LaPorte County Indiana
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Cities and Towns LaPorte County Indiana |
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Disappearing Towns & Villages of Yester-year
Old Villages That Disappeared - continued from previous months - In the 1970's Jim Landing wrote some wonderful articles for the News Dispatch concerning many of the "Lost and Vanishing" County Villages.
When the county was established in 1832, there were villages and hamlets dotting the landscape. A few survived but other remain only as a vague memory.
We break these down into categories.
1. Indian villages that were here during the early pioneers days.
2. Rural villages had their day when they were along well travel routes. And example would be Door Village on the old Sauk Trail. Many of these prospered for a period of time but then disappeared and no longer exist.
3. Commercial villages, who were established by proprietors who sold lots. A prime example of this would be Michigan City.
4. Villages come into existence from the Railroad. The railroads were good and bad for the smaller villages. Those lucky enough to have a rail station in their village faired much better than those on old foot trails or wagon routes.
So what were some of the Villages that came and then all but vanished?
Alida Station in Clinton Township became a junction for several different railroads in 1876. Edgar M Botchkiss was the first station master and also served as the village postmaster. Alida never really grew, only having about 5 houses located there at one time. But it was considered a fairly important grain and stock shipping center. Only in existence from a few years, it soon all but disappeared and now can only be reached on foot.
Andry Station served the residents of Springfield Township. If you hunted for it today, you would look just east of County Road 300W at where the old South Shore Railroad had its junction.
Bailly was a dream that never quite materialized. Joseph Bailly was a French fur Trader. He wanted to establish a French Canadian village at the mouth of Trail Creek. He filed a village plat, using all French names for street names, in the village of LaPorte the same year the county was formed. Bailly left the Indiana Calumet area in 1835 and along with him, his dream of his village.
Ballywood -platted in 1929 and included the peninsular area of land jutting between North and South Pine lakes in Center township.
Beattyville - Was founded in April 1853 when James Whittem platted 13 lots in a triangular road junction which served southern Coolspring Township. Only 1 lot sold. At one time you would find a Blacksmith and Wagon shop along with a hotel in this small village. Eventually the entire town was purchased by George Selkirk, a resident of Michigan City. The name Beatty had come with John Beatty on of the earliest settlers in that area. Traces of Beattyville are located at 100N and East of Hwy 421. Today this area is known as Beatty's Corners.
Beaver Dam - was, for several years, the post office serving residents of New Durham Twp. In 1854 the postal station was moved and Sylvester Groff served as the postmaster. The exact location of Beaver Dam is unknown.
Bigelow - Abijah Bigelow (the only known Veteran of the American Revolutionary was buried within Michigan City limits started a mill in 1835 in the Clinton Twp. area just south of the prairie lands along Hog Creek (now known as Crooked Creek or Topper Ditch). This area contained 3 important ingredients: - water from the creek, wood for adjacent timber lands and transportation, that being the road connecting the Sauk Trail with Lafayette and the Wabash County.
Bigelow filed for a plat for a village in 1837. The village consisted of 144 lots divided in 20 blocks. Three major streets were: Liberty, Papineau and Niger. In the same year he constructed a grist mill which was adjacent to a raceway. This village contained a blacksmith shop, a cabinet shop, a gunsmith, a harness shop and several dry goods stores. In 1838 the village became a designated post office with John Closser appointed as postmaster. Closser later purchased Bigelow's grist mill. A true village never really developed and in 1848 the village plat was vacated. Bigelow's family left the area.
Bone Island - was located in section 12 of Hanna Twp. It was near the point where Whitman Ditch enters the Kankakee River. The name was derived from the many remains of the bones of small animals hunted and trapped by the Pottawattomie Indians. At this time it was a part of Starke County and by 1861, when Hanna Twp was formed, the Indians were long gone. With drainage of the Kankakee Marshes, Bone Island became a memory.
Bootjack is a familiar term to those from the Rolling Prairie area, but the village which was located along the Sauk Trail has long disappeared. At one time a cluster of homes in the vicinity of a trading center was established in 1835 by an Indian known as Rice. When the Michigan Road was surveyed, many of these little communities became absorbed back into the land as the Sauk Trail was no longer heavily used. The Railroads too would by-pass Bootjack and nearby residents would settle in nearby Portland (later to be known as Rolling Prairie).
Bee Grove was a rail station on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayen and Chicago (Penn Central). It was located in section 11 of Hanna Township along the rail line and near US 30; intersecting with county road 1400S. It was a small sandy island located in the Kankakee marshlands.
Belmont (Bellmont) was on of the earliest villages which was platted in 1836 by Ward Blake and Abraham Charles. The village consisted of 187 lots. It too was passed up by the railroads and now is but prairie land at the County Roads of 900S and 400W.
