, bypassed Cowan, and arrived in Muncie parallel to Walnut Street.
In 1932, well-known farmer George Chambers was killed when a freight interurban struck his vehicle at Springport. En route from New Castle to Muncie, the train pushed his broken sedan more than fifty feet up the tracks4! Although the conductor blew his whistle, the view at the crossroads was obscured by a house5.
Unfortunately, interurban accidents were somewhat common. On May 20, 1924, five people were killed during a head-on interurban collision at Roanoke, southwest of Fort Wayne. One of the victims was the 22-year-old Welker F. Earhart, who, had he survived, would have been my great-great uncle. His sister, Maro, was my great-grandmother.
Union Traction Company was acquired by Indiana Railroad in 1930, and the company discontinued the New Castle to Muncie eleven years later6. Instead of riding the rails, passengers were shuffled onto buses in a cost-cutting measure that reflected the changing transportation landscape. All across Indiana, old interurban infrastructure was repurposed, demolished, or left to decay. Still, a survivor remains in Springport. As recently as 2006, the old station and powerhouse was still in use as a private residence7.
Sources Cited
1 Hazzard, G. (1906). Hazzard’s History of Henry County Indiana, Volume II. 3 George Hazzard [New Castle]. Book.
2 (See footnote 1).
3 “Henry County”. Jim Forte Postal History. Web. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
4 Farmer Killed At Springport (1932, March 24). The Muncie Star. p. 1.
5 (See footnote 4).
6 Last Interurban Ends Chapter In History Of Transportation (1941, January 19). The Muncie Star. p. 9.
7 Leiker, J. (2006, October 1). Historical program to recall days of Interurban. The Muncie Star Press. p. 27.
In 1966/67 we lived at 824 W 8th street, Anderson. It is in the historic Gas Light distric tand today is nicely renovated. Not so much when we lived there. The place has beautiful inlaid parquet floors, pocket doors and a library room. On the third floor were small rooms that were the servant’s quarters. We only lived there one year before moving to Greensboro, Henry CO.
If my information is correct the first or perhaps second owner of the home was the President of the Union Traction Company.
I’ll have to drive past it. My workplace is not far away!
I love the idea of the old interurban trains, but none of them seemed to be very successful.
Cars and buses did them in pretty quickly!