Source: NMHS Newsletter, May 1995
Early Highways of Commerce
Information for the following article was taken from
Helm's History of Wabash County published in 1884 as
well as from a Journal article.
... In 1850, the project of a railroad was first
agitated in the township. North Manchester was to be
placed in direct communication with Detroit, and for
awhile it looked as though the hopes of the citizens
were to be realized. A large amount of grading was done,
but suddenly the company failed, and the railroad
project lapsed into inactivity. Twenty years passed, and
the enterprise was revived and prosecuted vigorously. In
1871 it became evident that Manchester was to have two
railroads, and the town received a new impetus. The
Detroit, Eel River and Illinois Railroad was completed
to this point in that year, making its terminal
connection at Logansport late in 1872; and the
Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan Railroad was completed at
very nearly the same time, with its southern terminus at
Wabash.
The bustle and activity consequent upon the construction
of these two roads marked a new era in the history of
the town, and infused a commercial life into it unknown
before. Up to that time, surrounding towns had drawn
from Manchester a large amount of trade that was
properly hers; but when it became evident that she could
offer inducements equal to any of her neighbors, this
trade was not long in finding its legitimate channel.
Manchester rapidly rose in importance, and has never
receded from her position as the second town in the
county, and one of the most enterprising and flourishing
towns in Northern Indiana.
A letter written by Samuel Heeter in August of 1871
complains that "worke is plenty money scarse labor high
from 175 to 200 per Day the railroaid is the cose of aul
this the railroid is in ful Blast now of aul the Digon
and Scraching & Choping this Bets aul the general talke
is the railroaid Here now the graiding is aul Don East
But not aul Don West yet the iron is laid Within l 1/2
mile of liberty mils & Wood hav bin finished to
manchester til now But they run out of iron the last
noos was last evning that ther Was a car loid of iron in
the road coming and if that is the case the cars Vil com
to our town By next Saterday the Boys is fixing to Hav a
Big Diner When the Roaid is Don to town the North &
South Roaid Vil Bee finished to manchester this fall yet
When Wee get 2 roaides it Vil giv our town a Hist."
The railroad company offered everyone a free pass to
Detroit. Heeter's response was favorable: "if wee liv
and kep vel til it gets warm wee air going to hed
quarters. It is 196 miles up there."
In July, 1876 the JOURNAL made a positive assessment.
"Five years ago the surrounding county seats captured
most of the country trade, almost to our very doors --
being about to undersell and overbuy us, because of
better facilities for transportation. But since the
completion of our railroads and numerous mechanical
institutions, our merchants are reaching out fully half
way in all direction, and our largely increased
prosperity has made serious inroads upon the trade
heretofore enjoyed by our neighbors. In point of
numbers, our business and manufacturing establishments
will compare favorably with those of our more
pretentious neighbors and another fact worthy of note -
and one that speaks volumes in our favor, is that amid
the crash of business all around us, no house
established in business here previous to the panic of
1873 has failed in consequence of it."
RAILROADS
“The Railroads Make North
Manchester” in Weesner, History of Wabash County
(1914), 377:
Chester Township first agitated a
railroad during 1850, the year of the completion of the
plank road between La Gro and Liberty Mills; and the
railway project gave North Manchester a broader outlook
than she had heretofore enjoyed. It was proposed to
place that town in direct communication with Detroit,
and for a time it looked as if the hopes of the citizens
were to be realized. A large amount of grading was done,
but suddenly the company failed and the proposed
railroad evaporated.
Twenty years passed and in 1871,
when it became evident that North Manchester was to have
two railroads, the town revived and all kinds of
enterprises blossomed within its limits. In the year
named the Detroit, Eel River & Illinois was completed to
Manchester, making its terminal connection at Logansport
late in 1872; and the Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan
Railroad was completed at about the same time, with its
southern terminus at Wabash. Up to that time,
surrounding towns had drawn from Manchester a large
amount of trade which would have been hers, provided she
had enjoyed sufficient transportation facilities to
handle it. With the coming of these railroads the
progress of the place was rapid and unimpeded, and for
many years she has been considered one of the most
enterprising and flourishing towns in Northern Indiana.
“Railroads and Towns” in Weesner,
History of Wabash County, 456-7:
The general status of the railroads
which traverse Pleasant Township, as well as their
relation to the towns within its limits, in 1884, is
thus described by a local authority of those times: “The
Detroit, Eel River & Illinois Railroad was projected
about 1854, and considerable work was done upon the
route, but at that time it proved a failure. Many years
afterward the project was renewed, and this time the
enterprise was accomplished, being completed in 1871. It
enters Pleasant Township in section 21, passes through
sections 22, 15, 14, 11, 12 and 1, town 29, range 6. Its
track is in the valley of Eel River and upon the south
side of the stream. South Laketon (Ijamsville P.O.) is
the only village upon its route in this township. The
length of tracks of this railroad in Pleasant is five
miles, running in a direction nearly from northeast to
southwest, its course through Paw Paw and Pleasant being
in a straight line for eight miles from a point
southwest of Roann to about half a mile east of
Ijamsville, and in a slightly varying course two miles
more straight to the east line of Pleasant, passing
thence into Chester Township and to North Manchester.
“This railway is now combined in
the system called the Wabash, or more fully, the Wabash,
St. Louis & Pacific.”
The Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan
Railroad passed from south to north, through Wabash and
North Manchester, where it deflected to the northwest
and cut through the northeast corner of Pleasant
Township, which it left at Rose Hill, which was never
more than a postoffice and a by-station.
The 1884 account continues: “The
Chicago & Atlantic Railroad is a late enterprise, only
completed in April, 1883. It passes through the township
in a northwesterly direction, crossing the Eel River
Railroad about half a mile east of South Laketon,
passing between Laketon and Ijamsville about half a mile
from each place and spanning Eel River itself near the
latter. It crosses Silver Creek upon a high and
extensive trestlework, and the track leaves the township
near and south of the little town of New Harrisburg upon
section 35, having entered it on section 13. The length
in the township is about nine miles, crossing as it does
its entire extent from east to west. This new road is of
great advantage to Pleasant Township, since it passes
near all three of its towns, offering the direct means
of increase and development of traffic to them all, and
thus to the township at large.
“The route promises, in fact, to be
an important thoroughfare between the East and West,
possibly the most so of any road in the county. It will
be of considerable advantage, especially to the towns of
Laketon and New Harrisburg, which before its advent were
floundering helplessly and hopelessly in their distance
from railroad facilities, and will in like manner be of
great service to the country dwellers in their
respective regions.”
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