In the days before self-service gas pumps and convenience stores, gas stations and garages were more in abundance, even in smaller towns. Shown is the former Phil’s Garage in New Paris, Elkhart County. It was located on State Road 15 just north of where the railroad overpass was located several years ago before being removed. Phil and Sandy Coy owned the station as did Bud Neff and Henry Wisler earlier. It was also known as Bud’s Garage for a while.
The Erie Lackawanna Railroad passed through Huntington County on its way west to Chicago. Shown is a remnant of a bridge across County Road 700 North northwest of Huntington and east of State Road 5. The railroad line was abandoned several years ago but remnants of it are plentiful in northern Indiana. Particularly in Huntington and Wabash counties.
For a very long time before it became State Road 15, the stretch between Goshen and Bristol in Elkhart County was known as the Goshen-Bristol Road. The road dates to the 1830s but had a different route then. It was realigned in the 1840s to a more direct route. The road was upgraded to a state highway in the 1920s. Shown is a portion near Jefferson Elementary School in Jefferson Township.
Once in a while an old alignment of a state highway is still visible even though no longer an actual road. Shown is an old alignment of State Road 13 south of North Webster in Kosciusko County. It runs parallel to the current State Road 13 and is near where the current road crosses Grassy Creek. Aerial photos of the area from the 1930s found in the county surveyor’s office confirm it was an old alignment. Obviously, though, you would not notice it unless looking for it.
The Wabash Railroad once passed through Huntington in Huntington County. Shown is a building that used to be a freight station for the Wabash. It is now the Pizza Junction Cafe. Nearby is the county historical museum and the downtown area. The railroad line is still active today and is used by Norfolk Southern RR. A freight train came through about the time this photo was taken.
Likely hundreds if not thousands of automobiles pass through the small unincorporated community of Waterford Mills in Elkhart County everyday. It is just south of Goshen. Many may not know the history of the community though, such as this old church on State Road 15. It was originally built in 1853 and known then as the Christian Church. It looks roughly the same as it first did with a few exceptions and is still used as a church now. State Road 15 through here was originally known as the Logansport-White Pigeon State Road and was platted in the 1830s.
Whistle markers are used on railroad lines to let train engineers know they need to sound the locomotive horn. In the days of steam locomotives it sounded more like a whistle. Here is an older concrete whistle marker on a main line of Norfolk Southern paralleling U.S. 33 in Goshen near Greene Road. Most of the concrete markers in this area anyway have been replaced by something like what is right next to it in the photo. Some concrete markers can be found on abandoned railroad lines.
On County Road 22, historic itself, just northeast of Goshen in Elkhart Township there is a historic farmhouse. The house was originally built in 1834 by Ebenezer Brown in the Greek Revival style. After the Brown family came to Elkhart County from New York, Ebenezer was active in local politics including serving as county sheriff. Near the farmhouse at one time was the old Pumpkinvine Railroad.
The building closest to the camera was in the local news a few weeks ago as it was significantly damaged in a fire. Along with the building in the background, it was part of the Goshen Churn and Ladder Company on Lincoln Avenue in Goshen, just east of the railroad tracks. Churn and Ladder was a major employer for many years and closed several years ago. The photo was taken last summer and the owner of the building told the newspaper he will have it completely demolished.
Studebaker Cemetery in Goshen has no sign indicating it is a cemetery and there is no fence around it. There are also no tombstones left standing. A couple of broken grave markers can be found if you take the time to look for them. Other than that it is simply a grassy small hill just off the banks of the Elkhart River behind the Twin Pines Mobile Home Park off West Wilden Avenue in Goshen, Elkhart County. Fortunately there is documentation on some of the people buried there. Sadly, though, there are no visible reminders.
