Down the Rabbit Hole with Shannon

Rose Island – Ghost Amusement Park

It’s mid-spring, and dad calls me up for a road trip to Charlestown State Park. He’s heard about the possibility of ruins that go back to pre-revolutionary times when a settler allegedly constructed a fort to fight off the indigenous people in the area, who weren’t thrilled with having the white man take their land (imagine that….bad Indians….). The sun was out. It was to get around 50 degrees down by the Ohio River. Of course I’m up for a quick trip.

As usual….I came away with another unexpected story about lost Indiana.

Charlestown State Park is located along the Ohio River, approximately 15 miles from Louisville and Jeffersonville. It was once part of the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant, which was donated to the state of Indiana when the plant closed. It offers camping and over 14 miles of scenic trails. The dominating feature is an isolated bedrock ridge, “Devil’s Backbone”, which, according to legend and our reason for the trip, is the location of an ancient stone fort built by Welsh settlers who traveled along the Ohio in the 12^th century. Exploring this piece of wilderness along the Ohio, we discovered another piece of forgotten Indiana history, Rose Island.

Rose Island is actually part of a peninsula that is formed at the location where Fourteen Mile Creek empties into the Ohio River. It has been a favorite picnic and recreational area for over one hundred years, when Victorians in the 1880’s would travel up the river from Jeffersonville and Louisville for an afternoon retreat following church services. It was also a favorite location for church camps to set up. At the time, it was referred to as Fern Grove because, as you can guess, its large groves of ferns. Oddly enough, I didn’t note any ferns in my hikes that day.

In the 1800’s, the Ohio River was a major water highway, with steamboats and barges transporting people and goods from the cities in the East to the Mississippi so they could get down to Gulf of Mexico. In the mid to late 1800’s the railroad made its way to the Midwest, thus making traveling by river mostly obsolete. Fern Grove was purchased by the Louisville and Jeffersonville Ferry Company, who developed the island into a resort and retreat area. Steamboats that once carried goods now ferried families from Louisville, Jeffersonville, and Cincinnati to the island for recreation. One of those steamboats, the Idlewild, would become the famous Belle of Louisville that still can be seen majestically gracing the waters of Ohio River.

IN 1923, Louisville businessman and philanthropist, Davis Rose, purchased the island with the goal of turning it into a full fledged resort with a hotel and amusement park. Rose, having made his fortune starting the Standard Printing Company in Louisville, longed to be like his heroes, Rockefeller and Cernegie, and use his wealth to give back to the community. He had already donated much of his fortune to parks, schools, and even donating 25 acres of electric lights to Louisville and he saw the development of an amusement park/recreation resort as a good idea.

Rose Island Amusement Park opened its doors in 1923. Guests arrived on the island by boat or by land, crossing a narrow suspension bridge that crossed Fourteen Mile Creek. They were greeted by a long trail, with welcome signs and flowers bordering the trail. Guests could stay in one of the quaint cottages that overlooked the Ohio and dine in a fine restaurant. Or guests could come for the day and picnic along the river. Guests were could ride on a giant wooded ferris wheel or attend an exhibition on birds or guns. The island park also had a zoo with a pack of wolves, monkeys, and a black bear named Teddy Roosevelt. In the summer, dances and live bands performed at a dance hall, and in the winter could ice skate in that same building.

The Great Flood of 1937 sealed the fate of Rose Island. Following spring thaws and heavy rains, the Ohio River crested 19 feet above flood stage. It left nearly 1 million people homeless and 285 dead. The flood turned the waterway into a 25 mile lake, and buried Rose Island under 10 feet of water. Nearly every structure on the island was washed away. What was left was considered structurally unsafe. The Island amusement park was abandoned and left to nature.

During WWII, the area was purchased by the army to provide a buffer from the Oho River. After the war, the land was donated back to the state, and the park was established in the 1990’s. The 1990’s and the 2000’s have brought renovations back to the island. Paths were put in, along with information kiosks to tell the story of Rose Island. The iron arches were replaced. Portville Bridge was brought in to replace the swinging rope bridge. When we visited, there were no paved paths, just dirt trails from hikers. The swimming pool had not been filled in and the dirty, rain water filled the hole. It was both eerie and sad.

