Evansville and Crawfordsville Railroad
Railroad company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Evansville and Crawfordsville Railroad Company (E&CR) was Evansville, Indiana's first railroad company. It had a 160 miles (260 km) long railway that connected those two places.[1] It was renamed Evansville and Terre Haute Railroad in 1877.[citation needed] It went on to be consolidated with other railroads of the region into the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad.[2]
- William D. Griswold
- Chauncey Rose
| Evansville and Terre Haute Railroad | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Founders |
|
| Locale | Southwest Indiana |
| Dates of operation | 1853–1877 |
| Successor | Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad |
Initial incorporation and charters
The railroad was originally chartered by an Act of the Indiana legislature on 1849-01-02 as the Evansville and Illinois Railroad Company (E&IR) to connect Evansville with the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad at Olney, Illinois via Princeton.[1] This was amended on 1850-01-21 to extend the railway from Princeton to Vincennes instead, and to remove the authorisation to build to Mt Carmel, Illinois.[1][3] A separate Wabash Railroad Company had been chartered to build a railroad from Vincennes to Crawfordsville,[3] but it was merged into the E&IR on 1852-11-08, and the company name was changed by Act of the state legislature, authorising the merger, to finally become just the E&CR on 1853-03-04.[1][4]
Route and construction
Section 1 of the railroad was the 51 miles (82 km) route from Evansville to Vincennes, built at an accumulated cost of US$847,191 (equivalent to $30,357,677 in 2025) as reported in 1854 by its president Samuel Hall.[1][3] Section 2 of the railroad then went from Vincennes to Terre Haute, a route of 58 miles (93 km).[1] Section 3 of the railroad then extended from Terre Haute to Rockville, and Crawfordsville, for a further 51 miles (82 km).[5][1]
Section 2, from Vincennes to Terre Haute, was built under William D. Griswold and Chauncey Rose,[6] was opened to through traffic on November 23, 1853,[7] and completed in 1854.[8] Rose donated his stock in the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad to the Evansville and Crawfordsville to finance its construction.[9]
Section 3 was built under the presidency of John Ingle Jr (for more on whom see Inglefield, Indiana).[6] In 1854 there was a plan to proceed onwards past Crawfordsville to Fort Wayne.[1] The Rockville to Crawfordsville section was extended under a 1869-06-02 charter as the Evansville, Terre Haute, and Chicago Railroad Company, to extend to a total distance from Rockville of 55 miles (89 km) to Danville, Illinois, under the presidency of Josephus Collett.[6] This was completed by 1872.[6]
Stops
Former 19th-century stops on the railroad were:
- Field's Station[10]
- Petersburg Road[11]
- McIntire's[12]
- Rockville, (39°45′43″N 87°13′23″W) 23 miles (37 km) north by east of Terre Haute[13]
- Rosedale, (39°37′37″N 87°16′55″W) 10 miles (16 km) south of Rockville[14]
- Otter Creek, (39°32′49″N 87°20′53″W) 5 miles (8.0 km) from Terre Haute[15]
- Terre Haute, 109 miles (175 km) from Evansville[16]
- Hartford, 11 miles (18 km) south of Terre Haute[17][18]
- Farmersburg, (39°14′53″N 87°23′20″W) 11 miles (18 km) from Sullivan and 15 miles (24 km) from Terre Haute[19]
- Ascension, 11 miles (18 km) from Sullivan and 16 miles (26 km) from Terre Haute and the post-office for Farmersburgh[20][21]
- Currysville (later Curryville), (39°11′28″N 87°23′28″W) 19 miles (31 km) from Terre Haute[22]
- Sullivan, (39°06′04″N 87°24′11″W) 26 miles (42 km) from Terre Haute and 82 miles (132 km) from Evansville[23]
- Paxton's (later Paxton), (39°01′12″N 87°23′35″W) 32 miles (51 km) south of Terre Haute[24]
- Carlisle, 10 miles (16 km) south of Sullivan and 73 miles (117 km) from Evansville[25]
- Oaktown[26] (38°52′16″N 87°26′24″W) 15 miles (24 km) north of Vincennes and 66 miles (106 km) from Evansville, also known as Oak Station[27]
- Emison[26] also known as Emerson,[28](38°48′18″N 87°27′25″W) 10 miles (16 km) north of Vincennes[29]
- Vincennes[26][30] (38°40′55″N 87°31′01″W) 56 miles (90 km) north of Evansville and which was previously on the Evansville and Illinois Railroad[31]
- Purcell's,[26][32] (38°35′44″N 87°31′09″W) 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Vincennes,[33] which served the farms surrounding the then hamlet of Saint Thomas[26] (38°35′10″N 87°33′44″W) and was situated on one such farm owned by Andrew Purcell after whom it was named.[34]
- Decker[26] (38°31′08″N 87°31′37″W) 11 miles (18 km) south of Vincennes, formerly known as Decker's Station[35] and Deckertown,[36] serving both Johnson and Decker Townships[36]
- Miller's, 33 miles (53 km) north of Evansville[37]
- Hazleton, (38°29′35″N 87°32′10″W) 10 miles (16 km) north of Princeton and 38 miles (61 km) from Evansville[38]
- Patoka, (38°24′00″N 87°35′17″W) 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Princeton and 31 miles (50 km) from Evansville[38]
- Princeton, (38°21′22″N 87°34′30″W) 27 miles (43 km) north of Evansville[39]
- King's (later King), (38°18′18″N 87°34′26″W) 24 miles (39 km) north of Evansville[40]
- LaGrange, 20 miles (32 km) north of Evansville[40]
- Fort Branch, (38°14′46″N 87°34′44″W) 7 miles (11 km) south of Princeton and 20 miles (32 km) from Evansville[41]
- Haubstadt, (38°12′22″N 87°34′23″W) 10 miles (16 km) south of Princeton and 17 miles (27 km) north of Evansville
- Saint James, (38°10′55″N 87°34′16″W) 15 miles (24 km) north of Evansville[42]
- Nash Depot, 13 miles (21 km) north of Evansville[43]
- Ingles (later Inglefield), (38°06′32″N 87°33′29″W) 10 miles (16 km) north of Evansville,[44] a post-office run by John Ingles Sr the father of John Ingles Jr[45]
- Erskine, (38°02′35″N 87°32′28″W) 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Evansville[46]
- Evansville, terminus and 109 miles (175 km) from Terre Haute[47]
