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According to the 1849 Indiana Gazetteer Huntington “with the exception of a few small prairie, the whole county was originally a dense forest.” This meant that the county was full of wildlife associated with a mid-latitude forest. Among the top predators were the gray and red wolves (Canis lupus and Canis rufus). As European Americans terraformed the area, cutting down trees, draining swamps, and doing other things to make the land farmable, there were inevitably contacts between wolves and humans.According to the 1984 Centennial Map, one such incident took place near here. The following was related in a 1928 article where F.S. Bash interviewed Mrs. Farmer, daughter of Henry Shutt, Sr., an early settler:“There used to be plenty of wolves in some localities. My cousin, William Stallsmith, told of coming along the road on horseback one night and right about where the Will Steel farm is now located, a dozen wolves started after him. They frightened his horse and it ran at top speed for several miles. The wolves gave up the chase and disappeared. But if that would have thrown him off the horse, the wolves would have torn him to pieces.”By 1908, wolves had been eradicated from all of Indiana.

The area around this intersection was the scene of a wolf chase in the mid-1800s.

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You wouldn't believe it looking around the corner of 300 W and 8000 N now, but in the mid-1800s this was a forested wilderness. Near this very intersection a Wills Stallsmith and his horse were chased home by a pack of wolves.

Wolf Chase

The sites on this tour relate the natural history of Huntington County by exploring sites where nature and man connected, as well as places you can visit to explore or be educated about nature.

Natural Huntington

From travelling along the canal to the railroad, interurban, and a short-lived paddlewheel "taxi," Huntington County has provided a number of ways to transport people to their personal adventures. Locations of pigeon roosts, wolf chases, bear swamps, elephant captures, legends of lost silver, amusement parks, road and water racing events have drawn groups of residents for entertainment, excitement, and/or hunting adventures.

Adventures of Yesteryear in Huntington County

Huntington County has had libraries almost since its founding. One of the earliest was established by the “Working Men’s Institute” and founded in 1855. The HCTPL traces its roots to this library which, in turn, provided the foundational materials to a subscription library founded in 1874 called the Public School Library. In 1889 the library was reorganized under state law to become a “free” library supported by a tax levy. The new name was “City Free Library.” From 1889 until a building completed with funds from Andrew Carnegie opened in 1903, the library was housed in the city high school.The library changed names in 1971 to the Huntington Public Library when it separated from the school library. It changed again in 1975 when the service area was expanded to include Huntington Township. Since then, it has been the Huntington City-Township Public Library even though in 2003 the service area expanded with the merger of the Markle Library.The 1903 Carnegie Library building still stands at 44 E. Park and is now the location of TCB Games. The current building opened in 1987 and was expanded twice: in 1996 and 2010. A major remodeling was completed in 2019. The main length of the building was designed to resemble a canal boat with the prow rising above the entrance. The entrance even sits on top of the former route of the Wabash &amp; Erie Canal.

The Huntington City-Township Public Library (HCTPL) serves the people of both the city and township of Huntington as well as the town of Markle. Teachers and students in the county schools, another primary/secondary school with a presence in the service area, or Huntington University are also eligible for library cards. It has a large room dedicated as the B. Joan Keefer Genealogy and Local History Center in the main branch, and a small History Room in the Markle branch.

Huntington City-Township Public Library

From the 1879 Combined Atlas: “July 3, 1835, the water of the St. Joseph River Reached Huntington in the canal, and, on the evening of the same day, the canal-boat “Indiana,” Capt. Fairfield, an “old salt” in command, arrived from Fort Wayne and landed at the upper lock, then known as “Burk’s Lock,” bringing a large and very enthusiastic party of gentlemen from Fort Wayne, who, on their arrival, were greeted with loud cheers by and equally enthusiastic assemblage of people of Huntington , and repeated salutes with the cannon which Dr. George A. Fate had brought from Dayton, Ohio, expressly for the occasion of celebrating the opening of the canal to Huntington. After the interchange of enthusiastic greetings and partaking of the hospitalities prepared by the citizens of Huntington, the party returned to Fort Wayne early in the morning of the “Glorious Fourth,” with a large number of people of Huntington, including Dr. Fate with the cannon, the booming of which announced their arrival, to the delight of the boys and the great sacrifice of glass on Columbia Street of that City.”Locks are one of the features of a canal which allows the passage of canal boats to travel on uneven terrain. One of the pictures shows the basics of how locks work. Just 8 years after the first landing at Huntington, the canal was open to the navigable section of the Wabash at Lafayette. The canal’s heyday was short-lived. Twenty years after the Huntington to Fort Wayne section of the canal opened, the first rail line connected the same two cities.