In the 15 years that Rose Island operated, hundreds of people across Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio visited the park. It even survived the Great Depression, when Rose covered losses so that people could still have a place to visit at a time when people desperately needed such a place; It couldn’t survive the waters of the Ohio. Rose’s goal of creating a place for recreation, as a gift, hasn’t died. Rose Island, as part of the Charlestown State Park, is once again a place for people to come and enjoy nature. Rose’s gift continues to live on.

References and for More Information:

About Us. (2020, April 27). Retrieved December 07, 2020, from https://oldregularbaptist.com/About/

Flock, C. (2020, May 28). Rose Island: Hike Through a 100-Year-Old, Abandoned Amusement Park. Retrieved December 14, 2020, from https://visitindiana.com/blog/index.php/2019/03/12/rose-island-abandoned-theme-park/

Mitchell, D. (2019, June 04). How this ‘ghost’ amusement park found a new life in Charlestown. Retrieved December 14, 2020, from https://www.indystar.com/story/news/history/retroindy/2018/08/30/abandoned-rose-island-amusement-park-enjoys-new-life-state-park/1061450002/

Old Regular Baptists. (2020, December 04). Retrieved December 07, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Regular_Baptists

Orangebeanindiana. (2019, October 25). Abandoned Rose Island Amusement Park: Indiana’s Ghost of Good Times. Retrieved December 14, 2020, from https://orangebeanindiana.com/2019/10/25/rose-island-amusement-park/

Ramsey, D. (2017, November 21). Tuned Up in the Spirit. Oxford America, A Magazine of the South. doi:https://www.oxfordamerican.org/magazine/item/1370-tuned-up-in-the-spirit

Regular Baptists. (2020, June 30). Retrieved December 0, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_Baptists

Rose Island (amusement park). (2020, August 25). Retrieved December 14, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Island_(amusement_park)

Rose Island 14 Miles Above Louisville on the Beautiful Ohio. (1930). Retrieved December 14, 2020, from https://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15078coll17/id/9429

“A Most Peculiar People”

Carrying on the southern tradition of Old Regular Baptist Church

Along a secluded stretch of SR 160, just beyond Possum Trot Rd, sits a cluster of non-distinct single story homes. Among these little vinyl sided homes sits a hidden gem, home of a group of people continuing a tradition that goes back to the early days of Christianity on the British Isles.

The only thing singling the Chester Hogg Old Regular Baptist Church out as a church and not a private residence is the sign. It’s a simple piece of rectangular wood, painted white, with black lettering. I have to admit, it was the name “Chester Hogg” that got my attention. I couldn’t help but think of the character Boss Hogg from the Dukes of Hazard.

When I set out to look up more about this strange, little building with the funny name, I expected to find out that it belonged to some off-the-wall religious nut who started a church because he didn’t get along with anyone else or had grandiose illusions of grandeur. What I found was a religion and people steeped in cultural history, carrying on traditions that have been handed down from generation to generation.

The congregation of the Chester Hogg Old Regular Baptist Church belong to a religious sect that derives its religious beliefs from the European Calvinistic Baptist Churches and dates back to the 1820’s on the Appalachian Highlands of Eastern Kentucky and Virginia. Many of the folks in this area can trace their ancestors to Ireland, Scotland, and Great Britain. They are a simple and proud God-fearing folk with many sharing a belief in “election by grace” and predestination. At the heart of their religious beliefs is that man is a sinner who does not have the free will to change his course. His only hope for salvation is through the grace of God and the acceptance of Jesus as the Lord and Savior.

The individual churches form a loose association and practice their religion in a more traditional manner that seems to be of a different era. The preachers are unpaid, and usually have no professional training. Rather preachers are God-called. The churches only meet one Sunday or weekend a month, with the members traveling to other churches in their association. Often there are three or four preachers taking the pulpit, each stepping up as God calls them to speak…their words more improvisational, more from the heart rather than a planned out sermon. Following the Pauline Doctrine, only The followers believe in baptism by immersion, with a preference for performing the ritual in “living waters: such as rivers, lakes, ponds, and creeks and include the congregation welcoming the newly baptized into the congregation through songs. A noted feature of the services is the non-instrumental, congregational hymnody called “Lining Out”. In “lining out”, a leader will by singing the first line of a hymn. As congregationalist recognize, or in most cases, feel the spirit of the Lord, they join in with the singing. With some hymns, a leader will sing one line, with the congregation repeating the line in a different, more elaborate tune. The musical style has been described as having no particular rhythm or beat, and is sometimes described more as chanting. It is considered the oldest English language religious music oral tradition in North America.

