Posey County, Indiana - Chapter 12: Transportation Facilities - Navigation and, 1913

Posey county is crossed by three lines of steam railway and one electric line, and is bounded on two sides by navigable streams. The Illinois Central enters the county in the northwest corner, runs south and east across the county, through Poseyville, and continues into Vanderburg county, connecting at Evansville. The Evansville & Terre Haute road enters the county in the northeast corner, runs south and west to Mt. Vernon, where it terminates. The Louisville & Nashville railroad enters on the west side of the county in the central part, runs south and east to Mt. Vernon, thence north and east, leaving the county in the southern part and continuing to Evansville. The electric line enters the county on the east, running parallel with the Louisville & Nashville railroad from Evansville to Mt. Vernon. New Harmony is reached by a cut-off or spur of the Illinois Central, running south and west from Stewartsville.

The steamboat line on the Ohio river connects Mt. Vernon with all the river towns both east and south and brings the markets of Cincinnati and Pittsburgh into easy access. Smaller boats connect with the towns up the Wabash, making transportation cheaper than by railroad.

The history of railroads in Posey county begins in 1869, when a petition signed by one hundred freehofders was filed with the county board asking that an election be held to determine whether the county should appropriate $100,000 for the construction of the Mt. Vernon & Grayville railroad. The election took place July 27 of the same year and the bonds carried by a vote of 1,686 to 922, Black township registering 973 votes for and only nine against the proposition. A levy of 80 cents on each $ioo worth of property was then ordered by the county board and all of the amount was collected. The railroad company was soon consolidated with another corporation and the combination was known as the Chicago & Southern Illinois Railway Company. Upon the completion of five miles of road the sum of $20,000 was paid over by the county. The contractors then filed suit to secure their claims and further payments to the railroad company were stopped. The work was stopped and the company went into the hands of a receiver. Mt. Vernon had pledged $200,000 besides that pledged by the county and had paid $30,000. In 1875 ^^^^ receiver sold the iron and one locomotive belonging to the defunct company to satisf}- a mortgage held by Xevv Jersey parties.

The first railroad to be completed through the county was the Louisville & Nashville railway, running east and west through Mt. Vernon, which was constructed in 1869 and 1870. It has twenty-three miles of track in the county and has from the beginning been of the greatest possible advantage to the section through which it runs.

In 1872 a proposition was submitted to the voters of the county to aid the Cincinnati, Rockport & Southwestern Railway with an appropriation of $125,000. It lost, by the narrow margin of 1,257 to 1,221. Another vote was held on the same proposition, December 31 of the same year, and this time it carried, by a vote of 2,045 to 1,416. However, the road was never built and the county was released from all obligations.

In 1880 the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company leased the tracks built by the St. Louis & Southwestern Company in i869-'70 and has operated it ever since. In 1881 a 2 per cent, aid was voted in Smith township to assist in the construction of the Evansville & Terre Haute railroad extension from Owensville to Cynthiana. The line was completed immediately and the tax amounting to $8,468.30 was paid. In October of the same year Black township voted a 2 per cent, aid, amounting to $48,102.20, and Center township voted the sum of $7,191.60 for the purpose of having this line extended to Mt. Vernon. This extension was immediately made and the money paid.

In the spring of 1880 the people of Robb township voted the sum of $13,199 to aid the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville railway to build through the township, and the following year the amount of $16,000 was voted by New Harmony for a branch to that point. This road is now a part of the Illinois Central system. This completed the building of railroads in the county until the electric lines were built for the accommodation of those traveling short distances. Posey county is as well supplied with railroad facilities as any in the State. A drive of a very few miles from any farm in the county is required to reach a railroad market.