Historical Perspective: Terre Haute finds itself on the brink of prominence in 1871
Rob Robbins
Historical Perspective: Terre Haute finds itself on the brink of prominence in 1871
Mike McCormick Special to the Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE — The
first decade after the Civil War was initiated 140 years ago in January
1871.
Thanks to aggressive community leadership, the City of Terre Haute
was on the brink of prominence.
Boasting a population of about 18,000, it
was the third or fourth largest city in Indiana. Only Indianapolis (48,245) and
Evansville (21,830) were clearly bigger. Fort Wayne — the state’s third biggest
city by the 1870 census — possessed similar numbers.
Located on the
eastern bank of the Wabash River — navigable about eight months a year — the
Terre Haute area was noted for its peculiar beauty. It was the Vigo County seat,
adorned by spacious streets and a wide variety of attractive
buildings.
The National Road, railroads, an intra-urban trolley and new
fairgrounds at Brown and Wabash avenues with an attractive horse racing track
supplied a metropolitan aura.
The opening of Indiana State Normal School
and the magnificent Terre Haute Opera House in 1870 added extra dabs of culture
and refinement.
The largest employers were the Terre Haute &
Indianapolis Railroad, Terre Haute Iron & Nail Works and James Seath’s and
Jonathan B. Hager’s Terre Haute Car Works. The three firms employed about 550
people.
Besides the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad, other
companies maintaining offices in Terre Haute included the St. Louis, Vandalia
& Terre Haute Railroad, Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad Co.
(originally the Terre Haute & Alton Railroad Co.), Evansville, Terre Haute
& Chicago Railway Co. and the Paris & Decatur Railroad Co.
The
St. Louis, Vandalia & Terre Haute — owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad — was
operated by the Terre Haute & Indianapolis as a part of “The Vandalia
System.”
The Cincinnati & Terre Haute Railroad was under construction
in 1871 and the Terre Haute & Southwestern Railroad was “a certainty” to
open within five years.
The discovery of abundant coal, iron ore, sulphur
water and quarries of building stone in the immediate vicinity added several new
names to the abundant list of manufacturers.
In 1869-70, Alexander and
Andrew J. Crawford founded Vigo Iron Co., a large blast furnace, at 1421
Washington St., to manufacture pig iron.
A “hub and spoke factory,” owned
by Horatio Keyes and Constantin Mancourt, was situated at First and Poplar
streets.
After 16 years as an unincorporated village (1816 - 1832), Terre
Haute became a town governed by a board of trustees in 1832. In April 1853, it
was incorporated as a city. William K. Edwards was elected the first mayor of
the City of Terre Haute May 30, 1853.
James Hook, Chambers Y. Patterson,
William H. Stewart, Albert Lange and Grafton F. Cookerly, in that order,
succeeded Edwards. All survived with their respective reputations for integrity
intact.
Alexander Thomas, a native of Coshocton County, Ohio, was elected
mayor in 1871, succeeding Cookerly.
The city council in 1871 consisted of
Matthew Bridenthal, Michael Byers, Frank C. Crawford, William S. Clift, Elijah
F. Gilman, Jacob W. Miller, Parker Milligan, William F. Otte, Samuel T. Reese
and Josiah R. Whitaker.
Frederick Schwingrouber was City Clerk and John
Paddock was City Treasurer. William W. Rumsey was the City
Attorney.
Indiana State Normal School, headed by President William A.
Jones, “one of the best educators in the West,” boasted 360 pupils when it first
opened its doors on Jan. 6, 1870.
A total of 3,400 children were enrolled
in Terre Haute public schools during the 1870-71 academic year. Eight schools —
seven brick and one frame — were city-owned. A popular private Catholic school
also was available.
Terre Haute High School occupied a large portion of
the elegant State Normal School building, which cost the State of Indiana the
sum of $189,000 to construct.
Public schools were divided into 12 grades.
The first eight grades were assigned to “Primary and Grammar Schools.” The last
four were prescribed for high school.
There were 54 teachers in the
public schools in 1871 as compared to only 16 in 1864. State Normal Training
School provided an additional educational venue.
And St.
Mary-of-the-Woods, a unique private girls boarding school, was located on
beautiful grounds nearby.
The city flaunted 14 Protestant and two Roman
Catholic churches. There were no hospitals. Providence Hospital, financed by
Chauncey Rose for the Sisters of Providence, was scheduled to open in 1872 on
North 13th Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues.
Two of Terre Haute’s
six financial institutions were national banks. The largest was National State
Bank at the southwest corner of Fifth and Wabash, now the site of the Saratoga
restaurant. Preston Hussey was the president. The First National Bank, corner of
Fourth and Wabash, guided by Demas Deming, was the other.
McKeen &
Minshall, situated at the northeast corner of Third and Wabash, was a prosperous
bank managed by Deloss W. Minshall and William R. McKeen though McKeen had his
hands full as president of the Terre Haute & Indianapolis
Railroad.
The Prairie City Bank, on the east side of Sixth Street, just
south of Wabash, was headed by John S. Beach. Beach also was treasurer of the
Terre Haute Savings Bank, located in the Prairie City Bank building. Lucius Ryce
was president.
Patrick Shannon, once associated with esteemed private
banker John H. Watson, maintained Shannon’s Bank on the north side of Ohio
between Third and Fourth.
The Terre Haute Gas Light Co. began operations
in 1856, laying 10 miles of gas mains and installing 260 public lamps. It served
800 locations. George Rugan was the superintendent. Operations were located on
North Sixth Street at the Wabash & Erie Canal but the firm was erecting a
large plant on Water Street, between Poplar and Swan streets.
A
waterworks plant also was under construction.
The city also boasted Terre
Haute Commercial College, two foundries, five flour mills, two hominy mills, two
woolen mills, four planing mills, ten carriage manufacturers, one plow factory,
three musical instrument manufacturers, five lumber dealers, six cigar
manufacturers, six wholesale grocery houses, five newspapers, three boiler
works, five porkpackers, five hardware dealers, one stave manufacturer, five
breweries, one distillery, one soap and candle works, 10 brick manufacturers, 14
cooper shops and 13 hotels.
~Catherine Pulsifer~