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Evansville and Crawfordsville Railroad

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Evansville and Crawfordsville Railroad
Evansville and Terre Haute Railroad
Overview
Founders
LocaleSouthwest Indiana
Dates of operation1853 (1853)–1877 (1877)
SuccessorChicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad

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]

Initial incorporation and charters

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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

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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 $29,648,547 in 2024) 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

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Former 19th century stops on the railroad were:

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Hall 1854, p. 628.
  2. ^ CEIRHS.
  3. ^ a b c Edwards 1872, p. 16.
  4. ^ Edwards 1872, pp. 16–17.
  5. ^ Esarey, Rabb Milner & Herschell 1924, p. 728.
  6. ^ a b c d Edwards 1872, p. 17.
  7. ^ Hartwell 1913, p. 44.
  8. ^ Bradsby 1891, p. 570.
  9. ^ Olney Daily Ledger, Apr 1, 1875, p 3 Available on Newspapers.com
  10. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 21, Field's Station.
  11. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 51, Petersburg Road.
  12. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 38, McIntire's.
  13. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 56, Rockville.
  14. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 56, Rosedale.
  15. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 50, Otter Creek.
  16. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 66, Terre Haute.
  17. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 28, Hartford.
  18. ^ Lippincott 1880, p. 959, Hartford.
  19. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 21, Farmersburg.
  20. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 3, Ascension.
  21. ^ Lippincott 1880, p. 117, Ascension.
  22. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 16, Currysville.
  23. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 65, Sullivan.
  24. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 51, Paxton's.
  25. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 1, Carlisle.
  26. ^ a b c d e f Greene 1911a, p. 370.
  27. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 49, Oak Station.
  28. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 19, Emerson.
  29. ^ Lippincott 1880, p. 710, Emison.
  30. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 69, Vincennes.
  31. ^ Baldwin & Thomas 1854, p. 1212, Vincennes.
  32. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 54, Purcell's.
  33. ^ Lippincott 1880, p. 1817, Purcell's.
  34. ^ Baker, Emerson & Cauthorn 1886, p. 81.
  35. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 17, Decker's Station.
  36. ^ a b Baker, Emerson & Cauthorn 1886, p. 271.
  37. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 41, Millers's.
  38. ^ a b Cowen 1866, p. 28, Hazleton.
  39. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 54, Princeton.
  40. ^ a b Cowen 1866, p. 32, King's.
  41. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 22, Fort Branch.
  42. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 57, Saint James.
  43. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 44, Nash Depot.
  44. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 30, Ingles.
  45. ^ BF 1889, p. 154.
  46. ^ Lippincott 1880, p. 720, Erskine.
  47. ^ Cowen 1866, p. 21, Evansville.

Bibliography

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  • "C&EI Railroad History". Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society. Retrieved 2025-03-05.
  • Esarey, Logan; Rabb Milner, Kate; Herschell, William (1924). History of Indiana from Its Exploration to 1922. Vol. 2. Dayton, OH: Dayton Historical Publishing Co.
  • Hartwell, Will (1913). History of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad Company to June 30, 1913. Chicago: Legare Street Press.
  • History of Vanderburgh County, Indiana. Brant & Fuller. 1889. OCLC 3557957. (History of Vanderburgh County, Indiana at the Internet Archive History of Vanderburgh County, Indiana at the HathiTrust Digital Library)
  • Bradsby, Henry C. (1891). History of Vigo County, Indiana, with Biographical Selections. Chicago: S. B. Nelson and Company. OCLC 3291932. (History of Vigo County, Indiana at the Internet Archive History of Vigo County, Indiana at the HathiTrust Digital Library)
  • Baker, Orlan F.; Emerson, Z. T.; Cauthorn, Henry S. (1886). "History of Knox County". In Goodspeed, Weston Arthur (ed.). History of Knox and Daviess County, Indiana. Chicago: Goodspeed Publishing. OCLC 8449389. (History of Knox and Daviess County, Indiana at the HathiTrust Digital Library)
  • Greene, George E. (1911a). History of old Vincennes and Knox County, Indiana. Vol. 1. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing. Company. OCLC 3557995. (volume 1 at the Internet Archive History of old Vincennes and Knox County, Indiana at the HathiTrust Digital Library)
  • Baldwin, Thomas; Thomas, Joseph (1854). A New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States: Giving a Full and Comprehensive Review of the Present Condition, Industry, and Resources of the American Confederacy. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Company.
  • Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Company. 1880. (Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World at the Internet Archive)
  • Cowen, M. V. B (1866). Indiana State Gazetteer and Shippers' Guide for 1866–67. Vol. 1. Lafayette, Indiana: Rosser, Spring & Cowen. OCLC 43856353. (Indiana State Gazetteer and Shippers' Guide for 1866–67 at the HathiTrust Digital Library)
  • Hall, Samuel (1854-10-07). Poor, Henry V. (ed.). "Evansville and Crawfordsville R.R.". American Railroad Journal. Vol. 10, no. 40. J. H. Schultz. pp. 628–629.
  • Edwards, W. K. (1872). "Railroads—completed and prospective". In Ingalls & Company (ed.). The Advantages and Attractions of Terre Haute, Indiana. Terre Haute, Indiana: Daily Evening Gazette Book and Job Rooms.
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