Today, there are over 350 Regular Baptist Churches with over 6,000 members within eight associations that stretch as far south as Florida and as far north as Michigan. A majority are located in Eastern Kentucky, along the Virginia border with a few located in southern Indiana. They use terms like “Old School”, “Old Regular”, “Old Order” and “Primitive” to set them apart and to show that they of the old form of worship, rejecting modern Christian innovations like Sunday School and theological seminaries.

To hear examples of “Lining Out”, click here.

References

About Us. (2020, April 27). Retrieved December 07, 2020, from https://oldregularbaptist.com/About/

Old Regular Baptists. (2020, December 04). Retrieved December 07, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Regular_Baptists

Ramsey, D. (2017, November 21). Tuned Up in the Spirit. Oxford America, A Magazine of the South. doi:https://www.oxfordamerican.org/magazine/item/1370-tuned-up-in-the-spirit

Regular Baptists. (2020, June 30). Retrieved December 0, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_Baptists

Das Deutsch House

Indy’s (Somewhat Forgotten) German Past

Maybe you’ve been to a concert at the Biergarten, eaten at the Rathskellar or enjoyed a German beer. Maybe you’re a member of the Y, or attended a play performed by the Youth Actor’s Theatre, or grabbed a cup of coffee at the Athenaeum. Perhaps as you were driving along Meridian Street, you’ve noticed an apartment building just north of the library with the name “Turnverin” etched in stone above the doorway. And perhaps, like me, you’ve never thought about the history behind any of these buildings….until today.

On Valentine’s Day, my boyfriend, Tim, had a meeting in the Coat Check Coffeehouse, located inside the Athenaeum, an ornate building in the Lockerbie Square/Mass Avenue neighborhood of Indianapolis. As usual, when left unsupervised, I began to wander. My wandering led me down a hallway and to a link to the hidden history of the early German immigrants to Indianapolis, and the legacy they left behind.

During the 1840’s, Germany was divided into an autocratic political structure of 39 independent states that made up part of the former Holy Roman Empire. At this time, many Germans were caught up in a gymnastic movement called Turnvater, which was started by Fredrich Ludwig Jahn. The Turners, as they were called, consisted mostly of working class Germans and were later joined by the growing “middle class” that was developing. They believed very strongly in education and physical wellbeing. Politically, they tended to be liberal, and were often at odds with the more conservative aristocracy, who were the ruling class in Germany at the time.

In 1848, there were a series of coordinated protests and rebellions across Germany, most often led by the Turners who were seeking a better life for themselves and their families. These protests and rebellions were quelled when the middle and working class were divided, giving the conservative aristocracy the opportunity to defeat them and forcing many of those in the rebellion to flee to America. Called the “Forty Eighter’s”, these Germans began settling in the Midwest. In Indianapolis, they settled into Germantown, now known as the Lockerbie, Mass Ave, and Chatham Arch neighborhoods.

As the Forty Eighters settled into America, they sought to preserve much of their lifestyle and heritage. They brought with them their love for music, art, and physical wellbeing, as well as interests in politics and education. Many volunteered for and fought on the side of the North during the Civil War, and they ran for local, state and Federal political positions. They opened schools for physical education, music, and academics. One of their lasting legacies was the formation of Sozialer Turneverin Atkiengesellschaft or Social Gymnastic Associations. These associations or clubs served as the center of German-American social, political, and educational culture in Indianapolis and across the country.

The first Turneverin in Indianapolis was formed by Charles Vonnegut (the great grandfather of author, Kurt Vonnegut) in 1851. In 1892, the Sozialer Turneverin Atkiengesellschaft (Stock Association) formed to raise funds and build Das Deutsche Haus (German House) in Indianapolis and in 1893, purchased two lots at the corner of New Jersey and Michigan Streets, in the heart of what was then known as Germantown, for the construction of Das Deutsche Haus for Socialer Turneverin. It was designed and constructed by the Indianapolis firm of Vonnegut and Bohn. Construction on the East Wing was begun in May, 1893 and completed in 1894. The West Wing construction began in 1897 and was completed in 1898. The Das Deutsche Haus hosted many organizations, including the German-American Veteran’s Society, German-American School Society, Socialer Turnverein Women’s Club, German Ladies’ Aid Society, and Turner Building Savings Association. In 1896, the club boasted 500 members.