Callao (Callloa, Callas) village that was associated with the railroad era. W. A. Taylor constructed a grain warehouse along the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad (Penn Central) in section 2 of Cass Twp. Soon a Methodist Church was established along with a blacksmith shop and a hotel all operating within this small community. Even a local physician was available. In April of 1860 Taylor, filed a plot for 27 lots on the south side of the rail line. But the rail officials had their own ideas and in 1861 they built a depot a half-mile to the west and named it Morgan. Most of the residents moved westward to be closer to the depot. Taylor too moved his home to Morgan and this left Callao with a very short lived existence.
Camp Colfax was a small subdivision and consisted of only 17 plots in Center township. This small group was later annexed to the city of LaPorte. This little burg was the area between Second and Fifth Streets and is known as Colfax Avenue.
Camp Harding: a hamlet platted and filed in September, 1887. Consisted of 37 lots. Location was in the Southwest quarter of section 22, Center Twp., along the northwest edge of Pine Lake. It was a stop along the interurban that ran from Michigan City to La Porte. but in recent times it has been referred to as Pine Lake (along Holton Road just south of Johnson Road.)
Cathcart's Grove: a pioneer settlement along the Sauk Trail about 2 1/2 miles east of present Westville. Approximate location is thought to have been at the junction of Joliet and Wozniak Roads. The Grove was named in honor of Hon. Charles W. Cathcart who owned about 3 sections of land in New Durham Twp. at the time of his death. Cathcart worked in the land offices in Washington and headed west and into Indiana in 1831.
The Grove became a hub for local commerce in 1835 when Leonard Woods, a storekeeper from the village of New Durham, which had just been founded, settled there and opened a store. Mr. Woods would later move to Michigan City and Cathcart's Grove became simply another section of timber and farmland in LaPorte County.Chambers' Landing: named for Andrew Chambers who settled in what is now Hanna Twp. in 1837. He operated a ferry across the Kankakee marshes. There is no access to the site today, it was believed to have been located in section 5 just west of what is now known as Long Ditch.
Clinton: - This was a cluster of early farmers centered around section 10 in Clinton Twp. near Hog Creek, close to what is known today as the present junction of County Roads 900W and 800S, the Methodists built their first log cabin chapel there. But it was neither a village, trading center or a town. It was just a local name for a community.
Condonville: was a trading center and established in 1894 by Thomas Condon, appointed to serve as postmaster on the depot on the Lake Shore Rail Road (Penn Central) . This place consisted of a store, tavern and little else. It was located at the junction of County roads 700W and 100S.
Corymbo: was one of two villages to have been plotted in Springfield Twp, the other being Springville. Location was along the Michigan Central Railroad. Plat was filed in August of 1873 by Craigie Sharp Jr., who had extensive land holdings in the area. There were 104 lots with Main Street running along the southern margin of the rails.
Corymbo was in a well wooded area and served as a fueling station for the engines on the railroad and at one point became an important lumber shipping point. This endeavor was short lived and today you would have to look along US 12 between County roads 600W and 1000N in section 18 of Springfield Twp.Cushman Acres was a subdivision platted by the Michigan City Trust and Savings Bank in April 1927. It was laid out on the Davis property East of Michigan City and consisted of approximately 170 acres lying North of Michigan Blvd., south of Warnke Road and east of Menke Road. Only 46 lots were actually platted and the area was later annexed to Michigan City.
Dillon - was a small crossroads village in Lincoln Twp, developed as a result of the building of the Wabash Railroad (as known in that time frame) in the late 1880's. The Dillon station was developed about a quarter a mile east of the rail junction. There were about 1/2 dozen houses built in the area and traces of this village formation can be seen on the east side of County Road 675E just south of the railroad crossing in section 31 of Lincoln Twp.
Durham was a switching stop for the Penn Central west of LaPorte and east of the junction of County roads 700W and 400S. At this point the sidetracks which handled box cars to be shunted into LaPorte were dropped off by the through trunk lines. It was never really a village but took its name from its location in New Durham Twp and the location of New Durham village (Pinhook).
Eastport - was a village platted in June of 1859 by Jesse Bond. It consisted of 30 lots in the northwest portion of section 36 of Center Twp. The area would later become annexed to the city of LaPorte and is now to be found bounded by North Street, Maple Avenue Rumely Street (Lake Street in the original plat), and Bond Street (Pond Street in original plat).
Eddyville - was a Subdivision platted in May, 1905 by Arthur Eddy and his wife Abbie. The area was in the southwest quarter of the north half of section 4 Coolspring Twp adjacent to the city limits of Michigan City. For today's measurements it was in the vicinity of S Franklin Street and where Barker Jr. High School was at. It was annexed into the city.
