Union Center, Indiana

Union Center, Indiana
Unincorporated town
Union Center is located in Indiana
Union Center
Union Center
Union Center is located in the United States
Union Center
Union Center
Coordinates: 41°29′03″N 86°38′23″W / 41.48417°N 86.63972°W / 41.48417; -86.63972
CountryUnited States
StateIndiana
CountyLaPorte
TownshipClinton
FIPS code18-01000[1]
GNIS feature ID445070[2]

Union Center is an unincorporated community in LaPorte County, Indiana, in the United States.[3]

Geography

Union Center is located in Union Township,[4] just north of U.S. Route 6 in Indiana.[5]

History

The community took its name from Union Township.[6] The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) was built through LaPorte County in 1874, and was routed through Alida, Tracy, Wellsboro, and Union Center.[7] The population was 30 in 1890.[8]

The Union Center School was built in 1900, at a cost of around $12,000, including the land and barns. Later improvements were made to the building, which was constructed by W.S. Rowe. Eight years later, the two remaining students in the Union Township school district #2 were moved to Union Center, and #2 was closed.[4]

In 1904, Union Center was considered one of two villages in Union Township (the other being Kingsbury). It was the site of "a good store, a grain elevator, and several homes".[7]

The population was 25 in 1940.[9] At that time, Union Center was considered a "tiny village"; a proposed federal munitions loading plant in Union Center had caused many unemployed men to seek employment in Union Center, where no plant had yet been built.[10] In October 1940, the US Department of War in Washington, DC, began issuing federal buyout notices in the Union Center area. 250 land owners in the area were bought out to make room for the munitions plant in Union Center; residents had only 30 days to vacate their premises.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  2. ^ "Union Center, Indiana". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Union Center, Indiana
  4. ^ a b Mitten, George (1931). Memories of Union Township, Benton County, Indiana. Benton Review Shop. pp. 37, 31. The Union Center School Erected by W. S. Rowe in 1900. Substantial improvements were added by Mr. Sayers. The total cost of the building, grounds and barns was about $ 12,000
  5. ^ "General Highway and Transportation Map - LaPorte County, Indiana" (PDF). Indianapolis, IN: State of Indiana. 1977. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 30, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  6. ^ Baker, Ronald L. (October 1995). From Needmore to Prosperity: Hoosier Place Names in Folklore and History. Indiana University Press. p. 330. ISBN 978-0-253-32866-3. ...named for Union Township, in which it is located.
  7. ^ a b Daniels, ED (1904). "A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of La Porte County, Indiana". pp. 109, 232–233. Retrieved August 16, 2025.
  8. ^ Cram, George Franklin (1891). Cram's Universal Atlas: Geographical, Astronomical and Historical, Containing a Complete Series of Maps of Modern Geography, Illustrated by Numerous Views and Charts; the Whole Supplemented with Valuable Statistics, Diagrams, and a Complete Gazetteer of the United States. G.F. Cram. p. 368.
  9. ^ The Attorneys List. United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, Attorney List Department. 1940. p. 288.
  10. ^ "Workers Not To Go to Union Center For Jobs". Nappanee Advance-News. Nappanee, IN. October 24, 1940. p. 4. Retrieved August 16, 2025.
  11. ^ "Munitions Boom Town Is Big Problem". Walkerton Independent. Walkerton, IN. October 24, 1940. p. 1. Retrieved August 16, 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.