At the southeast corner of the intersection.Inscription: 1835-1873    The canal boat "Indiana" docked here on the evening of July 3, 1835, opening the Wabash and Erie Canal to traffic from Fort Wayne to Huntington. This was the first section of the canal opened in Indiana. John Burk, for whom the lock was named, was a member of the first Board of Commissioners of Huntington County.

Burkes Landing Marker

Flint Creek was submerged and an aqueduct built just north of the corner of First and Tipton. This vital creek provided the fresh water needed by the Huntington Brewery and flows past the Court House, under the City Building and exits into the Little River behind the Duke Energy Building. Today, stonework that might date back to the time of the canal can still be seen if one looks closely.“‘How did the canal cross Clear Creek?’ Mr. Crandal was asked. ‘They build aqueducts over the creeks,’ he explained. ‘There was one at Clear Creek and one at Silver Creek. There was one at the place where Flint creek enters the sewer and another at Roanoke. The aqueducts were water-tight and worked all right.’” Canal aqueducts can bend your mind a bit since they represent a water “road” going over a natural water way. They are also sometimes called water bridges.

Flint Creek Aqueduct was the fourth aqueduct built on the canal starting at Fort Wayne and moving southwest. It allowed Flint Creek to flow into Huntington city unhindered by the canal. The original aqueduct had a total length of 28 feet.We don't know how much of the current entrance to the underground is from the canal and how much is modifications made when Flint Creek was covered over in the late 1800s, but the construction of the arch and the materials on top of the arch are believed to be in the original style at least.

Flint Creek Aqueduct

The Erie Stone Company was organized in February 27, 1906. At the location that is now Lake Clare, stone was quarried by hand and only two sizes were made, railroad ballast (the support base for railroad tracks and ties and crusher run (blended mix of course and fine aggregate used frequently in cement and for gravel roads). Operations at this site were discontinued in 1934 and the area was allowed to fill with water. A 1935 newspaper article speaks of the lake reading 40 feet deep in some spots and the conservation department was going to stock fish (Black bass, bluegill, rock bass and some sorts of trout) in the lake.C. H.W. (Clare Hobart Williams) Bangs (1890-1973) was a mayor of Huntington, president of Huntington College, lawyer and editor of Huntington News. In 1933, he was charged with criminal libel and continued to run the paper from jail. In 1934, he was elected mayor of Huntington, Indiana, but he continued to serve jail time sporadically before being released in December 1940. Lake Clare was named after the mayor.The Works Project Administration (WPA) began improvements to the land surrounding the abandoned quarry in 1937-38, while Mayor Bangs was still in office. Among the first enhancements added after basic grading and landscaping were the entrance pillars, a children’s wading pool, and an artificial beach. Later the beach became the basis for a larger swimming area. The park became extremely popular with residents and remained so for over 30 years. A change in management and land ownership/rental issues caused the park to close in the fall of 1968 except for special events until the park was purchased by Huntington Township in 1979.Besides fishing, which continues to be popular in the stocked lake, Lake Clare has hosted motor boat races on and off since 1937. The latest series of races began in 2010 and are held annually. They are sponsored by the Indiana Outboard Association and named in honor of Harry Brinkman, a long-time racer. Starting in 1957 and running until 1986, Lake Clare hosted annual distance swimming races for the Amateur Athletic Union. Known as the “Huntington Mile Swim,” these races brought the best swimmers from around the country. Periodic attempts to revive the meets have been made since 2010.In 2017, a fitness park was installed on the lake’s north side with 20 obstacles of varying difficulties. The inability to maintain this area because of vandalism caused it to be shuttered after only a couple of years. However in July of 2021 it was revitalized, reopened and can be used.

