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Railroads, revolutionaries and roundball: Tippin presents 200 years of Bainbridge history
BAINBRIDGE — For a town that lauds itself as “The Crossroads of Indiana” (a state that is itself “The Crossroads of America”), it’s interesting that Bainbridge never actually became the crossroads town residents envisioned in the 1800s.
Like many Midwestern towns from the mid-1800s through the early decades of the 1900s, railroads provided the lifeblood of commerce in Bainbridge in those years.
Covering a number of topics from 200 years of Bainbridge history last Saturday during the town’s bicentennial celebration, Putnam County Historian Larry Tippin spent considerable time on the history of the railroad in the town, though he noted the town’s consternation at “the railroad that didn’t get built.”
In truth, the Indiana & Illinois Central Railroad was eventually built, but it didn’t cross the Monon at Bainbridge, as Monroe Township residents had long hoped.
The history of the railroad in Bainbridge began when the northern section of the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Railroad reached the town in 1853.
The final spike completing the north line and south lines, Tippin noted, was driven at 4 p.m. June 24, 1854, at Connection Bridge, which was a small structure spanning Limestone Creek, a couple of miles southeast of Putnamville.
As a stop on the railroad that linked the Ohio River to the Great Lakes, Bainbridge became one of a number of bustling stops along the line.
Along the way, Tippin noted there may have been a much deeper history, saying the north-south path of the literal railroad almost certainly made it a part of the figurative Underground Railroad that brought escaped slaves north prior to the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
“But we don’t have documentation of that because they didn’t keep records, of course,” Tippin said.
The bustling nature of the line, though, did not stop the railroad from struggling, with Tippin noting a number of consolidations and reorganizations over the years, eventually becoming the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway in 1897.
It became informally known as “The Monon” in the early 1900s, officially adopting that name in 1956, then merging into the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in 1971 and being acquired by current owner CSX in 2004.
What about that other railroad? Well, that was a more convoluted history.
Tippin showed an 1864 map of Indiana with a dashed line passing through Bainbridge as the proposed route of the Indiana & Illinois Central.
He also shared newspaper clippings of the era from around the state that highlighted various efforts to get the railroad to pass through Bainbridge.
However, when the railroad was finally completed in the 1870s, spearheaded by efforts from Judge Addison Locke Roache, the railroad was routed several miles to the north through — you guessed it, Roachdale — platted in 1874 and named for its benefactor.
Though a native of the Bainbridge area who “was raised not far from here on a farm,” Tippin gave credit for much of the research to Malcolm Romine, who in 2018 compiled the book “Bainbridge Remembered: 1824-2018,” part of a series of books Romine put together on the history of Putnam County towns.
Of course, there’s more to the history of Bainbridge than railroads or even basketball, which was highlighted extensively in the program that followed Tippin’s presentation, featuring Bainbridge hoops legends.
The original land patent in the area was granted to Miranda Parks on March 16, 1824 (or else this wouldn’t have been much of a bicentennial), with the town officially incorporated on 1847, named in honor of Commodore William Bainbridge, who captained a number of ships in the fledgling years of the U.S. Navy in the early 1800s, serving in the War of 1812, among other conflicts.
Of course, Bainbridge himself is no more a part of local history than Indiana is close to the ocean, but the name stuck in tribute to the commodore.
Particularly notable in a town named after an American hero is that a veteran of the Revolutionary War is buried near the town. On a gravestone noting a death date of 1834 is the name William Ford, who at age 18 had joined the fight ... on the British side.
Still, the town has been home to its share of proud American patriots as well, such as 14 men who organized a Grand Army of the Republic chapter in Bainbridge following the end of the Civil War, taking part in the nationwide fraternal organization for men who served in the Union Army, Navy or Marines during the war between the states.
While noting the history of a number of businesses and buildings in the town, Tippin drew attention to a photo of the “grand building” built by Nathan Ader in 1872 for the king’s ransom of $7,000.
“I don’t know if you’re familiar with the Ader Building, but we’re painting a mural on it as we speak,” Tippin said.
As Tippin shared an early photo of the building, certain elements were clearly from what has most recently been known as the Video and Tan building at Main and Washington streets, on which Anthony Brooks is painting one of the seven murals of the 2024 Putnam County Mural Festival.
Brooks’ ongoing work became a part of the day of celebration, as he painted through part of the day, the Best of Bainbridge parade ran right past the building and the artist took part in a question-and-answer session at the Bainbridge Community Center.
Of course, no discussion of Bainbridge history would be complete without at least a little Bainbridge Pointer basketball, and Tippin did not disappoint.
He shared a Banner Graphic clipping from July 18, 1970 of the “County’s Tallest Haycrew” featuring 7-foot Fred Cox, who was about to head to Ole Miss for his freshman season, as well as brothers Norman Steele, a 6-foot-3 player for Indiana Central College, and Larry Steele, who at 6-foot-6 was about to start his senior year for No. 1-ranked Kentucky. The youngest member of the crew, meanwhile, was Tippin’s brother Terry, about to begin his freshman year at the newly-formed North Putnam High School.
The other basketball photo was of the 1924 Bainbridge Pointers who won the Putnam County Championship, featuring Archie Chadd who, like Larry Steele, went on to become an Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame inductee.
Then again, the most interesting figure in that team photo may not have been Chadd himself, but the mascot: A fox terrier (notably not a pointer) perched just behind the championship trophy. Look at the dog’s collar and you’ll see the “strategic innovation” of which Archie’s son Ben told a story just a few minutes later.
If you don’t know that story, you’ll have to pick up a Sept. 17 copy of the Banner Graphic.
