Gaston

Township Washington

Location:
Coordinates: 40°18′49″N 85°30′3″W [S1] -
CR 850N, 600W, south Center of Twp
South East portion of Township, section 34 [S7 p 19] -

Other Names:
New Corner: [S7 p 19] - [S11] - [S12] - [S15, page 184] -
- Platted in 1855 as "Town of New Corner" By David L. Jones [S13] -

Snagtown: [S13] - [S15, page 184] -
- Dick Greene stated that he had heard that it was called "Snagtown" because of all the trees that were cut down and all the stumps and snags that were left [S13] -
-

Date Platted: 1855 as New Corner by David L. Jones [S13] -

Town Plat Map - 1874 - [S16 p 19] -
- North-South Streets: Marin, Sycamore, Railroad
- East-West Streets: Mulberry, Walnut, Elm

Maps:
1870: "New Corner" [S12] -
1874: "New Corner" Town Plat Map, Business Directory [S16 p 19] -
1876 Delaware County [S11] -

Population:
1858: 35 [S3, p 165]
1860s: 35 [S13] -
1880: 121 [S7 p 3]

Post Office Data:

Post Office Established: 6 Jul 1852
Post Office Closed:
Post Office Names: New Corner, Gaston
Zip Code: 47342

- Money Order Office established 1891 [S4, p 854]
- New Corner Post Office opened July 1852 - [S4, page 743-756]
- Postmark, New Corner - [S4, p 481]

Postmasters:

Established as New Corner -- 6 Jul 1852
Jacob Hatfield -- 6 Jul 1852
William F. McInture -- 30 Oct 1856
Joseph Hedgeland -- 16 Feb 1858
Milton H. VanMatre -- 17 Dec 1858
George W. Brady -- 4 Oct 1859
John Smith -- 28 Oct 1862
David L. Jones -- 4 May 1864
George W. Brady -- 26 Jul 1866 (2nd Appt)
David O. Munsey -- 11 Jan 1871
William F. Null -- 11 Dec 1871
James W. Hannan 1 Mar 1872
George W. Brady -- 22 Nov 1872 (3rd Appt)
Stephen C. King -- 30 Nov 1874
Philip W. Woodring -- 8 June 1875
Jacob E. Sharp -- 2 Nov 1876
William L. Resoner 12 Jan 1877
Sarah F. Clemens -- 20 Sep 1880
V.J. Nickey -- 10 Jan 1882
Louis W. Philpott -- 2 Feb 1882
James W. Hannan -- 24 Mar 1884 (2nd Appt)
John McKinley -- 23 Sep 1885
Levi Miller -- 13 May 1886
Thomas F. Barrett -- 20 Apr 1887
George N. Shaw -- 2 Apr 1889
James W. Hannan 18 Feb 1890 (3rd Appt)
PO name change from New Corner to Gaston -- 11 Nov 1892
James W. Hannan -- 11 Nov 1892 (4th Appt)
Jacob W. Jones -- 29 Apr 1893
Frank D. Brown -- 7 Apr 1897
Charles W. Mcintosh -- 3 Aug 1900
Bessie M. Shaw -- 13 Aug 1910
John C. Driscoll -- 22 June 1914
Levi A. Crouse -- 26 Sep 1918
Ella M. Gourley -- 3 Jun 1919
Ernest W. Shaw -- 17 Jun 1922
John B. Fornwald -- 17 Dec 1926
Audley Oildine -- 9 May 1935
W. Jane Jefferson -- 13 Apr 1962
Frederick D. Janey -- 29 Sep 1965 (22 Oct [25-2 Apr 1989, n.p])
Lewis A. Gilbert -- 1 April 1989

Maps:
- Gaston Plat Map, 1887 - [Ball State University, Bracken Library Delaware County Collection, Map 60-9] - Doc2709.pdf
-

Railroad:
- Came to Gaston in 1901 - Cincinnati, Richmond and Muncie Railroad - [S13] -
- Summer 1901: Cincinnati, Richmond, Muncie (Now [1908] C, C. & L. RR) ran through Gaston - [S3, p 165]
- Railroad Station, abt 1950s - [Album of Yesteryear - Muncie Star, 26 July 1987, page 7B] - Doc2707.pdf
- First Train Photo, 1901 - - [DCHS Newsletter, Nov-Dec 1999]
-

Newspaper:
- Gaston Gazette: published by C. W. McIntosh & Son beginning in 1897 - [S13] -
- Gaston News: Published by the Gaston News Publishing Company - Editor: Ernest G. Giggy [S13] -
- The Herald Gaston Newspaper

"... the only towns or villages of Washington township are Wheeling and Gaston. The latter has passed through the ordeal of undergoing some two or three changes of name, such as 'Snagtown,' then 'New Corner,' and now Gaston. However, the littl city has stood all this nobly , and is now threatening some older places in the way of becoming a rival for railroad honors." [S15, page 184] -

Schools:
S17 page 52-53,
- Gaston High School Basketball Team, 1904 - [Album of Yesteryear - Muncie Star, 4 March 1990] - Doc2708.pdf
-

Sources: - [S4, p 991] - [S5, p 56, 109] - [S6] - [S8, p 228] - [S9 (1887)] [S10, 2 Apr 1989] [S14] - [S17 pages 47-56] -

First Settler: John Wesley McCray - built log cabin on the southwest corner of the principal intersection [S13] -

Business references listed [S7 p 21], list of patrons from New Corner [S7 p 23]

The Name of Gaston became the official name of the town in 1892 - the citizens had wanted the name Gas Center - but the post office became Gaston - [S13] -