Sometimes spelled “Lake Claire.”A flooded stone quarry named for former Mayor Bangs that has a fitness park, picnic tables and fishing. It occasionally hosts motor boat and swimming races.

Lake Clare

The Wabash and Erie Canal was established as a means of transportation for both people and materials. The canal was difficult to construct and maintain due to flooding, mosquitoes and natural growth. Because of different water heights, locks were necessary in the construction of the canal. A lock allows water levels to rise or fall by opening or closing the ends of the chamber and raising or lowering water amounts in that area. In the days of the canal, “locking” would happen approximately one foot of water per minute, thus adding to travel time. Dickey Lock (Lock #1, later renamed Lock #4) was the first lock to “step down” from the St Joseph River out of Fort Wayne. This lock was made of wooden timbers, but other locks were made from cut stone or composite (building stone that was of an inferior quality). The brothers Dickey (John, William and Robert) were very involved in canals in both Ohio and Indiana. In 1847, Dickey, Doyle &amp; Dickey had a packet boat business on the Wabash &amp; Erie Canal. These packet boats (also known as canal boats) had a set price for travel, a regular schedule, and were approximately thirteen feet wide by ninety-five feet long. It is likely that this early lock was named after one or all of the Dickey brothers.The town of Roanoke was founded near the Dickey lock, with L.G Jones building first a saw mill and later a flour mill near the lock. The population of the town continue to increase from 1840 to 1849.In 1855 the Lake Erie, Wabash and St. Louis Railroad completed its first segment from Huntington to Fort Wayne with regular service between the two cities beginning the next year and was complete to St. Louis before 1859. This route followed the Wabash and Little Rivers nearly paralleling the canal between Fort Wayne and Lafayette. Rail travel was faster and more cost efficient, causing the canal to be abandoned in 1873.

First lock west of summit level of Wabash and Erie Canal (connected Lake Erie with Ohio River in 1853). Known as Dickey Lock. Built as Lock 1, 1834-1835, of wood construction; renumbered Lock 4 as result of canal completion to Ohio line (1840). Remnant of arch culvert nearby. Canal important to founding of Roanoke.

Wabash & Erie Canal Lock 4

In her township by township series, Jean Gernand relates the following:“Old settlers recalled stories of a huge wild pigeon roost on the present 400 East just south of SR 114. The weight of the birds was so heavy it would cause the side limbs of the trees to break. It was said that by the 1920s these birds were extinct, so it could be assumed that they were passenger pigeons.”Passenger pigeons went extinct because they were overhunted as adults, their nests were disturbed, and their young were also collected. (Pigeons were advertised as cheap and tasty food.) Their extinction made national news and had such a public reaction that the beginnings of the modern wildlife conservation movement are attributed to it by at least some sources.

At one time there were billions of passenger pigeons in the U.S. Flocks were so large that migrations would take over twelve hours to pass overhead. Stories indicate that the birds had a roost in this area. It is unknown if this was a nesting place or a resting place. Either was possible in this part of Indiana. The last passenger pigeon known to have been hunted in Indiana was in 1902 in far southeastern Franklin County. The last known pigeon died in captivity in 1914.

Passenger Pigeon Roost

In a story from Township by Township.“An area in the western part of the township was known as Bear Swamp. It contained the largest bear population in the county. Harrowing tales are told of people getting lost in the swamp and livestock getting mired down in the mud.Driving west of Bippus it is still possible to see how the Erie Railroad tracks were elevated because of the swamp. Another story tells of an early church service that was interrupted by a bare-chested John Abbott, who announced, ‘I’ve treed a bare!”At this point, all male parishioners promptly left the service went home to get their rifles and surrounded the tree. Abbott had tied his shirt and vest around the tree to keep the bear from climbing down. Upon his command the men took aim, fired and the unfortunate bruin came tumbling down.”The characteristics that made the swampy land appealing to bears also resulted in land appealing to farmers. Swampy land is good farmland – if it can be drained – because of the deep deposits of biomass that turns into rich soil. Beginning in 1873, a series of state laws made drainage associations legal and defined how ditches could be paid for (ultimately by the people through whose land the ditch passed).In his 1914 history of the county, Bash has this to say about the swamps:“Old settlers can remember when certain portions of Huntington County were too wet for agricultural purposes, especially in the early spring when the snows melted, to which were frequently added heavy rains. These low, wet lands were the last to be settled and in their original state they were the source of much of the fever and ague with which the pioneers had to contend. Drainage has improved the land and brought it under cultivation, increasing the profits of the owner many fold. While the advantages to the owner of the swamp land may be reckoned in a pecuniary sense, the drainage of these lands has conferred a lasting benefit upon all the adjacent territory by improving the sanitary conditions, thus stamping out malaria and enhancing the general health of the inhabitants.”So, Bear Swamp was drained by area farmers when they installed tile from the many nearby tile factories to feed the ditches they dug as common improvements. There may be more tile under Warren Township than any other due to its original character.

