Nickel Plate was the nickname for the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad. It was built through Brems, Knox, and Ober in 1882. Up to that time, Knox did not have its own railroad service.
The nickname is believed to stem from the fact that it was one of the few railroads to be built in those days with cash instead of bonds.
This photo shows the Brems Depot around 1920. Brems is one of the few communities in Starke County that existed before railroads. It was first known as “Jackson Island” and was built upon the site of a large Potawatomie camp.
The railroad first called it “Jackson Station” then later changed the name to “Nickel Plate Station”. Sometime in the late 1800’s, it was again renamed - this time “Brems” after Louis Brems, a local resident and frequent RR passenger. At one time, this was one of the largest wild hay shipping points in the area.
The Nickel Plate watchman's tower was located along the north side of the railroad tracks between Pearl and Heaton Streets in downtown Knox. It was built around 1927, about the same time electrical signals were added at Main, Pearl and Heaton Streets. The tower now stands on Hwy. 35 near Wythogan Park.