1. Monon (New Albany & Salem Railroad)

Railroad Township was home to the first railroad in our county.  In either 1852 or 1853, the New Albany and Salem Railroad (NA&S) built the first tracks through Starke County, running north and south. In 1854, a village called Culvertown was laid out along the train’s path. (The next year the name of the village was changed to San Pierre.) In 1859, the NA&S was renamed the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago Railroad.  On April 30, 1865, this line became one of twenty railroads to haul Abraham Lincoln's funeral train.


On July 1, 1897, the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago was reorganized as the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railway (CI&L).  However, the railroad was often known as the Monon and on January 11, 1956, the CI&L officially adopted its longtime nickname, Monon, as its corporate title.