Flood's Grove - this was a short lived hamlet situated in New Durham Twp., and formed largely as a rival to the village of New Durham. Known in the 1840's with a large general store operated by John Armstrong and a blacksmith shop run by Henry Herrold offered New Durham considerable competition. Name calling became common practice between the two villages, the New Durhamites referring to Flood's Grove as "Squatham" and the Flood's Grovers calling New Durham "Pin Hook". Flood's Grove, as best can be determined, was just south of New Durham at the junction of what is now county roads 350S and Wozniak. The name was derived from property of James Flood what at one time had been a tailor in New Durham. Both communities declined with the arrival of the railroad in the 1850's.
Hail Columbia - was a village in Center Twp. plated in December of 1859, and immediately annexed to the city of LaPorte. Located five blocks south of the County Courthouse, the plat consisted of 9 parcels of land presently bounded by Indiana Avenue, Michigan Avenue, Alexander and Osborn Streets. The entire village consisted of one city block.
Durham was a switching stop for the Penn Central west of LaPorte and east of the junction of County roads 700W and 400S. At this point the sidetracks which handled box cars to be shunted into LaPorte were dropped off by the through trunk lines. It was never really a village but took its name from its location in New Durham Twp and the location of New Durham village (Pinhook).
Eastport - was a village platted in June of 1859 by Jesse Bond. It consisted of 30 lots in the northwest portion of section 36 of Center Twp. The area would later become annexed to the city of LaPorte and is now to be found bounded by North Street, Maple Avenue Rumely Street (Lake Street in the original plat), and Bond Street (Pond Street in original plat).
Eddyville - was a Subdivision platted in May, 1905 by Arthur Eddy and his wife Abbie. The area was in the southwest quarter of the north half of section 4 Coolspring Twp adjacent to the city limits of Michigan City. For today's measurements it was in the vicinity of S Franklin Street and where Barker Jr. High School was at. It was annexed into the city.
Flood's Grove - this was a short lived hamlet situated in New Durham Twp., and formed largely as a rival to the village of New Durham. Known in the 1840's with a large general store operated by John Armstrong and a blacksmith shop run by Henry Herrold offered New Durham considerable competition. Name calling became common practice between the two villages, the New Durhamites referring to Flood's Grove as "Squatham" and the Flood's Grovers calling New Durham "Pin Hook". Flood's Grove, as best can be determined, was just south of New Durham at the junction of what is now county roads 350S and Wozniak. The name was derived from property of James Flood what at one time had been a tailor in New Durham. Both communities declined with the arrival of the railroad in the 1850's.
Hail Columbia - was a village in Center Twp. plated in December of 1859, and immediately annexed to the city of LaPorte. Located five blocks south of the County Courthouse, the plat consisted of 9 parcels of land presently bounded by Indiana Avenue, Michigan Avenue, Alexander and Osborn Streets. The entire village consisted of one city block.
Hatch's Mill - takes its name from J. B. Hatch, a native New Yorker who moved to LaPorte in 1852 and bought a 57 acre farm in section 29 of Galena Township in 1855. He established himself as one of the foremost sawmill and threshing men of the area and the post office serving the area was moved to his farm after the hamlet of Hesston declined. In the early part of the last century there was a store, post office and a twon hall which had an upper story used for lodgings. This was short-lived and Galena remains one of the more isolated sections of the county. The location of Hatch's Mill would have been found at what was knoen as the Koster property along 900N in 1971. However the sawmill was located where the small tributary of the Galene River crosses County Road 200E just north of the old Galena School site.
Hesston aka Hesston Corners is a well known name for longtime county residents. Today there is a store and tavern on this corner. The name is derived from P. M. Hess, another native New Yorker who settled in Galena Twp in 1856. He operated a store for three years and also ran a sawmill along the Galena River. For a brief period Hesston was the area post office and was one of the nodal rural hubs of that section of Galena. Schoolhouses were built just to the east and west of Hesston (Mud Creek to the west of Goit to the east) and a local church. Hess became a prosperous farmer in the area and once owned over 100 acres.
Even before the arrival of P. M. Hess, the corner had already become a focal point. One of the early settlers, Matthew Mayes, arrived in 1833, aided in the building of a saw mill then, the following year, bought his own farm and opened a blacksmith shop. The corner that would later become known as Hesston was known at this time as Mayes' Corner. The was a heavily lumbered area and was well known for the manufature of barrels, wagon wheels and various other forms of woodwork. Hesston can still be found, simply visit the interestion of County Roads 1000N and 200E. Just West of Hesston on 1000N you can find the Hesston Steam show.Hillsdale - was a railroad stop on the South Shore Railroad in section 26 of Galena Township. It was located about halfway between the Smith Station and the stop at Hudson Lake. Its location today is at the junction of the railroad and County Road 425 E.