Much of western Warren Township was originally swampy land. Now, there are just pockets here and there. The swamps probably drew bears for a couple of reasons: good fishing and few people. Carroll Ditch is part of the system of ditches and drains that were installed to make the land arable (farmable).

Bear Swamp

According to an 1897 news article, Silver Creek received its name after a theft of silver that was to be used to pay the Native Americans in accordance with the treaty. One box of silver coins went missing. After much looking and interrogation of one of the members of the party, the box was found in the little stream that flowed through the northeastern part of Lagro Township and Huntington County covered by some flat rocks.The Wabash &amp; Erie Canal website explains the aqueduct works: “The purpose of an aqueduct is to carry the canal and its towpath over a river, a ravine, a railroad, or a road. Typically, the towpath is carried across an aqueduct on stone arches, while the canal itself is carried across in an adjacent heavily-braced wooden trough resting on stone piles.”The arch began as a wooden structure over Woodworth’s Creek (later named Silver Creek) but in the 1850s was changed to a stone structure to improve and strengthen the structure. In 1984, a newspaper article spoke of the Silver Creek bridge/aqueduct to be over grown with trees and shrubs. Richard Ness, who owns the land, worked to restore and preserve the bridge structure. In 2013, Mr. Ness received the Virginia R. Miller Award from the Huntington County Historical Society.

Please stay on the U.S. 24 bridge above Silver Creek. Much of what you can see is private property.The stone arch and broad straight &amp; smooth grassland running east towards Huntington comprise a remnant of the Erie &amp; Wabash canal. The arch was restored around 2012 by the property owner. It is all that remains of the towpath of over Silver Creek.Canal aqueducts can bend your mind a bit since they represent a water “road” going over a natural water way. They are also sometimes called water bridges.

Silver Creek Canal Remnants & Legend

Modoc the elephant spent her third night of freedom in the woods to the north. Somewhere near here a group of men surrounded her trying to aid in her capture. When she broke through the circle Kenneth Kindley and Modoc ran into each other. Kenneth was left with a spinal injury which had him walking with the aid of a pair of crutches for the rest of his life.Her journey began on Wednesday, November 11th, 1942, when she and her sister pachyderms were waiting to enter the gymnasium at the Wabash high school for a fund raiser. A pack of dogs began barking and running through the elephant’s legs. All three elephants left the scene. Empress and Judy didn’t go far and were soon back under control, but not before making a mess in nearby basement. Modoc ran further. Far enough that she caught the enticing smell of roasting peanuts in the Bradley Drug Store at the corner of South Miami and Market Streets. Entering the store, she did considerable damage, but made away with a belly full of fresh-roasted peanuts. From there she was off to IN-13. That night she crossed the Wabash. Thursday, she made it past Lagro then had a rest in a thicket. Friday morning, she was near the Salamonie and had an encounter with a female reporter that escaped by climbing a nearby tree. Modoc continued her escape, crossing either the Wabash or Salamonie Rivers as necessary to elude her pursuit. By Friday morning she was on the J. R. McDaniel home, and/or a little ways away in an extensive thicket that was on a farm belonging to Glenn Barnett and where a man named Kenneth Kindley lived. Police and well-meaning locals surrounded the area. Somehow, Modoc was scared further and in making her escape “rolled” on Mr. Kindley, injuring him so badly the papers gave him only a 50-50 chance of surviving. After her escape, she started towards Monument City putting a panic into the townsfolk who immediately hid or left the area. She circumvented the town and wound up in another copse of trees on the farm of Lloyd and Claude Krieg. (See tour stop Modoc Capture.) One more cold night and then she was captured as the sun set Sunday evening.Today, Bradley’s Drug Store is called Modoc’s Market in memory of her escapades there. Kenneth Kindley survived and was given the nickname “Modoc Man.” Unfortunately, his encounter with the elephant left him permanently disabled; he was only able to walk with the aid of two crutches.

