Indiana Ghosts

I don't often have reason to reconnoiter the vast, rural borderlands of southeastern Hoosierland.  Yet when I do, I am struck by its suspended-state antiquity.  Or relatively so, at any (glacial) rate.  The comparably few structures that remain - by the modern civilization standard as set by Ohio - are of an age which we see fewer with each turn of the calendar.  Beyond that which remains, being that I am an aficionado of old maps, what beckons to me are the places, the communities, the towns which appear on old maps yet have vanished.  Or perhaps never truly existed but were some frontiersman's hopeful dream.  I wonder what those long-gone places may have looked like, how vibrant the activity there may once have been.  I wonder about the circumstances which may have led, so long ago, to the dissolution of a small town, or what shock of reality disturbed someones dream of community that left it abandoned.  I think about the hard lives of those who tried to forge civilization out of the 19th century wilderness of the American Midwest.  And I often wonder, what would they think if they saw this region today?  Surely, other than the asphalt ribbons of roadway, the few telephone poles and overhead electric wires, the mechanized conveyances, the odd residential satellite dish, the cleared forestland and the vast expanse of modern, semi-industrial cultivation... this region might not look much different today than it did 100, 125, 150 years ago.

Back in April of this year, I explored some of the areas with which I have some small degree of familiarity but which areas also fill my imagination with what may have been, so long ago. 

You can follow along my explorations with this 1882 map of Bath Township and this 1882 map of Springfield Township, both located in Franklin County, Indiana as well as this 1884 map of Union Township, Union County Indiana.

In the southwest corner of Section 25, Bath Township, you will see the designation of School No. 7, located at the intersection of (then) "Free Pike" and an unidentified road.  Here, below, are three photos of that corner as it appeared in the springtime of 2014:

Looking southeast (above):

Looking east (above):

Looking northwest (above).

Just north and a little northwest from School No. 7, in neighboring Union Township, Union County at the intersection, then, of "Sand-Run Turnpike" and an unnamed/unidentified road was the community of Charlottesville.  The 1884 map suggests there may have been as many as a dozen dwellings in the greater Charlottesville area.  Today, this area is devoid of human inhabitation:

Looking southwest (above):

Looking northeast (above).

Just east from Charlottesville, down (old) Sand-Run Turnpike, the 1884 map indicates a dwelling on the property of an Elizabeth Miller.  Here it is (below) as it appears today:

In the photo above you are looking westward, back towards Charlottesville.

The next farm house, below, does not appear on the 1884 Union Township, Union County map but is of similar vintage as the Elizabeth Miller dwelling and is situated on what was the property of S.Y. Miller (map reference; Section 14) in 1884:

Along the southern boundary of Section 13 on the 1884 map of Union Township, Union County you will see where School No. 6 was situated at in intersection, diagonally across from a church (both structures neighboring the S.Y. Miller property).  The photos below show this intersection as it appears today:

In the photo above, you are in the center of the intersection and looking eastward.  By whatever this east-west roadway may have been known, it has long since been vacated.  My guess is that the parallel tree lines you see at left and right, above, frame the old road.  In the photo below, your viewing position is the same but rotated 180 degrees so that you are now looking west:

The land that once was occupied by old School No. 6 is now the final resting place for the earthly remains of quite a few Hoosiers (below):

The church itself is gone.  One might theorize this cemetery was directly associated with that congregation and that the church expanded its burial ground into the area vacated by old School No. 6.

Back in Bath Township, Franklin County is the village of Mixerville (or alternately, Mixersville) which continues to be inhabited to this day by a dozen or more families.

In the heart of Mixerville stands this old structure which suggests, through outward appearance, it originally served a mixed-use purpose; storefront at lower left, residential rooms above.  One's imagination takes flight and perceives a tavern at lower right.  Perhaps it was, more mundanely, a postal office.  For those interested, this property has since been listed in the real estate market.  I will make inquiries on your behalf if you'd like.

