In southern Wells County, there’s a spot where five old roads come together. It’s home to a pair of intriguing old structures: a two-story schoolhouse and a surprising old truss bridge.
Continue reading “Wells County’s Five Points Bridge”
My Quaker ancestors lived in southwestern Henry County. Helping my mom piece together their story has drawn me to Raysville time and again, and I’ve always been struck by the perplexing Star Boulevard just east of town. Its narrow, curving lane splits off from the old National Road only to vanish into a pair of disconnected segments. Was it an old alignment of an early highway? A forgotten interurban line? Perhaps the road was something else entirely. Besides that, how’d the street get its unusual name? Why’s it in two pieces? Needless to say, I’ve wondered about Star Boulevard for years.
Continue reading “Raysville’s mysterious Star Boulevard”
My mom and I were exploring the backroads on our way from Muncie to Tipton a few weeks ago when we passed through the town of Frankton. As we drove, Mom pointed out a weathered train station on Lafayette Avenue she’d been past before. I wasn’t sure what would come of them, but I snapped a couple of quick photos. A few weeks later, I was excited to hear a radio report that the station would be saved! Thankfully, Frankton’s forgotten relic has a future.
Continue reading “New life for Frankton’s forgotten depot”
Walking along the old truss bridge in Smithfield felt like stepping back in time. The crossing’s wooden boards creaked softly below my feet, but its strength was visible in every beam. Each was riveted with a craftsmanship that’s hard to find today, but not anymore. I’m sorry to say that the landmark Smithfield bridge no longer exists.
Continue reading “So long to the Smithfield Bridge”
I work at the only factory in my company equipped to send and receive materials by rail. I love seeing all the graffiti as it comes and goes! Fortunately, our yard gets enough traffic to turn my favorite tags into a blog post every month. I’m on my fourteenth edition of railcar spotting! Including today’s, I’ve shared a hundred and five of my favorite pieces since I started last year. Can you believe it?
Continue reading “Railcar spotting: August, 2024”
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.
Continue reading “Yorktown’s interurban infrastructure”
We love our ice cream here in Muncie. Hunnicutt’s and Hum-Dingers have supplied us over the years, not to mention all manner of Milk Houses and Dairy Barns. We could even grab a cone or a cup from a red caboose in the seventies and eighties! It’s hard to believe, but the wayward railcar is still making memories today.
Continue reading “Muncie’s old ice cream caboose”
I’m the production planner for an Italian plastics company’s North American operation. My factory is one of the largest of its thirteen plants- it’s the only one across four continents equipped to receive materials by rail! Our yard isn’t huge, but it provides a fun chance to see a variety of fascinating graffiti as the cars change.
Continue reading “Railcar spotting”
Aside from private landing strips, Delaware County was once home to five airports! Nearly everyone here knows of the Muncie Regional Airport (otherwise known as Johnson Field) and many have at least driven past Reese Airport near Prairie Creek Reservoir. Little, if anything, remains of shuttered airparks like Silver Fox, Wall, and Magic City, but the old airport in Selma can still be seen.
Continue reading “The old Selma Airport”
Indiana University says that nearly two-thirds of the 23 million acres that make up Indiana is farmland1. As much as we’re known for corn and soybeans, that wasn’t always the case: pioneers clear cut enormous swaths of forest down in the years after they arrived here, which means tree lines that seem random to us in 2023 are usually anything but! One stretch, visible from Old US-35 in northern Delaware County, hides an old alignment of the Chicago, Indiana & Eastern Railway. New rail during the gas boom meant big money for any town on its path, and the line’s completion convinced an entire community to try and reorganize itself nearly a mile west of where it stood.
Continue reading “Wheeling, New Wheeling, and the CI&E Railroad”