The Musikverein or Music Society was founded in 1897. It included a 60-piece orchestra, male choir, and mixed choir. Now called The Athenaeum Orchestra, it is the oldest orchestra in Indianapolis.

The Das Deutsche Haus formed an agreement in 1908 with Normal College of the American Gymnastic Union. The Normal school trained physical education teachers for schools across the country. In 1941, Indiana University incorporated the school, making it the School of Education. It is the oldest physical education school in the US. In 1970, the college left the Athenaeum and moved the school to IUPUI.

As the United States entered into war with Germany in the mid twentieth century, anti-German sentiment spread across the US. In Indianapolis, many primary Germanic communities began to face discrimination and many were forced from their homes. Due to the anti-German sentiments, the Stock Association chose to rename the club The Anthenaeum. In 1991, the Stock Association transferred its ownership to the Athenaeum Foundation.

True to its German roots and love for music and theatre, The Athenaeum continued to play a role in the theatre community. From 1972 to 1980, it was the home of the Indiana Repetoire Theatre. It then housed the American Cabaret Threatre from 1989 to 2009. The Young Actor’s Theatre returned in 2008 and continues to host a variety of plays and shows.

Continuing its long tradition of health and wellness, the YMCA renovated the gymnasium and opened its doors as a wellness center in 2012. It continues to provide wellness services to the residents and employees of downtown Indianapolis.

Building Indiana…One Brick at a Time

The Medora Brick Company, Medora, Indiana

The small town of Medora, Indiana, as well as the state of Indiana, owes its existence in part to the natural resources found in abundance in the surrounding the hills and the company that found a way to turn it into a product. In the mid 1800’s, shale, the primary ingredient in the production of bricks, was discovered in the hills in what would become Jackson County. This, along with the introduction of the railroad, provided prime opportunity for a brick company to be formed in the area.

In 1904, the Medora Brick Company was founded, and began producing bricks in 1906. The company chose land adjacent to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad line, close to the hills that produced the shale. On the land, the company built 12 dome-shaped kilns in which to produce the bricks. Each kiln was approximately 30 feet in diameter, with 8 feet high walls that were 24 inches deep. The domes/ceilings were self-supporting, constructed on the walls of the domes. Each dome also had an attached square chimney. In addition to the domes, there were drying and storage buildings that were scattered in the periphery of the domes and a small office. The property also had several ponds that were used to draw water in the production of the bricks. It was estimated that 10,000 gallons were drained each day in the production of the bricks.

The company began with producing bricks for building streets, but financial strains forced the company to be sold at auction in 1924. The Jackson Brick and Hollow Ware Company purchased the company and production was switched to wall bricks for buildings and hollow drainage tiles. Chances are that you’ve seen bricks produced in these very kilns. The bricks were used in the construction at Purdue, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, as well as in buildings in Detroit, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Chicago. From 1960-1980, the company was the preferred provider of brick for Purdue University because they could match the bricks used throughout the campus. At the height of its glory days, 50 men labored daily to make approximately 54,000 bricks a day, with tens of more laboring in the adjacent hills to quarry the shale.

The Jackson Brick and Hollow Ware Company closed in the 1970’s due to the introduction of PVC piping to the piping industry. The assets of the Medora Brick Company were transferred to the town of Medora and overseen by a Board of Directors. The company continued to make bricks until the 1990’s. It officially closed in 1992.

Time has taken its course with the buildings, and nature, as it always does, has begun to try and reclaim the land. Only 10 of the original kilns still exist, and many of the peripheral buildings had to be torn down for safety reasons. The site has been placed on Indiana Landmark’s 10 most endangered sites. In 2016, a group of citizens came together to form a preservation society and have turned over the property to a non-profit with the goal of preserving the site and eventually offering education and class offerings.

By the 1920’s, Indiana was 7^th in the nation in brick production and The Medora Brick Company was on of approximately 52 brick companies in the state. The bricks that the men produced were used in projects all over Indiana and the Midwest. Their contributions helped Indiana grow and were instrumental in the development of Indiana’s manufacturing industry.