Modoc the elephant spent her third night of freedom in the woods to the north. Somewhere near here, Kenneth Kindley and Modoc ran into each other. Kenneth was left with a spinal injury which had him walking with the aid of a pair of crutches for the rest of his life.

Modoc Overnight

In 1942 this farm was owned by Lloyd Krieg and his brother Claude. In the woods on the farm, possibly the clump still in existence, Modoc made her last stand. After several more hours and about 30 loaves of fresh bread, the frightened animal was enticed to leave and rejoin her circus sisters, Judy and Empress. She was dehydrated and had lost approximately 800 of her 1900 pounds. But, other than that and a slight cold (for which she was given six quarts of whiskey), she was in good shape. By Christmas, she had gained most of the weight back. She went on to continue her circus career for many more years.Her journey began four days earlier, on Wednesday, November 11th, 1942, when she and her sister pachyderms were waiting to enter the gymnasium at the Wabash high school for a fund raiser. A pack of dogs began barking and running through the elephant’s legs. All three elephants left the scene. Empress and Judy didn’t go far and were soon back under control, but not before making a mess in nearby basement. Modoc ran further. Far enough that she caught the enticing smell of roasting peanuts in the Bradley Drug Store at the corner of South Miami and Market Streets. Entering the store, she did considerable damage, but made away with a belly full of fresh-roasted peanuts. From there she was off to IN-13. That night she crossed the Wabash. Thursday, she made it past Lagro then had a rest in a thicket. Friday morning, she was near the Salamonie and had an encounter with a female reporter that escaped by climbing a nearby tree. Modoc continued her escape, crossing either the Wabash or Salamonie Rivers as necessary to elude her pursuit. By Friday morning she was on the J. R. McDaniel home, and/or a little ways away in an extensive thicket that was on a farm belonging to Glenn Barnett and where a man named Kenneth Kindley lived. (See tour stop PO-001 Modoc Overnight.) Police and well-meaning locals surrounded the area. Somehow, Modoc was scared further and in making her escape “rolled” on Mr. Kindley, injuring him so badly the papers gave him only a 50-50 chance of surviving. After her escape, she started towards Monument City putting a panic into the townsfolk who immediately hid or left the area. She circumvented the town and wound up in another copse of trees on the farm of Lloyd and Claude Krieg. One more cold night and then she was captured as the sun set Sunday evening.Today, Bradley’s Drug Store is called Modoc’s Market in memory of her escapades there. Kenneth Kindley survived and was given the nickname “Modoc Man.” Unfortunately, his encounter with the elephant left him permanently disabled; he was only able to walk with the aid of two crutches.

Modoc the circus elephant was captured just to the southeast of this spot in 1942. After five days on the run, she could rest, recuperate, and rejoin her sister pachyderms.

Modoc Capture

Forks of the Wabash is the area in which the Little River (also known as Little Wabash and La Petite Rivière) and the Wabash River meet. This area has been known since the early 1600s by traders as part of the shortest route between the lower Great Lakes (Lakes Erie and Ontario) and the Mississippi River. It was a village and headquarters for the Miami Indians after Chief Richardville’s death in 1941. Beginning in 1818, the Miami ceded portions of their land to the United States government, first to the south of the Wabash and then to the north. A few places were “reserved” for use by various individuals, families, and groups. Even these diminished, so that by 1840 only individual and family lands remained and most Miami were forced to relocate to Kansas and then Oklahoma. While the marker stands on the east side of State Route 9 in a grassy area off the shoulder of US 24, a trail head is nearby that offers a paved path to walk (handicap accessible) in the area of the Forks. Continuing on US 24 west, on the left side of the road after passing over State Route 9 is the Historical Forks of the Wabash.Historic Forks of the Wabash is dedicated to honoring prior generations and educating visitors about those generations. The Chief’s House has been restored to 1846. While there is some conflicting information on whether the house was built by Chief Jean Baptiste Richardville or by this son-in-law Chief Francis LaFontaine, there is no doubt of the historical significance of the house. Also located on the property is the Nuck log house, an 1841 pioneer log cabin and a schoolroom furnished to the 1880s. In the 1990s, Ball State University did excavation work during a restoration of the Chief’s House. The full report of their findings can be viewed at the Keefer Center at the Huntington City Township Public Library.