Holmesville - was a railroad village in New Durham Township and was platted in 1855 by Hiram Holmes. Legal description states it was 22 lots in the southeast corner of section 4 of New Durham Twp. just south of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad (Penn Central). The small village was just one block in a north-south direction, but was intersected by three streets, High, Walnut and Beech.
The village was associated with the coming of the railroad but had been occupied previously. A sawmill had been erected there in 1833 by Jacob Bryant and another one at a later date by Henry Larray. Bryant built the first home which was later occupied by John Moorman. A post office was establish in 1852 with a Mr. Prosser as the postmaster. Holmesville also had a grocery store and a tavern.
Most noted citizen of Holmesville was Samuel S. Davis, born in New York State in 1825. The family moved to Indiana in 1835 and Mr. Davis was primarily a merchant in his early years. Once settled in the Holmesville area he became a successful farmer and acquired of 200 acres and also served as the area postmaster.
Holmesville, even with the rail depot and a post office did not prosper as much as Otis, two miles to the West. Holmesville was never more than a small cluster of homes and stores.
There are few traces of Holmesville today which is on the east side of Holmesville Road just south of its intersection with Snyder Road. Holmesville remains only a memory.Hoyville Station - A railroad stop on the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad and situated in section 29 of Prairie Twp. Although in the 1890's it looked like an ideal spot for a village in the area where the Kankakee marshes were being drained, but no village ever developed and it soon vanished. Area old timers remember the area for the Nickel Plate railroad going through.
Hudson- a number of communities bearing the name Hudson in them have been established at one time or another. In Hudson Township, Hudson Lake (known in the old days as La du Chemin) the largest inland water body in the county. Settlement of Hudson Lake was first officially founded as the village of Lakeport in June of 1834 by John Egbert. Although it was settled much earlier and used by the French, British and many Indians. Similar to the area east of Westville it was the earliest of the focal settlement points in the county. For a short time Lakeport, soon after known only as Hudson was a rival of all other settlements in the county and had a post office as early as 1834. The village was laid out on the east edge of the lake with the business district arranged around a powerful steam mill erected by Garrett Bias. But 1835 there were two taverns catering to the daily coach trace and the village was one of the major marketing center for farm goods in the area.
In 1837 the town almost died during the panic, not only because of the financial crisis but also because local residents had been caught up in the speculative fever of a proposed canal that was to be dug from Toledo to New Buffalo and was to pass through Hudson Lake. Because of the speculation and rumor, the lots became too costly, therefore settlers chose elsewhere to plant their roots. Even many of the villages prominent citizens left and the village was doomed to remain a small rural hamlet.
The present Hudson Lake came to be because of a number of subdivisions which now surround the Lake. The first of these was Hudson Lake Villa and it was platted in 1926 with 259 lots plotted. In May, 1927, Henry Holling filed a plat for Hudson Heights with 83 lots on the southern edge of Husdon Lake and in October of that year George M Illges founded Hudson Lake Beach on the northeastern margin of the Lake. Hudson Meadows was platted by Mary Danielson and Eli Enos 92 lots were laid out in 1950 east of Hudson near county line. All of these subdivisions combined today are known as residents of Hudson Lake.Independence - had two locations noted in LaPorte County. The first was a village in the eastern portion of Wills township which is now known as Sauktown. It was settled before 1833 and a village platted in 1837 and was situated in section # 28 which was at the site of the first common school in Wills Twp. In this location was a store, cabinet shop, a boot and shoe shop, a wagon shop and a tailor shop. Shortly after a gristmill was built by the Galbreath family but was discontinued when the water dried up. Another mill was built and run until 1851 but it was moved north to Puddletown. Since then nothing remained at Independence or Sauktown, except the public schools. The old cemetery in the area still exists and is known as Sauktown cemetery but the church bearing the same name is no longer there.
The other Independence was a most irregularly shaped piece of land platted next to the Cummins addition next to the city of LaPorte in 1859. It included 20 parcels of property, including the residence of Gen. Jasper Packard, one of the county's early an most respected citizens. Jacob Wile, Joseph Guggenhime, Mary McCoy, William Walton, J. A. Caldwell and Thomas Gleason were some of the other property owners. Independence is now a part of LaPorte and lies about one mile south of the courthouse bounded somewhat irregularly by Warwick, Michigan, Monroe and Wiley streets.
Indian Point was located in the extreme southeastern section of Noble Twp. along Mill Creek (once known as Markham's Creek) where the Pottawattomie Indians had a trail which entered into the swamps of the Kankakee marshes. It was occupied by the Indians until their forced removal from Northern Indiana in 1837.
ISH-KWAN-DEM - was a semi-permanent Pottawattomie Indian village located along the Sauk Trail just west of what is now Westville. The village disappeared soon after the first settlers began arriving in the county.
To be continued.......
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