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Wheeling
(Cranberry, McCormick's)
Delaware County, Indiana
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Township:  Washington
Location: 
Coordinates:  40°21′49″N 85°27′51″W   [S1] -

CR 406W, 1193N. Corner of Wheeling & Muncie Pike and Jonesboro Pike. [S8, p 19]
Other Names: 
Cranberry [S14] - 
Cranberry P.O.  [S13] -
McCormick's   - 
Date Platted:  1837

Town Plat Map - 1874 - [S15 p 19] -
- North-South Streets: Elm, Main, Muncie, Walnut
- East-West Streets: Broadway, Vine
Maps:
1870:  [S13] -
1874:  Town Plat Map - Business Directory  [S15 p 19] -
1876:  [S12] -
1887:  [Ball State University, Delaware County Collection, Map 60-9] - Doc2761.pdf
Post Office Data:

Post Office Established:  17 Jan 1834
Post Office Closed: 15 Nov 1933
PO Location: (1887) Northwest corner Broadway and Main, lot #5, across street from the hotel [S8, p 21]

Cranberry Post office located in the home of William McCormick [S3, p 100]

"The road from Muncie to Wheeling was the first post-route in the township. William McCormick was the first postmaster, and kept the office at his house. It was known as the Cranberry Post Office, and retained that name until it was removed to Wheeling, at a later date. At first the mail was carried on horseback from Muncie to Logansport, and afterward by a mail-hack or stage. The latter is still the method of conveyance employed between Muncie and the towns to the north." [S11, p 296]

Postmark, Description Only [S4, p 522]
Postmasters:

PO established as Cranberry/McCormicks -- 17 Jan 1834
William McCormick -- 17 Jan 1834
PO name changed to Wheeling -- 12 Dec 1838
Henry Davis -- 14 Dec 1838
Calvin P. Streeter -- 18 Feb 1839
Ambrose W. Henley -- 9 Feb 1841
Cephas Dille -- 31 Oct 1844
Levi Davis -- 2 Mar 1846
Calvin P Streeter -- 28 Apr 1849 (2nd Appt)
John Newcom -- 15 Jan 1853
William G. Bunker 14 Feb 1854
John W. Pugh -- 20 Jun 1857
John Wharton -- 17 Feb 1858
Eli Rigdon -- 8 Jun 1859
George W. Thomas -- 14 Feb 1865
William J. Burch -- 8 Dec 1866
Reuben Patrick -- 4 Jun 1867
Esla Stephenson -- 27 May 1870
Asbury L. Kerwood - 20 Mar 1871
Edgar F. Moore -- 19 Jan 1872
Sarah Keller -- 9 Jan 1874
William Dunlap -- 12 Feb 1877
Edward Davis -- 11 Dec 1878
Ephraim Smith -- 26 Mar 1880
George W. Resoner -- 6 Jun 1882
Albert B. Jones -- 9 Aug 1887
Miles L. Hoover -- 13 May 1889
George W. Resoner -- 1 Sep 1896 (2nd Appt)
Miles L. Hoover -- 10 Aug 1897
Louise Richardson -- 12 Aug 1933
PO Closed -- 15 Dec 1933
Population:
1880: 99   [S8, p 3]
Sources:   [S4, p 406, 743-756] - [S5, p 920, 978, 1048] - [S6, p 169] - [S7] - [S8, 3, 19, 21, 23] - [S9, p 230] - [S10, p 178] - [S11, p 296, 299]
 