Silvertown…an Indiana Ghost Town

Standing in the middle of the intersection between Williams Silverville Rd and Iron Bridge Lane, staring at an old wooden building, tangles of vines and weeds eating their way up the side, it takes a good amount of imagination to believe that just over a hundred years ago, I would have been standing in the middle of a bustling small town of 270 people. The cracked and weed strewn roads would have been lined with wooden and brick structures, people standing under covered porches talking about the news of the day, buying goods, visiting a doctor. Where there are weeds and wild flowers stood homes and offices.

Silverville was platted in 1855 by Robert C. McAfee. The original town consisted of 76 lots. Folklore says that the name originated because the land was purchased with silver dollars or the rumor that Native Americans in the area buried silver in a local cave.

Like many small pioneer towns in Indiana, the town started with a general store and a post office, which opened in 1851. As with other towns, it would have had a livery, law enforcement, and offices for doctors, lawyers, and businessmen. Early records indicate the town included a grist mill run on steam power operated by J.E. Kern, had two doctors, Hornachre and J.S. Blackburn, and at least one general store (perhaps even the one at the corner), which opened in 1882 by W.S. Sentney who was the son of English and Irish immigrants. Residents attended the Silverville Baptist Church, a Christian Church, or the Methodist Episcopalian Church.

Given the location of the town, one has to wonder why anyone chose this location to settle. Documents created by state geologist indicate that the town was near a large pocket of kaolin, a soft pinkish to reddish brown clay and that a mine was located just to the south of the town. The area was also rich in sandstone and limestone, and still has active quarries nearby.

There don’t appear to be any records as to when Silverville died. The post office closed in 1906. 76 lots have dwindled to the decaying general store and a few buildings that are slowly being reclaimed by nature. A handful of homes and farms surround what used to be the main street. Records show that the town was still active into the 1920’s.

For more information:

Adamson, Jason. Rush Genealogy: Captain Peter Rush of Pa., and His Decendants, with Notes on Dr. Benjamin Rush. United States, J. Adamson, 1965.

Blatchley, Willis Stanley. A Preliminary Report on the Clays and Clay Industries of the Coal-bearing Counties of Indiana. United States, Indiana. Department of geology and natural resources, 1896.

History of Lawrence, Orange, and Washington Counties, Indiana: From the Earliest Time to the Present, Together with Interesting Biographical Sketches, Reminiscences, Notes, Etc. United States, Higginson Book Company, 1884.

Terrell, William H. H.. Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana …. United States, A.H. Connor [etc.] State Printer, 1866.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverville,_Indiana

A Trip to (the Other) Manila

Manila, Indiana

Back in 2013 or 2014, dad and I were returning from one of our many trips down to Cincinnati. A detour on 74 forced us off at Shelbyville. Highway 44 is dotted with small towns that are barely more than a widening of the road. Most of us speed by these, without a thought or realization that beyond the scattering of houses or buildings is or once was a lively community.

That particular day, the green sign announcing that we were entering Manilla caught our attention…only because we had recently returned from Manilla in the Philippines, where my younger brother had been living for several years (need you ask…yes, there are photos and stories about the Philippines elsewhere on this blog). just for laughs we thought we’d take a photo of the post office and send it to my brother and his soon-to-be in-laws in Manilla.

As we turned down Cross Street, making our way into the heart of this tiny hamlet, the narrow streets were lined with modest, single and two storied homes. Large swaths of neatly trimmed land lay between and behind most of these houses. It was clear that there were once more buildings than we see now. As we moved closer into the town, we could see the remnants of what once was probably a thriving downtown. Mostly it was boarded up brick buildings and remains of foundations.

Cross Street tees at W 250 S. It was there that we were struck with an image that left us in awe. Lined up along an old fence, sitting among knee high weeds, were old Studebaker cars and trucks. Like ghosts from the town’s past, they sat silently waiting to tell a story.

On the other corner stood a brick and mason building, with a rusting sign that read Schutt Blacksmith. Across the street, facing both images, a majestic brick mansion with a double front porch stared emptily up Cross Street. I couldn’t help but feel that this was once a town full of life rather than the lonely, abandoned shell that we now stood.

And you know what? I was right.

Manilla, Indiana was once a bustling hub amongst the fertile farm lands. This town of barely 200 people (according to the last census in 2010) was once the home of nearly 1000 people at the height of its popularity in the early 1900’s.

