The Ben-Hur Route
A few years ago I created a display on student life in 1911 – a peek into what life was like on campus and in Crawfordsville for the students of that era. Among the items that were useful in this exhibit is a collection of colored postcards. These cards are so beautiful that they are like looking out of a window and into a different time. They are primarily of downtown Crawfordsville and are just great examples of how this town and this college have changed. Some of the buildings are gone, torn down like the block shown here, just north of the courthouse.
The Interurban is gone too but it had a huge effect on student life at Wabash.
In the postcard above we see, right at the near end of the block, the Ben Hur Station. The Ben-Hur Route to Indianapolis created many opportunities for students and others to ride to Indianapolis. The Interurban was a system of trains that connected towns like Crawfordsville to Indianapolis. As you can see from the advertisement from the 1912 Wabash Magazine, there was hourly service.
The Interurban system had a huge impact on life at Wabash College. With reliable and affordable transportation to Indianapolis, many large college events could be held in Indianapolis. Chief among the events were football matches with larger schools. Typically there would be a parade through the downtown followed by the BIG GAME with opponents like Butler, Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State), Indiana University and Notre Dame…even the Wabash – DePauw game was sometimes played in Indianapolis. Thanks to the Ben Hur Route, many of our larger games were attended by trolley loads of students and preceded by a parade through downtown. Here is a picture of the “Sea-Going Band” of Wabash from a 1925 parade before the big game in Indianapolis.
If you are interested in learning more about the Interurban here is a link to a collection at the Indiana Historical Society, the historical notes are fascinating:
http://www.indianahistory.org/library/manuscripts/collection_guides/P0392.html
Also this page has some great photos:
http://imaps.indygov.org/ed_portal/template.asp?page=history_trans
As discussion of light rail in Central Indiana increases, it is fascinating to me that one hundred years ago, we had a highly efficient, highly functional system in place…I would love to hop on a train and head to downtown Indianapolis for dinner and maybe a show and then relax on the way home by train….
Beth Swift
Archivist
Wabash College