The junction of the Wabash and Little rivers, 100 yards south, was the western terminus of the Maumee-Wabash long portage and, in 1835, of the first section of the Wabash and Erie Canal. During the 18th century French and English traders passed this way and, in 1778, Henry Hamilton brought 171 British troops and 350 Indians with 40 boats through the portage enroute to retake Fort Sackville at Vincennes. Three Miami villages were located here and Chiefs Richardville and LaFontaine once lived here. The Forks was the scene of many Indian councils and the Miami Treaties of 1834, 1838 and 1840.

Forks of Wabash

The first depot was a wooden shack. This was then replaced with a wooden building. The current building was designed to include the railroad offices, a waiting room, men’s and woman’s restroom, a heating plant and baggage room. The contact was awarded to Walsh Construction Company of Chicago and the estimated cost was $60,000. The building has served many functions; a passenger station for the Wabash Railroad, a station for the Norfolk &amp; Western Railroad, by 1979 it sat vacant, in 1989 the Express Printing business was housed here. In 2013, John and Shelly Shenkel donated the station to the city of Huntington to be used as a hub for the trails and greenway. The station has been renamed Schenkel’s Station. The Huntington County Interim Report, 2nd Edition, labels the architecture style as Craftsman/Art Deco. Art Deco was popular from 1925 to 1940 in Indiana. The Art Deco features of this building are the simple building design with flat roof, geometrical details, stylized floral motifs and the herringbone brick panels. The Wabash Railroad Depot is location number 81 on the National Register of Historic Places registration form for the Huntington Courthouse Square Historic District which was approved in 1992.

Built in 1928, the former Wabash Railroad Passenger Station was completed using brick and stone. In 1855, the first train arrived in Huntington from Fort Wayne along the newly built Erie, Wabash &amp; St. Louis Railroad. Much later, the station saw the passing of the famous Wabash Cannonball. The Cannonball was named after the song of the same name which was originally written in the 1880s and re-popularized in 1929 by the Carter Family (including Johnny Cash's future mother-in-law) and 1932 by Roy Acuff. The Cannonball operated on this line from 1950 until 1971.A separate baggage station for freight and other large baggage was built at the opposite end of the courthouse. Most recently it functioned as Pizza Junction.

Schenkel's Station

In 1906 the approximately 60 foot Lady Washington took passengers from the mill dam at the foot of Whitelock Street to the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Bridge, a distance of just over a quarter mile. A few weeks after starting its runs, this route was extended another few hundred feet northeast to the fairgrounds (between the railroad bridge and the Schacht Piano Company). It is believed that this boat was built on the shores of Little River. While traveling, the passengers were treated to piano playing for them to dance. The maximum capacity was said to be 250 passengers.It appears that the concept behind the boat run was to be a sort-of early town bus, taking people from downtown at the mill dam to a landing at the foot of the fairgrounds. It took a minimum of four people to operate the boat: the captain, a pilot, an engineer, and a machinist. Because it was a paddle boat, it needed to turn around at each end of its route before it could make the return trip. Originally trips took about 45 minutes one way, but that time was decreased somewhat as the captain and pilot gained experience with the boat and the river. Still, a person could have walked the same distance in 10 to 15 minutes, even if they were walking at a leisurely rate. Additionally, weather (which affected the depth of water in the river, both high and low) and mechanical difficulties could cause delays or cancellations of the day’s runs. Finally, the flour mill for which the dam was built was sometimes affected by the need to operate the Lady Washington. If the water was too low for the boat, the mill would sometimes shut down, closing its mill race and raising the river level somewhat. Or, the mill would operate and the boat wouldn’t.After the initial enthusiasm wore off, the number of passengers greatly decreased. As fares were only five cents, the venture did not turn a profit even though the tickets had to be bought in pairs of trips (good for a round trip or two one-way trips). It was decided to abandon this concept after a single season. Initially, a proposal was made to move the Lady Washington downriver a little and make runs between the LaFountaine Street Bridge and Brebaugh’s Island (near the Forks of the Wabash) where another park was to be developed. However, in order to enable this trip, another dam would have been required to ensure adequate water levels. So, the idea quickly foundered. Finally, it was decided to send the boat to Logansport to attempt to turn a profit at that location. Due to flooding, a sinking probably caused by flood-driven timber, and frequent beaching on shallow bars, it took over two years to get the craft to Logansport. A December 1909 article in The Wabash Plain Dealer, mentions plans between the captain of the boat and the owner Dr. McLin after the boat sank after a storm and lightening hit the prow of the boat. After much decay and inspection the boat was ordered destroyed. The engine was eventually sold to a company in Northern Michigan where it was used to saw wood. While you cannot view Lady Washington, you can walk along the Little River via the Little River Trail, which is part of the Huntington Area Recreation and Trails (HART) system.