Manilla sits in Walker Township, in Rush County Indiana, between Shelbyville and Rushville. The area was first colonized by immigrants from Kentucky, who sought to clear and farm the land. The village of Manilla was platted on January 4, 1836, and laid out by Jacob Mull, Elias and Jonathan Murphy, and Jonathan Edwards. It’s original name was Wilmington, but at some time, changed to Manilla for some unknown reason. In 1848, construction of the Jeffersonville, Madison, and Indianapolis (later Pennsylvania) Railroad began, with the first train running on the line on July 4, 1850. The railroad would transform this farming community into a major hub for commerce and industry in the county.

As it was with many small, rural farm communities, the railroad allowed for farmers to get their produce to a larger group of customers. As the farm families acquired more wealth, their needs for more goods, services, and luxury items grew. This demand drew people from all over the county and state to Manilla to start their own businesses and factories. Among these early entrepreneurs were:

Dr. W.E. Barnum, who opened his grocery store. It occupied a one room show room that also housed the post office. It was a general store, providing general and fancy staples, groceries, and table and culinary supplies. Dr. Barnum was also a physician who specialized in the diseases and physical wellness of women.

James Smart, an immigrant from Ireland, was a carriage manufacturer in a local town, who was drawn to Manilla to expand his business. He opened the James Smart Carriage Factory in 1876, with his four sons. In 1884, he was elected Justice of the Peace for the village.
W.L. King opened the Kings Hotel in 1880. It was a two story building with 19 luxury accommodations for business travelers. The hotel also had a well-stocked livery attached to the hotel, where travelers could board their horses or acquire buggies or carriages while staying in the town. King was also an aficionado of horses, breeding stallions. One of his stallions took the first premium at the Indiana State Fair.
Cyrus E. Trees etablished a large grain elevator adjacent to the railroad. He also used the railroad to export and import timber and other building supplies.
E.S. Jarret opened what we would recognize as a one-stop shopping store when he opened an establishment that sold both groceries and medications in one store.
Dr. J.H. Spurrier served as the town’s physician for 6 years before enlisting in the 16^th Regiment Indiana Volunteers during the Civil War. He served as an active duty surgeon in Memphis, as well as Special Sanitary Administrator for Paducah Kentucky, and eventually caring for the sick and injured Civil War veterans. For his service, he was promoted to the rank of Major.
John Gross, a German immigrant, and his sons Fred and Henry O., opened a general store, and were involved in the running of the Manilla Bank.
Thomas K. and Leonidas Mull, descendants of Jacob Mull who founded the town, founded the Bank of Manilla. Thomas would represent Rush County in the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly in 1899.
H.R. Brown opened a veterinary surgery practice in the town.
Cyrus Inlow, was born in the village of Manilla and became a wealthy farmer and stockman. He was the son of one of the town’s physicians, John J. Inlow. His sons would follow in the footsteps of their grandfather and become physicians. One would serve in the Army Medical Corp in WWI and eventually have a residency at what would become the Mayo Clinic, and a second son would serve as physician in the navy during WWI.

In its hey day, Manilla was home to two hotels, the Kings Hotel and Zeike & Hester Hotel and Meat Market. Two churches, the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Christian Church served the spiritual needs of the community. As with most towns during this time, one could find a blacksmith, tailor and millinery shop, barber, hardware stores, and general stores.

It was common at the time for children to be home schooled until they reached their teen years, at which point, children were sent to school. While most of the wealthy citizens sent their children to Indianapolis or Cincinnati to be schooled, the town was home to a commissioned high school, with 3 teachers and over 100 pupils.

Manilla can boast that it has a post office, which as been in continuous service since 1840. It also had one of the few female postmasters, Mary M. Inlow, who ran a confectionery in connection with the post office.

As was also common in this period, social interaction between men often took place with fraternal organizations. Free Masons, Independent Order of Odd Fellowes, Improved Order of Red Men and Woodmen of the World all had active lodges in the town, and most of the prominent figures in banking and industry were members.

Its not clear when the population of Manilla began to fall. Perhaps it was due to the rise of the automobile when people could travel further distances to get their goods and services, and were not confined to their immediate area. Or perhaps as the interstates began taking travelers away from the state highways and country roads, and fewer goods and services were being transported along the rails, fewer people made their way down the streets and people moved on to make their fortunes elsewhere. Knowing what I’ve learned about this little ghost of a village, I want to make my back….and try to picture what Manila looked like in its heyday.