"Wheeling was laid out by William McCormick, on a portion of his farm. The business of the town is transacted by the following firms: Ephraim Smith, general merchandise; Dr. J.E. Hoover, and Dr. Anderson physicians; John Mattox, blacksmith; Henry Sutton, carpenter; R.H. Trout, proprietor flax mill; Henry Johnson, proprietor of the hotel." [S11, p 299]
Once called Cranberry - platted in 1837 - still several residences to this day - was a stagecoach stop - had a post office, commercial district, Odd Fellows Lodge.  In 1899 the railroad was built a mile west of the town.  [S14]
"...located on Wheeling Pike south of the Mississinewa River - is home nowadays to several dozen families.  There's still a church there.  The old Odd Fellows Lodge building at the "T" intersection of Wheeling Pike and the Eaton Wheeling Pike was razed a few years ago.  The lodge closed long ago, but a general store was maintained there into the 12970s.  Founded in the 1830s, Wheeling for many years was a stagecoach stop, a post office (it was called Cranberry Post Office early on) and a commercial center with stores and professional offices. The railroad brought additional stature on its completion in 1899, but it was a mile west of the center of town.  Additional building lots were platted along the track but few if any were sold.  Wheeling, like many other small communities lost its post office after rural free mail delivery was established.  But for a time early in the 20th century, one rural route was served form Wheeling."  [Source unknown, Feb 1994, p 4A]
Livery Stable operated by Eli Rigdon and the Indiana House Hotel - [Album of Yesteryear, The Muncie Star, 13 March 1994, p 2B] - Doc2759.pdf
Odd Fellows in Wheeling: 
-  Odd Fellows Gathering in front of their Building - [Album of Yesteryear, The Muncie Star, 17 Apr 1994, p 4B] - Doc2760.pdf
-  Information about the Odd Fellows Building - [Our Neighborhood, The Muncie Star, 6 May 1991]
- 
Washington Township (Wheeling & Elizabethtown) Delinquent Taxpayers, 1847 - [Delaware County Genealogist and Historian, March 1996, p 15, 16] - Doc2704.pdf
"William McCormick, one of the pioneer settlers of the township, about 1833, purchased land in the northeast corner of section 14 and later laid out a village there.  One of the oldest roads in the county is Wheeling avenue, as it is now called, leading from Muncie to this point, and this highway was the first regular mail route to this part of the county.  The mail was carried by horseback as far as Logansport, and later a hack service was installed and continued in use until the railroad was built a few years ago.  William McCormick's house was the first post office, which went by the name of Cranberry post office until it was changed to Wheeling."  [S3, p 100]
A Contender for State Capital: 
-  [Probably Not!! - Our Neighborhood, The Muncie Star, 6 May 1991] - [The Muncie Evening Press, 3 Oct 1996, p 2C - Doc2820.pdf ]
Wheeling Railroad Station:
1900 - Chicago, INdiana & Eastern Railway built C. 1900 from Matthews to Muncie.  Station located about 1/2 mile west of Wheeling Pike - [Our Neighborhood, The Muncie Star, 6 May 1991]
 
 
 
 

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Sources
 

Source Citation

Image
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S1 Google Maps:  
S2 WikiPedia Article  
S3 Kemper, G.W.H., M.D., ed. A Twentieth Century History of Delaware County Indiana, 1908; reprint ed., Evansville, Indiana: Whippoorwill Publications, 1984.  Bk3012.  
S4 Baker, J. David. The Postal History of Indiana, 2 Volumes. Louisville, Ky: Leonard H. Hartman, 1976, Bk3010.
Repositories:  Bracken Library, Ball State University and Anderson Public Library		  
S5 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		  
S6 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		  
S7 Map of Delaware County, Indiana. Compiled by H. Lester Janney. Revised by Ward M. Harlan, 1965.  
S8 An Atlas of Delaware County, Indiana. Philadelphia: Griffing, Gordon & Co, 1887, reprint ed., Knightstown, Indiana: Mayhill Publications, 1971,  Bk1849.  
S9 United States Official Postal Guide. Boston: H.O. Houghton and Company, April 1875, Bk1548.  
S10 Baker, Ronald L, and Marvin Carmony. Indiana Place Names. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1975, Bk1567.  
S11 Helm, T.B. History of Delaware County, Indiana. Chicago: Kingman Brothers, 1881, reprint ed., Evansville, Indiana: Unigraphic, Inc., 1976, Bk1595.  
S12 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: Wheeling, Washington Township

 

From 1876 - Delaware County Map


Ph9386-002.jpg
S13 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

  
S14 Newsletter Article: "Ghost Towns". DCHA Newsletter (Delaware County Historical Alliance, Muncie, Delaware County, Indiana), Vol. 1, No. 1, 19 Jan 2000.  - Doc2847.pdf Doc2847.pdf
S15 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  
S16 "Delaware County's Delinquent Taxpayers of 1842" - Delaware County, Genealogist and Historian, March 1995, page 13 - Doc2904.pdf  
S17 "From Snagtown to Gaston: A Washington Township Story" Delaware County Genealogist and Historian, Vol. 7, No. 2, Summer 1998, page 48-50.  Doc2906.pdf  
S18 "Delaware County Delinquent Taxpayers of 1847"  Transcribed by Joyce Colleen Libes.  Delaware County Genealogist and Historian, March 1996, pages 15, 16 - Doc2908.pdf  
S19 "Our Neighborhood" by Bill Spurgeon.  The Muncie Star, (Muncie, Indiana), 15 Feb 1994, page 4A  
S20 Flook, Chris. Lost Towns of Delaware County, Indiana. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2019. Bk4212

http://lostdelawarecounty.chrisflook.org/ 		 
S21 Wheeling Directory:  (1921-22 Muncie City Directory), Page 923  
S22    
S23    
S24    
S25    

 

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