TERRE HAUTE — Those returning to Terre Haute after the Civil War were anxious to utilize the area’s multiple natural resources to transform the city into an industrial giant.
Coal, iron and railroads became the foci of those efforts.
A new fairgrounds at Brown and Wabash avenues — with a half-mile harness racing track — hosted the Indiana State Fair in October 1867. The old fairgrounds had been converted into Camp Vigo, a military camp, during the war. A mule-driven street railway provided access to it.
Engineer William I. Ball — transferred to Terre Haute to work for the Wabash & Erie Canal — designed the first stable bridge over the Wabash River. Bridge builder Joseph I. Daniels constructed it for the Terre Haute Draw Bridge Co. It was a toll bridge until acquired by the Vigo County commissioners in 1874.
Under the guidance of William Riley McKean, the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad was extended from Terre Haute to the new St. Louis, Vandalia & Terre Haute Railroad with its eastern terminus at the Illinois-Indiana state line.
Leasing the connecting line from the Pennsylvania Railroad Co., McKeen’s Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad controlled rail traffic west of Indianapolis to St. Louis. Railroads subsequently acquired by McKean were part of “The Vandalia System.”
The Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad, which built track between Terre Haute and Indianapolis through the Vigo-Clay coal belt, began service to Terre Haute on July 4, 1870. The railroad entered Terre Haute a few blocks north of the National Road paralleling the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad.
Josephus Collett’s Evansville, Terre Haute & Chicago Railroad delivered passengers from Terre Haute to Danville, Ill. and return, commencing Oct. 26, 1871. Service was available to Chicago in 1872. Seven railroads were serving the city, most built by local businessmen using local capital.
Terre Haute’s iron and steel era began Feb. 12, 1868, when Turner, Glover & Co., of Youngstown Ohio, opened the Terre Haute Iron & Nail Works on S. Thirteenth St. to take advantage of ore deposits uncovered in Clay County.
The Alexander Crawford family came to Terre Haute from Newcastle, Pa., the next year to build the Vigo Iron Co., a blast furnace at 15th and Washington streets. In 1872, Crawford opened the Wabash rolling mill at Second and Tippecanoe streets.
Vigo County ranked third among Indiana counties in coal production in 1872 and several adjoining counties were among the top producers.
The community flaunted more than 200 manufacturers in 1870. By 1876, Theodore Hudnut’s Hominy Co., Alexander McGregor’s Distillery, Anton Mayer’s Brewery, Horatio Keyes’ “Hub and Spoke” Factory and Willard Kidder’s Wabash Flour Mill were important local employers but “The Vandalia Shops” at Tenth and Chestnut, operated by the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad, was the city’s largest employer.
By 1880, Terre Haute was the nation’s fifth largest producer of distilled spirits and gristmill products. According to the census, the city’s population to 26,042 while the county had 45,658 residents.
Local business leaders were not content to leave the city’s future growth to chance. Pamphlets were published and distributed boasting the community’s economic advantages. The Terre Haute Association for the Promotion of Manufactures was founded in 1873 and was succeeded by the Terre Haute Board of Trade in 1884. Those groups promoted the community’s “mineral wealth” and also functioned as social clubs.
The Terre Haute Businessmen’s Association, a similar group, was founded in 1889.
Most businesses established during the booster club era were created by existing residents, such as Terre Haute Car & Manufacturing Co., founded by James Seath and expanded by Robert S. Cox and his family.
Other industries flourished. Hulman & Co., Bement, Rea & Co. and Bauermeister & Busch were major wholesale grocers. Like Herman Hulman, wholesale grocer Joseph Strong manufactured coffee and spices. Charles Zimmerman, Charles Stahl, Samuel Frank and Charles Ehrmann were pioneer Vigo County garment makers.
The Oil Craze of 1889 brought national attention to the city but probably did not have much impact on the population, which modestly increased. The 1890 census counted 50,195 Vigo County residents and 30,217 in the city.
Easily accessible by rail and wagon, the community captured a share of the tourist market. The magnificent Terre Haute Opera House — later known as the Naylor Opera House — featured top theatrical attractions almost daily nine months a year.
The unusual mile-long Four-Cornered Track, built in 1887 at the fairgrounds, became the site of many world harness racing records. And Andrew Conant’s Magnetic Artesian Bath House offered indoor swimming and curative sulphur water baths..
Higher education also earned a niche in the community fabric. Terre Haute Commercial College opened in 1862 and the rebirth of State Normal School after the devastating April 1888 fire was significant. The city proudly responded to its needs.
The Terre Haute School of Industrial Science at the northwest corner of Thirteenth and Locusts streets — renamed Rose Polytechnic Institute of Technology when it was dedicated on Sept. 11, 1875 — began accepting students on March 7, 1883.
Coates College for Women on Strawberry Hill opened Oct. 6, 1885.
Russell B. Harrison, son of President Benjamin Harrison, was named president of the motorized Terre Haute Electric Railway in 1892. Upon locating here, Harrison founded Harrison Park Casino, an entertainment venue north of Collett Park.
At the turn of the century, commercial prospects were never brighter. Terre Haute’s population was 36,673 and Vigo County claimed 62,035 residents. The economy was diverse and smokestacks, the proud symbols of prosperity, dotted the urban landscape..