The Lady Washington was a sternwheeler (type of boat with the paddle wheel in the back) that took passengers up and down the Little River. It would moor at Riverside Park.

Lady Washington Sternwheeler

Interurban railroads flourished in Indiana from the last decade of the 1800s through the 1920s. (The cars were driven by electric traction motors, and so many of the companies used the term “traction” in their name.) The Model T and modern roads began competing with them in the mid-1920s. The Great Depression put additional stress on the interurban companies causing accelerated consolidations and abandonment of non-profitable lines. At one time, Huntington County had two interurban lines pass through it. One ran through the city of Huntington on its way from Fort Wayne to Peru. The other passed through Warren while transporting people and goods from Bluffton to Kokomo. Both lines connected to others that allowed travel from South Bend to Louisville, as well as to Lafayette; Terre Haute; Dayton, Ohio, and many places in between.Interurbans frequently competed directly with the larger steam railroads. They were able to compete because of their more frequent trains and city-central terminals. They also allowed passengers to flag them down in between stations, which aided their popularity. Finally, the cars were usually cleaner. The interurbans were mostly electric thus eliminating the coal ash and cinders of a steam locomotive. And their cars were typically more comfortable than either regular railroad cars or streetcars/trolleys. But, as roads improved and auto ownership increased, they lost much of their competitive edge. Eventually, passenger buses and long-haul trucking services contributed to their demise. Today, many cities are trying to rebuild at least the inter-city portion of these once-vital services in an effort to reduce congestion. Since the rails no longer extend between cities, they are usually called “light rail” to distinguish them from the long range, “heavy rail,” traffic that we think of when someone says “railroad.”Huntington’s interurban history began much as its canal history, with a line that ran mostly along the canal bed from Fort Wayne to Huntington. When the line reached our city limits, it turned sharply south on First Street passing an interurban car repair shop near the intersection of Division before turning onto Market Street. At first the main city stop was outside City Hall. It later moved to what was then 31 West Market Street (now number 35). The tracks continued along Market Street to State Street. There was a freight depot just past the intersection of Lafontaine Street where the right-of-way rejoined the tow path of the old canal on its way to north of Andrews and Lagro.The first car reached Huntington on the 12th of December, 1901. In 1921 there were 10 daily trains eastbound and another 10 westbound between the hours of 5:30 a.m. and midnight. The last car left the station on the 5th of September, 1938, at which time it was replaced with bus service. Like its larger sibling, the name of the Interurban railroad changed frequently due to corporate mergers and bankruptcies.

From 1901 until 1938 Huntington had an interurban rail system. Called light rail today, these electric trains crisscrossed Indiana during a time when roads were bad and few families could afford an automobile. They provided convenient, comfortable, and affordable transportation to most of the cities of Indiana. The line that ran through Huntington came from Fort Wayne and ran to Lafayette. In Peru, passengers could connect to an Interurban line that took them to Indianapolis. At its peak, more than 8 trips per day were made in each direction. Cars were able to be serviced and repaired at a depot located just a block from First Street alongside the old heavy rail tracks (now the trail).

Adventures of Yesteryear in Huntington County

Wolf Chase

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information