Howell Viaduct

The viaduct was built as a part of the Dixie B Highway in 1914. It was built so traffic from Henderson Road could reach Stinson Avenue by going across the set of railroad tracks. It no longer exists in Howell and cut off the neighborhood from much of the traffic they received because of it.

The Howell viaduct was planned to be constructed in 1913 by L&N Railroad and the Howell council. It would temporarily shut down Stinson Avenue so L&N could lay down 14 new tracks.^[1] By July 1914, the viaduct was nearing its completion and traffic would be transferred from Stinson Avenue and Henderson Road to the Viaduct.^[2] It was included in a 1914 map of Evansville and Howell located at the end of Stinson Avenue.^[3]

There were multiple accidents involving the injury of people either at or surrounding the viaduct. In June of 1918, a man who had been working on his farm, sat on the viaduct for several hours to cool down, a witness said that the man had tried to catch his hat that had blown off the side causing him to fall off of the viaduct and end up in the hospital.^[4] Only a year later in July of 1919, another grimmer situation happened involving the finding of a dead man's body next to the tracks that went under the viaduct, he was found to be from Alabama. ^[5] Later that same year, a man's car flipped around a mile away from the viaduct, where he was found trapped under his car by a fishing party, and luckily, he suffered no major injuries.^[6]

In 1922, a repair initiative was made to fix Henderson Road by extending it from the Howell Viaduct and bring it closer to the Henderson Bridge.^[7] However, while this seems like a completely fair project, many were opposed. The county auditor at the time believed that it wasn't necessary to extend the road.^[8] When it went before the county council, the decision was divided, opponents mostly composed of taxpayers were concerned that while there would be a new addition to the viaduct, the current road would keep its bad condition.^[9] This proposal never went through and eventually repairs needed to be done to the viaduct anyway. In 1926, General Evans wrote a letter to the count High Superintendent, which stated that the conditions of Henderson Road over the viaduct consist of it being caved in on the right-hand side and had been there for over a month. He also mentioned that the entrances to the viaduct were very rough and needed to be smoothed.^[10] It is unknown if this letter ever produced any actual changes.

The viaduct was eventually deconstructed in 1975 with much push back from the community surrounding the railroads. A specific instance in 1976 where a fire truck was prevented from reaching its destination due to passing trains really pushed the pro-viaduct narrative of the area.^[11] In October of 1976, a road was built to bypass the tracks in order to make even more room for railroad expansion, just as the viaduct had previously done.^[12]

As far as now, the viaduct is still no longer there and there is no leftover spot showing where it stood. The most recent picture that I took myself shows the end of Stinson Avenue where the viaduct previously stood, and it is clearly shown that it's no longer there.

^[1] "Remonstrances Against Viaduct are Heard." The Evansville Press (Evansville) June 11th, 1913. .

^[2] "Howell Viaduct is Near Completion." The Evansville Courier (Evansville) July 16th, 1914. , 8-8.

^[3] 1914 Evansville and Howell Map in Evansville, Indiana, USI David L. Rice Library: University Archives and Special Collections. Accessed October 23rd, 2023. https://digitalarchives.usi.edu/digital/collection/p17218coll2/id/6823/rec/1.

^[4] "Overheat Caused Fall From Viaduct." Evansville Press (Evansville) June 20th, 1918. , 1-1.

^[5] "Man Killed by Train Was From Ozark, Ala.." The Evansville Courier (Evansville) July 26th, 1919. , 14-14.

^[6] "Car Pins and Gags Him." The Evansville Courier (Evansville) September 18th, 1919. , 1-1.

^[7] "Make County Budget." Evansville Press (Evansville) September 5th, 1922. , 1-1.

^[8] "Road Defeat Seen." Evansville Press (Evansville) September 6th, 1922. , 1-1.

^[9]"Opposition to Road Grows." Evansville Press (Evansville) September 7th, 1922. , 1-1.

^[10] "General Evans' Letter." The Evansville Press (Evansville) November 8th, 1926. , 6-6.

^[11] McAuliffe, Paul. "Help Was Only a Blocked Railroad Crossing Away." The Evansville Press (Evansville) September 8th, 1976. , 23-23.

^[12] McAuliffe, Paul. "Road Built to Bypass Tracks to Get a Rail Spur Across it." The Evansville Press (Evansville) October 29th, 1976. , 17-17.

Howell Viaduct, Historic Evansville. Accessed October 23rd, 2023. https://www.historicevansville.com/site.php?id=howellviaduct.