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July 2004
- Splash Island Opens
- Splash Island, the outdoor aquatics center at Plainfield's recreation center complex, opened on Tuesday, June 22. Here are photos from the grand opening.
- Dinner at the Interurban Station
- On Thursday, August 26 at 6:30 p.m., the Friends of the Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library are offering you the chance to join friends for a delicious candlelight buffet dinner in the Town of Plainfield's Interurban Depot. The building's stunning interior features brick walls, tiled floors, and numerous large arched windows. Local historian Sarah Hadley Allen will discuss interurban history, and attendees will also get a chance to see early photos. Tickets for the dinner/program are $6 and very limited; they are available until 8 p.m. Wednesday, August 18 in the library's Local and Indiana Information Department. Ticket holders must be age 9 and older; payment is required at registration.
- Popular at the beginning of the 20th century, interurbans were basically extensions of big-city electric streetcars, with links into the countryside or to other cities. In its heyday Plainfield's interurban station was a bustling center of activity, but after interurban use ceased, the building suffered a gradual decline. The Town of Plainfield has extensively renovated the station. In 2003 it was named to the prestigious National Register of Historic Places, and in 2004 the Town of Plainfield received the Western Regional Preservation Award in the Public/Non-profit Sector category by the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana for the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of the depot.
- For more information call the library at 839-6602, ext. 115.
- Interurban Restoration Wins Preservation Award
- The Town of Plainfield has been named the winner of the 2004 Western Regional Preservation Award in the Public/Non-profit Sector category by the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. The award is being given for the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of the historic Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern Interurban Depot. It will be presented during a ceremony at the Interurban Depot. The date for the presentation has yet to be determined.
- Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana saves and restores irreplaceable architectural heritage, from outstanding national landmarks like West Baden Springs to modest historic houses, barns, and bridges. A group of Indianapolis civic leaders created the Foundation in 1960 when they became alarmed at the loss of defining historic buildings. The organization now ranks as the largest private statewide preservation group in the United States, with an Indianapolis headquarters and nine regional offices staffed by professionals who help Hoosiers save and restore old buildings.
- The THI & E Interurban Depot was built in 1907 as one of four stations on the Terre Haute to Indianapolis line (the other three were Amo, Reelsville, and Seelyville.) Plainfield's station also served as a substation, generating power for the interurban and also for the surrounding community. The two-story part of the building located in the back held the generators. The interurban was an electric railway that was widely used in the early 1900s for transportation. Indianapolis was a major center. Thirteen lines fed into the city from other cities around the state.
- Many Plainfield residents used the interurban daily to get to jobs in Indianapolis. However, as the automobile became more prevalent, interurban traffic declined. In 1944 the building became the local post of the American Legion and remained that way until 2001 when the five remaining active members, most in their seventies, decided to donate the Nysewander-Bayliff American Legion Post 329 building to the town.
- Since renovation, the Interurban depot has become part of the Plainfield Parks & Recreation Department and is available as a community meeting space. The Town also hopes to turn it into a museum.
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