Heading southwest out of Mixerville on Oxford Pike, one gains an appreciation for the vast, level, open expanses of this region of southeastern Indiana which undoubtedly called to early frontiersmen and frontiersbabes:

A few minutes down the Oxford Pike, away from Mixerville and into Springfield Township, Franklin County you'll pass this old church (below) - still in use today - which has a modern addition (at left):

The photo above was taken more recently, during the summer of 2014.  On the old 1882 map, this church is found in Section 3 on the property of one J.W. McClure.  The church was then identified as "M.E. Church."  I did not stop to ask its modern affiliation.  Section 3 is also home to the Springfield Township cemetery:

Due west, down the Oxford Pike is the triangular intersection of Oxford Pike and (today) Flinn Road (Section 4).  The 1882 map indicates this was where School No. 4 once stood.  Today:

In the photo above you are looking west; Oxford Pike branching to your left, Flinn Road to your right.  Just as with old Schools No. 6 & 7, old School No. 4 has disappeared.

If you turn right, from here, onto Flinn Road and drive about 30 seconds you'll pass a stately old home which is being carefully looked after:

The 1882 map shows this home on the property of a J.M. Shafer.  You will find a closer look, below:

I think this is a cool old house and the grounds are attractive, too.  Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to pay to heat and cool this home but God Bless the dedicated soul who does.

Heading further west from old School No. 4 you arrive in what once passed for Springfield, Indiana (Section 9).  Or, according to the 1882 map, "Springfield Post Office."  Turning left (south) onto Urban Road (no, it's not an ironic name; a family with the surname of Urban once lived out there) from Springfield you'll soon pass this abandoned homestead (below):

The southern end of Urban Road reaches its terminus when it intersects the misspelled Riley Pike. 

To be fair, I wonder how much travel there was between Reily and Whereabouts Unknown, Indiana in the early-to-middle 19th century and how many of those travelling this route were literate enough to know how to spell correctly "Reily."  And to be even more generous, long ago Reily used to be spelled Reiley and so the denizens of Springfield Township, IN probably didn't give much consideration as to how their Ohio neighbors may have spelt the name of that Indian Creek village.  There's a Riley Pike bridge crossing a creek there, immediately west of Urban Road, which I dared not cross:

As Riley Pike wends its way east, towards Ohio, it passes the sites of three old schools.  First, of a more modern era, the Springfield (IN) Township School which stood and/or educated students from 1922-1977:

Nice that someone, or some group, was thoughtful enough to place a marker at the former site.  I'm guessing from the marker that they were "Cardinals."  Boo!  Perhaps less coincidentally, the school neighboring immediately to the east - and in Ohio - was the home district of the Reily Bluebirds.  Yea!

Riley Pike curves around this lot.  Here's a view (below) of the old school grounds from the apex of the curve, looking northeast:

Below is a view looking southeast, from a slightly different perspective:

In the distance, at left, you can spy old School No. 5 (Section 16 on the 1882 map).  And miracle of miracles; it's still standing!  I love the old one-room school houses.  From the same perspective as the photo above, I zoomed in for a closer look:

Proceeding east on Riley Pike brought me closer to this relic of education:

Time and barbarian vandals are taking their merciless toll:

One wonders how much longer it will last?

School No. 5 has an addition from a slightly later period, at the back, of a smaller second room with its own side entrance (at right, above).  A local that I spoke with didn't know the reason why.  A residence for the school master?

Progressing further east on Riley Pike brings travellers pass old School No. 8.  And what a sad state it's in these days:

The bovine docent pictured above wasn't forthcoming with information.  The bovine security guard (below) discouraged closer examination:

The state of structural despair becomes more distressing further east on Riley Pike:

Due north from here, on Wehr Rd (Section 12 of the 1882 map), was the site for old School No. 9.  The structure is today but a memory, like so many of its fellow Springfield Township one-room school houses (scanning from left to right, below):

By my amateur survey work, the old one-room school house would've been situated on or just beyond the grassy roadside patch you see, below:

Springfield Road, itself, tunnels through a wooded lot (below, looking south):

Driving north through this woodland tunnel:

In summer, the leaves form a full canopy that envelopes the road.

One can imagine the sort of commerce that originally took place in this structure in little Raymond, IN (at the heart of Section 2 on the 1882 map):

For further reading on this subject, I highly recommend The History of Franklin County, Indiana which, personally, I find fascinating.  There's a similar reference source, published in 1882, for Butler County, Ohio which - naturally - I find even more fascinating.

Roll the credits!