The Canal That Made (and Broke) the State

The Wabash & Erie Canal

It’s the 1830s. Indiana is a state in its infancy, not even 20 years from becoming the 19th state added to the fledgling country that is the United States. While mostly spared the drama and activities of the Revolutionary War, this area had long been locked in battle between the white settlers and the native peoples of the area, and was often at issue between foreign powers seeking to use the vast resources found in the area to help fill their coffers. The French and Indian War and the War of 1812 saw many battles fought in the area, with the latter finally removing the British obstacles that prevented the newly minted Americans from moving beyond the mountains of the Appalachians. With the western frontier open, settlers, yearning for a new start, and entrepreneurs, looking to make their riches and mark on the new country, have flocked to the state, turning its swamps, forests, and prairies into plowed fields.

A major challenge for these early pioneers was transporting people and goods into and throughout the region. The main form of transportation for the region was the abundance of waterways throughout the region. Fur trappers had long used the rivers and creeks to move goods and to travel, but these waterways were sometimes unnavigable and unconnected. Early entrepreneurs sought a way to be able to move people and goods from the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

Taking a suggestion from the nation’s first president, George Washington, some creative minds launched the idea of building a canal that would connect the Great Lakes to the Ohio River, allowing an open path to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Running 481 miles, from Toledo, Ohio to Evansville, Indiana on the banks of the Ohio River, the Wabash & Erie Canal would be the largest man-made waterway ever attempted at the time. The canal was actually a combination of canals, beginning with the Miami & Erie Canal, which ran along the Maumee River near Toledo to Junction, Ohio. The second canal, the Wabash, ran from Junction, through Ft. Wayne, Delphi, and Lafayette to Terre Haute. The final section was the Cross Cut Canal that ran from Terre Haute, through Worthington to Evansville.

Funding for the canal came from a land grant from Congress in 1827. Ground was broken near Toledo on February 22, 1832, the 100th birthday of George Washington. Construction was mostly performed by Irish immigrants, who dug out the trench for the canal by hand, using pick axes, shovels, wheelbarrows and horse-drawn slip scoops. The path took the workers through mostly swamps, and many of the workers died of cholera, fevers, snake bites, and accidents.

The first section connecting the Miami & Erie Canal to Ft. Wayne was completed in 1835. The canal wound its way Westward toward the Tippecanoe River, reaching Logansport in 1838 and Delphi in 1840. This portion was completed by 1844. It then stretched along the Wabash River toward Terre Haute, and finally southward toward Evansville, with final completion in 1850.

The canal was a boom for the economies of the small towns and villages that grew up along the canal. Horses pulled towboats, bringing travelers and business people, while mules pulled the freight boats that hauled goods, such as corn and limestone, to be sold at markets to the East and to the South.

The canal proved to be high maintenance and came with a high cost to repair. Since it was not a natural waterway, it had be periodically dredged to maintain a clear path for the boats. Wildlife, like muskrats, would burrow into the sides of the canal, causing the levies to collapse and leading to washed out areas of the canal that would have to be built back up. The stagnant water was a breeding ground for mosquitos and diseases like yellow fever and cholera were common along its banks. By 1867, the last canal boat docked in Huntington, Indiana.

The First Prison in Indiana and Eugenics in Indiana

My dad saw a story online about boat pushing barges, that were carrying coal down the Ohio River, hit one of the bridges. The collision resulted in several of the barges sinking, and aside from spilling their cargo into the Ohio River, also caused a backup on the river. Of course, my dad wanted to see the damage and on New Year’s Eve, we drove the 2 hour trip down I65 to Clarksville to see the wreckage. Along the river road, I saw a sign directing us to the famous “Colgate Clock”. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take photos of this regional landmark. What I didn’t expect is to wander down yet another rabbit hole into history…this time the eugenics movement and Indiana’s role.

If you’ve ever driven down I65, crossing over the Ohio River into Indiana, you’ve undoubtedly seen the large wire framed clock. For over 100 years, this was the site of the Colgate soap factory. My dad, who grew up in Clarksville, recalled times when the Ohio River resembled a bubble bath because Colgate emptied waste into the River. But what most people don’t know is that prior to its role in manufacturing soap, the building and the grounds were home to the first prison in Indiana and ground zero for the eugenics movement in Indiana.