Eight railroads were serving Terre Haute on Jan. 1, 1900 and the ninth — John R. Walsh’s Southern Indiana Railroad — was expected to arrive later in the year.
Continued to next week
History
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: The early growth of the city of non-growth (Part II)
- History
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: Terre Haute Works of Allis-Chalmers closes
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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GENEALOGY: BMD website great for tracing England, Wales
If you have ancestors who trace back to England or Wales within the past 175 years, then the Free BMD website at RootsWeb, at freebmd.rootsweb.com/, is the place to visit.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: WBOW introduced some fine Valley talent
When it first began broadcasting in 1927, station WRPI (Rose Polytechnic Institute) focused on educational programing.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Inventor John B. Deeds and highwayman William G. Murray
Among the many unsolved local history mysteries is the fate of master machinist and inventor John B. Deeds.
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: This little-known compromise may have saved the union
When the Constitution was signed in September of 1787 and sent to the Congress that then existed under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was instructed to send that Constitution to the states to be ratified … or not. The message to the states was clear: Accept the Constitution or reject it, but don’t try to change it.
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Traveling Civil War exhibit makes history personal
Civil War history will come alive for visitors to the Sullivan County Public Library who experience “Faces of the Civil War,” a traveling exhibition created and managed by the Indiana Historical Society.
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GENEALOGY: Virginia Historical Society takes on ambitious project
Over the past few months, the Virginia Historical Society has launched an ambitious project to scrutinize more than 8 million 17th, 18th, and 19th century documents in order to identify the enslaved population of those times.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: The Legacy of ‘The Old Silkworm House’
In 1837, and for several years thereafter, a gray sandstone obelisk was installed next to a one-story frame residence at the northwest corner of Sixth and Eagle streets.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: A blast from valentines past
Valentine’s Day — it brings to mind simple paper valentines and the elaborate, fancy store-bought cards with multiple verses and glittery covers.
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: Flu outbreak forces Schulte closed
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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Original copy of 13th Amendment at Lincoln Library & Museum
A fully signed and recently restored copy of the Congressional resolution for a 13th Amendment to the Constitution, the official act that would abolish slavery in the United States, will be on display in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum’s Treasures Gallery.
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: Freedom of religion — beliefs and actions
Because religious faith is, arguably, the quintessential example of our right to privacy, to say nothing of its prominent place in our First Amendment, throughout our history court cases involving the free exercise of religion have been handled with great trepidation and with particular care. One of the milestone “free exercise” religion cases, Davis v. Beason, was decided by the Supreme Court this week (Feb. 3) in 1890.
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GENEALOGY: SoCal Genealogical Jamboree coming up in June
The Southern California Genealogical Society announces its 43rd Annual Jamboree, to be staged for three days on June 8-10, at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel in Burbank, Calif.
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LOOKING BACK: 2002: Disco Ernie featured on Maury
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Flashing the mayor's badge
This mayoral badge was presented to the Vigo County Historical Society by Elizabeth K. Schultz, the granddaughter of Samuel E. Beecher Sr., who served as mayor of Terre Haute from 1936 to 1940.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Deadly tornado devastates York in 1907
John T. Staff loved water and, particularly, the Wabash River.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Notorious Western desperado Ellsworth Wyatt captured in Clay County
In October 1892, Terre Haute police received a circular from the State of Kansas containing a description of Ellsworth Wyatt and offering a $1,200 reward for his capture.
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LOOKING BACK: 2002: ISU students honor Martin Luther King Jr.
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: News letter filled with wonderful local news
We recently received five bound volumes of copies of the “Terre Haute Onizette,” the Owen-Illinois Glass Company news letter for the Terre Haute Plant.
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GENEALOGY: Peyton, Downey, Fifer queries and a plea for help from Scotland
This week, we have several queries.
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Extension plans seminar on land use
The Purdue Extension Land Use Team is hosting a video seminar titled “Welcome to the Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals” from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday.
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: Kennedy, Camelot, and other myths
This week (Jan. 20) in 1961, John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as our 35th president, and his tragic death by assassination notwithstanding, his was a mediocre presidency that, undeservedly, became the stuff of legend — in part because of his assassination.
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Actor to portray Lincoln at dinner for historical society
A special program, “And Lincoln Wrote,” is coming to Harlan Hall in Marshall, Ill., with a featured presentation by Dick Benach as Abraham Lincoln and Chuck Hand as the publisher of the Prairie Beacon.
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GENEALOGY: Celebrate MLK Day with the Indiana Historical Society
On Monday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Indiana Historical Society will offer free admission to celebrate Martin Luther King Day.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Light Guards savor military and social experiences
Never during the Civil War was there a time when the City of Terre Haute was in danger of hosting an armed conflict involving one or more armies.
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: 87 high school hoops teams compete in 47th annual Wabash Valley Tournament
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: A bottle of clove oil at the pharmacy
The Historical Treasure for today is a bottle of Clove Oil.
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LOOKING BACK: 1987: St. Mary’s Parish congregation celebrates 150th anniversary
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Fire up the jukebox for a great night
The jukebox existed long before Glenn Miller’s “Juke Box Saturday Night” swing version.
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GENEALOGY: 1752 is one memorable year for genealogists
The year 1752 is one to remember if you have ancestors who lived in areas controlled by Great Britain; and this includes the American colonies.
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