Firsts in Early Logansport, Indiana History

The owner of the land that was to become Logansport was Chauncey Carter. He laid out the town originally with one hundred and eleven lots. The border of the city ended at Fifth Street or Canal Street. Once the town had an official name the first resident born here was Sarah Smith on February 15, 1828. Her family who had yet to establish their own residence was staying at the combination tavern, trading post, and inn known as Major Bell's Cabin. This cabin stood where the Wabash Depot stood at a later date.

The first official house was built in Cass County by Alexander Chamberlain. It was built on the south shore of the Wabash where the now defunct St. Joseph's Hospital stood. General Tipton built the first large residence in 1833 on Biddle's Island. The first official hotel was called Washington Hall in 1828. It stood on the south west corner of Third and Market Street.

The town's first bank was called the Logansport Insurance Bank and was established in 1837. It was located on Third Street between Market and Broadway. The first official school was called the Eel River Seminary and it too was organized by General Tipton , who would later donate land for the first public school it was established in 1829. It was built on the northeast corner of Fourth and Broadway. The first church in Logansport was Presbyterian and also was established in 1829 by the Reverend Martin M. Post. The church was located just south of the Pharos Tribune building and stood until the late 1930's. It of course had be replaced as the central place of worship long before that.

The first post office ran out of Major Bell's cabin and was established in 1827. The first postmaster was Hugh B. McKean. The first official newspaper was established by War of 1812 veteran General Hyacinth LaSalle. He was part owner of the then later Logansport Canal Telegraph.

Logansport early growth was slow. The coming of the Wabash and Erie Canal changed that as did the coming of the railroad. In 1861 the population of Logansport was 3,000 and by year 1871 the population had more than doubled to 7 ,500. Even after the Civil War Logansport remained very much a farm village in character. The town had only gravel streets for many years and fences were required in every yard to, "protect lawns from encroachment' of geese, pigs and cows that wandered the streets at large.

In 1848 the 'Lake Michigan , Logansport, and Ohio River Railroad was established. It took many years for many major lines of railroads to transform Logansport into a modern city. By the 1890 's the city boasted a well used electric Inter Urban system. The day of the Inter-Urban came to an end about 1915 with the wide use of automobiles and buses.

The first Inter-Urban depot on Broadway near where Keller's Pool Hall stood in the late 1940's.

Logansport today is an odd mixture of homes built just slightly before the Victorian Era and meant to house very large families to a large number of smaller cottage type homes built in the more frugal depression era and then again after World War II. The 'strip mall ' area of Logansport is blessedly small and a significant number of modern businesses occupy the older buildings downtown. Logansport sadly has many wonderful Victorian Homes given over to being cheap rentals that will someday be adopted by appreciative owners and restored to their original glory. The town also boasts a large number of Gothic churches built before the turn of the last century. Some of this even stand abandoned or used by congregations that have little appreciation of their historical significance. Time will tell if an influx of some sort of money into the local economy will preserve many of these houses and buildings that make Logansport so unique.

Source: History of Logansport and Cass County by Graham Taber copyright 1947 by the Pharos-Tribune. Published at Logansport Indiana.