Indiana was granted statehood in 1816, and in 1822, built it’s first prison. It was first built in Jeffersonville, Indiana, at a site close to the Ohio River in an area that is now part of the I65 interstate. Shortly after, it was moved to the location just East of Clarksville. By the mid 1800’s, the population of Indiana had grown and the was a need for a prison in the north. The Michigan City Prison was built in 1858. The Jeffersonville Prison was named Indiana State Prison South, and the Michigan City Prison was renamed Indiana State Prison North. The prisons housed offenders of all ages, race, and gender. The National Road (now known as US 40 and Washington Street in Indianapolis) was the dividing point for determining which offenders were sent to each prison. In April, 1897, as part of the Penological Reform Movement, Indiana State Prison South was renamed the Indiana Reformatory, and changed who the facility housed. Indiana Reformatory housed male felons aged 16-29 (women were sent to the newly built women’s prison in Indianapolis). On the night of February 6, 1918, a fire broke out in the administrative buildings, destroying several buildings. No inmates were injured. It was determined that the prison would be moved (it world be relocated to Pendleton) rather than re-build, the property and the buildings were sold to the Proctor and Gamble Soap Company.

The Indiana Reformatory was front and center in the Eugenics Movement. The mid to late 1800’s was a time of discovery in the fields of science, medicine, and what would become genetics. Charles Darwin poised the Theory of Evolution, suggesting that changes in species over time were the result of natural selection. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck proposed his Theory of Inheritance, proposed that certain species characteristics and traits were passed down through generations. And Gregor Mendel conducted his pea pod experiment, discovering the existence of genes and genetic traits.

From this sprang the school of thought that flaws and undesirable traits in the human race could be bred out by removing certain people from the human gene pool and thus the Eugenics Movement was born. Considered to be the father of the Eugenics Movement, Francis Galton, defined eugenics in 1883 as the science that deals with all improvements to the human race. The movement’s goal was to encourage the marriage and breeding of those people deemed “fit” to pass on traits to their offspring and to discourage the marriage and breeding of people deemed “unfit” to pass on traits.

One of the first physicians to adopt eugenics as a serious medical science, was Dr. Harry C. Sharpe, Chief Medical Examiner at the Indiana Reformatory. Following the basic tenants of eugenics, Dr. Sharpe used his position to identify inmates considered to be “degenerates” and not worthy to pass on their genes. In 1899, Sharpe began experimenting with different ways to surgically sterilize those individuals. The sterilization was also considered to be therapy for sexual deviancy. Sharpe found it to be more effective that castration. Sharpe found support for his work from Dr. John Hurty, then secretary of the state board of health, who was a respected physician and believed that eugenics was a public health issue. Hurry was a proponent of eugenic marriage bans for he believed that it was impossible for the “fit” to reproduce at a rate faster than the “unfit”. Partially based on the work from Dr. Sharpe, Indiana passed the “Indiana Law”, a mandatory sterilization law, in 1907, the first in the country. The law was intended to prevent the reproduction of confirmed criminals, idiots, imbeciles and rapists and gave superintendents of prisons to make the decision who was eligible to be sterilized. The law was eventually applied to inmates and residents of facilities for the mentally ill and orphans and troubled children. Essentially anyone who was considered a “degenerate”, which included people with mental retardation, developmental disabilities, mental illness, the poor and disenfranchised (many who came to Indiana for jobs during the Industrial Revolution).

By the mid 1910’s, the public was beginning to question the ethics behind forced sterilization, considering it to be cruel and inhumane. In 1919, Governor James Goodrich decided to test the constitutionality of the law. He appointed the Jeffersonville city attorney to defend Warren Wallace Smith, an inmate who was sterilized, in a lawsuit against the Reformatory’s Board for Sterilization. The case went to the Supreme Court, and in 1921, the law was ruled unconstitutional, citing denial of due process under the 14th amendment.

From the late 1890’s to 1910, approximately 2,500 people were forcibly sterilized in Indiana.The

The Athenaeum

The Musikverein or Music Society was founded in 1897. It included a 60-piece orchestra, male choir, and mixed choir. Now called The Athenaeum Orchestra, it is the oldest orchestra in Indianapolis.