New Corner, Washington Township - "was laid out by David L. Jones in Feb 1855 on the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 33. The following is the business directory of the town:
- Reasoner & Knight dry goods & Groceries
- Vinton Nickey drugs
- Dr. W. D. Clemens, Dr. D. O. Munsey, Physicians
- George Brady, S. J. Fradley, Blacksmiths
- D. M. Rowlet, Shoemaker
- Frederick Huber, sawmill
- E. H. Case & Co. Tile Factory
[S19, p 299]

Gaston Physicians List - [Album of Yesteryear - Muncie Star, nd] - Doc2705.pdf

Name Change: Fall, 1892 - Citizens wrote to Washington, DC asking to change town name & Post office to "Gas Center." - [S3, p 165]

Gaston Incorporation Vote, 25 Oct 1904: 103-73 in favor - [S3, p 202]

Gaston Citizens pose in front of Powers & Co Store front - [Album of Yesteryear - Muncie Star, 31 March 1991] - Doc2706.pdf

Gaston Article - [Our Neighborhood, by Bill Spurgeon - Muncie Star, 30 Apr 1992] - Doc2710.pdf

Gaston Volunteer Fire Dept., 1935 - [Album of Yesteryear - Muncie Star, nd] - Doc2711.pdf

Gaston - New Corner Lodge - Odd Fellows Gathering, 1912 [Source Unknown] - Doc2712.pdf

"New Corner, which is now the enterprising Gaston, but which at an even earlier date was know as Snagtown, dates back to February, 1855, when David L. Jones laid the first plat on part of the northeast quarter of section 33. This village necessarily had little prosperity beyond the rural hamlet state until the coming of the railroad may years after the laying of the plat." [S3, p 100]

Sources

Source Citation

Image
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Google Maps:

WikiPedia Article

Kemper, G.W.H., M.D., ed. A Twentieth Century History of Delaware County Indiana, 1908; reprint ed., Evansville, Indiana: Whippoorwill Publications, 1984. Bk3012.

Baker, J. David. The Postal History of Indiana, Vol. 2. Louisville, Ky: Leonard H. Hartman, 1976, Bk3010.

Repositories: Bracken Library, Ball State University and Anderson Public Library

Baker, J. David. The Postal History of Indiana, Microfiche. Louisville, Ky: Leonard H. Hartman, 1976, Bk3010.

Repositories: Bracken Library, Ball State University and Anderson Public Library

Map of Delaware County, Indiana. Compiled by H. Lester Janney. Revised by Ward M. Harlan, 1965.

An Atlas of Delaware County, Indiana. Philadelphia: Griffing, Gordon & Co, 1887, reprint ed., Knightstown, Indiana: Mayhill Publications, 1971, Bk1849.

United States Official Postal Guide. Boston: H.O. Houghton and Company, April 1875, Bk1548.

Bracken Library Special Collections. Ball State University. Map #60-9.

S10

The Muncie Star. Muncie, Indiana.

S11

Map: Delaware County, Indiana, 1876. (Published by Baskin, Forster & Co. Lakeside Building Chicago, 1876. Engraved & Printed by Chas. Shober & Co. Props. Of Chicago Lithographing Co.) David Rumsey Map Collection. http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~23110~790090:Map-of-Delaware-County---Published-# Accessed, 27 Feb 2012. Acc002078/Ph9386-001 to 041.jpg

Detail: New Corner, Washington Township

From 1876 - Delaware County Map

Ph9386-005.jpg

S12

Map: Asher, Adams & Higgins. New Topographical Atlas and Gazetteer of Indiana, multiple counties including Delaware, Blackford, Madison, and Hamilton and others. Indianapolis: Higgins & Ryan, 1870, pages 19, 20. David Rumsey Map Collection. http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~33585~1171285:New-topographical-atlas-and-gazette?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No# Accessed 28 Feb 2012. Acc002079/Ph9387.jpg

Map Detail: Washington Township, Delaware County

S13

"From Snagtown to Gaston: A Washington Township Story" Delaware County Genealogist and Historian, Vol. 7, No. 2, Summer 1998, page 48-50. Doc2906.pdf

S14

Haimbaugh, Frank D. History of Delaware County, Indiana. 2 vols. Indianapolis: Historical Publishing Company, 1924. Bk3609.

S15

Ellis, John S. Our County: [Delaware County, Indiana] Its History and Early Settlement by Townships. (1890). Evansville, Indiana: Whipporwill Publications, Reproduction, 1987. Bk2082.

S16

Book: Map of Delaware County Indiana: Indexed and Printed in Atlas Form from 1874 Wall Map. Original: Philadelphia: A.L. Klingman, 1874. Reprint: Muncie, Indiana: D & N Research, 1989. Bk3642

S17

Book: Lasley, Norma and the Delaware County Historical Society (Muncie, Delaware County, Indiana). Images of America: Delaware County. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2012. Bk3725

S18

"Seen and Heard in Our Neighborhood", Richard A. Greene. Muncie Star, Muncie, Delaware County, Indiana.

- 3 June 1955: http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/GrnRchOrNgh/id/7596/rec/3
-

S19

Helm, T.B. History of Delaware County, Indiana. Chicago: Kingman Brothers, 1881, reprint ed., Evansville, Indiana: Unigraphic, Inc., 1976, Bk1595

S20

Flook, Chris. Lost Towns of Delaware County, Indiana. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2019. Bk4212

http://lostdelawarecounty.chrisflook.org/

S21

Gaston Directory: (1921-22 Muncie City Directory), Page 903

S22

S23

S24

S25