Putnamville

Putnamville. . James Townsend laid out the town in 1830 on land he purchased from the original owner, Edward Heath. He received the rights of "running any water pipes underground to any part of the town". Perhaps the first hint of a water works system in Indiana. Through the work of Townsend, Daniel w. Layman, and Archibald Cooper, the town soon became a thriving community; it became the major stagecoach connection in the county. The growing community came to have about 50 buildings, including Bowen's general stores; the National Hotel; Whitehall Inn; the town hall and community center; Hamaker's ferriers; and J.M. Hendrix Grist Mill which produced "celebrated Putnamville flour". The town vied to become the location of Asbury College, later named Depauw University, but the college opened in Greencastle, winning by a mere difference of $5000 and 57 more citizens. The fire of May 26, 1878, destroyed numerous prosperous businesses. , Noted visitors to Putnamville include: likely visits by Abraham Lincoln and Pres. Van Buren; Johnny Appleseed; and Jenny Lind the "Swedish Nightingale", on her concert tour of the west in 1851. Rev. Henry Ward Beecher preached in the 1834 Presbyterian (later United Methodist) Church on 10-12-1839. , In 2005 Georgia Sublette stated in her oral history, "the last few years, of course, have been different because Putnamville was a thriving little town. We knew all of our neighbors and they came to church and we had our school house, and it was so different than it is now. It's hard to explain how nice Putnamville was at one time."