The small town of Batesville in the southeast region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is not a famous town as it is centrally located between the major cities of Indianapolis, Indiana, Cincinnati in the U.S. state of Ohio, and Louisville in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Its historic district is on the National Register of Historic Places. As you drive through the town, it looks like any other small town. It has its town hall town parks. It is truly what small town America is about.
Some of you are saying, “It is nice to visit a small town. I enjoy small town America. However, there is a problem with this town. What is the problem? This is not a railroad town. Therefore, I will not be stopping by to visit.”
So, the reason that you will not visit the town of Batesville, Indiana is because it is not a railroad town. As you drive through the town and historic district, you do not see any railroad tracks or old train station of rail trails. The only railroad line in the town runs through the south side, but there is no railroad yard or train station here. Trains mainly just pass through. Why visit this town?
You enter into the historic district of the town. You see the old buildings. You see the town hall. You see the Sherman Inn, and German style hotel and restaurant. What you do not see is railroad tracks nor do you see any sign of the railroad ever being here. Then you come upon Depot Square. Wait a minute. Where are the railroad tracks? You see an old railroad crossing sign. Where are the railroad tracks? You see no signs of railroad tracks.
You walk towards the town center, and you see doors. Doors? They are just doors that are just there, but they have pictures on them. What are they pictures of? They are pictures of the old town. Then you see pictures of the railroad. You look behind the door, but you just see a street or a lot.
In the early years, a railroad line ran along what is now E. Pearl Street. There was also a freight depot and a passenger depot. Along these tracks was once a Buick car dealership where, in 1910, Buicks were brought to the dealership by train.
Some of you are saying, “Alright! Batesville was a railroad town, but it is no longer a railroad town.”
True, but there is more to the story. How much more? Let us start at the beginning.
Before there was the town of Batesville, Indiana, it was just empty land. The early settlers came and settled the land. A man named Teunis Amack brought land from the government hoping to make it into a farm, but he later sold it to a man named George H. Dunn. Who is George H. Dunn? He was the owner of the John Callahan Trust Company. Why did Teunis Amack sell the land? George H. Dunn was also the president of the Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railroad. The land was bought to be used for a railroad line. The railroad line was built, and the town of Batesville, Indiana was built around the railroad. The first train arrived on November 1, 1853, and passed through the center of the town. The last passenger train served the town in 1906. Through the years, the tracks were removed, and the train depot was demolished.
Now you have a reason to visit the town of Batesville, Indiana. The trains may be gone, but the ghosts of the trains remain.
John Cowgill: Stories of the Railroad 