Transportation in Indiana
- Purchases may be made via a visit to our office, by telephone (317-232-2535), fax (317-232-3728), or e-mail (ihb @ history.in.gov). More info on purchasing here.
Now That Time Has Had Its Say
J. Darrell Bakken
The author is the retired vice-president of engineering for the Indianapolis Water Company. He focuses on primary sources to tell the history of the Indianapolis Central Canal, 1835-2002. Learn how the Canal has been used for transportation, water power, public water supply, and economic redevelopment.
paper 141 pp. 2003/ISBN1-4033-3912-0/$15.50
Order No. 2476
Journey's End: Relics and Ruins of Indiana’s Transportation Legacy
John Bower
Journey's End is a book filled with emotional portraits of once gleaming, but now rusted, vehicles abandoned along fence rows, lonely depots adjacent to trackless railroad grades, and defunct service stations whose retired pumps offer gas at 31¢ a gallon. These are images that will spark transportation memories in everyone who sees them—of those Sunday drives to Grandma's, interminable waits at railroad crossings hoping for the arrival of a caboose, a first airplane flight, a first car, or the long bus rides to school. These stunning images are iconic reminders of where we have come from—and the means of transport we took along the way.
paper 144 pp. 2009/ISBN 0-9745186-5-7/$22.00
Order No. 2751
Artistry and Ingenuity in Artificial Stone: Indiana's Concrete Bridges, 1900-1942
James L. Cooper
Annotated history of concrete bridges in Indiana with inventory of bridges by county and many photographs.
paper 288 pp. 1997/ISBN 0-936631-13-9/$25.00
Order No. 2361
Iron Monuments to Distant Posterity: Indiana's Metal Bridges 1870-1930
James L. Cooper 
History of Metal Bridges and Builders in Indiana with an inventory of metal spans; many photographs and drawings
paper 220 pp. 1987/$19.95edition)
Order No. 2362
Trains across the Continent: North American Railroad History
Rudolph Daniels
Leads one through the maze of building, merging, and other details of modern railroading necessary to understanding steam, diesel, passenger, and freight trains.
cloth 209 pp. 2000/ISBN 0-253-33762-3/$45.00
Order No. 2266
Monon: The Hoosier Line
Gary W. Dolzall and Stephen F. Dolzall
Includes an informative text about the Monon, 258 black-and-white illustrations, and a special color insert, "The Monon in Color," with 27 additional photographs.
cloth 216 pp. 2002/ISBN 0-253-34083-7/$49.95
Order No. 2336
Indiana Covered Bridge Location Guide
Arthur Gatewood, Jr
This guide contains detailed maps showing all covered bridges in Indiana, drawings of all truss types used in Indiana's covered bridges, and a listing of covered bridges located on private property.
paper 39 pp. 1998/$7.00
Order No. 2276
Public Ports for Indiana, A History of the Indiana Port Commission
Ralph D. Gray
Examines early efforts to achieve an Indiana port on Lake Michigan, establishment of the Indiana Port Commission in 1961, and construction and operation of three public ports.
paper 167 pp. 1998/ISBN 1-885323-54-9/$14.95
Order No. 4031
We have several copies signed by the author available
The Monon Railroad in Southern Indiana
David E. Longest
In the spring of 1847, James Brooks met with six associates in Providence to forever change the face of transportation in Indiana. The New Albany and Salem Rail Road Company was born as a result of this historic meeting. Today this railroad, most often called the Monon, is only a memory of a time when trains streaked across the hills and farmland of southern Indiana. The Monon Railroad in Southern Indiana examines the real purpose of railroads as movers of people and the products they devoted their lives to producing and focuses on areas from New Albany to Bloomington. It identifies the only two counties in Indiana that were a part of the Salem limestone district and gives a glimpse of how the stone was removed from the earth and eventually formed into some of the nation’s most beloved buildings and structures. It also takes a look at the history of several lumber-based industries and the famed products that they manufactured. New Albany was once known across America as a key producer of hardwood plywood, used in custom cabinetry, and the Showers Brothers Furniture Company of Bloomington was once the largest manufacturer of furniture in America. This book talks about the industries that created the cities and towns that many Hoosiers called home.
paper 129 pp. 2008 / ISBN 9780738552378 / $19.99
Order No. 2716
Railroad Depots of Northern Indiana
David E. Longest
Take a historic excursion across a state that is often mistaken as the home of grain and corn production, and little more. Countless manufacturing centers in northern Indiana strengthened the economic fabric of Hoosier land. The railroads that criss-crossed northern Indiana were instrumental in populating the small towns and larger cities by employing thousands over the course of many years. Through photographs of depots, freight houses, and other railroad structures, long demolished yet an integral part of community development, Railroad Depots of Northern Indiana reviews the history of the cities and towns that used the rail to transport raw materials and finished manufactured products across the state to markets such as Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. This book also tells the story of a short line railroad and the commodities it has transported for the past century, as well as the longest-existing interurban, still operating just south of Lake Michigan, the resilient South Shore Line.
Images of Rail series from Arcadia Press
paper 128 pp. 2007/ISBN 0-7385-4131-1/$19.99
Order No. 2634
Railroad Depots of Southern Indiana
David E. Longest
Did you know that Greene County in Indiana has one of the longest land-crossing railroad trestles in the Midwest? Are you aware that the Southern Railway once used half of the railroad tunnels in the state? Indiana’s first railroad, built in Shelbyville, was only a mile long, but in 1847, completion of a major steam railroad from Madison to Indianapolis made the state’s capital a center of transportation. Unlike canals, railroads could be built just about anywhere. Southern Indiana’s quickly growing network of rail lines was able to haul tons of goods at low cost, and enabled settlers to travel great distances in a single day. Railroad Depots of Southern Indiana takes the reader on a journey through the towns and cities that shape Indiana’s railroad lore. Images depict regional rail history from the inner workings of now demolished depots to one of the oldest “short lines” in Indiana. Through more than 200 vintage photographs, author David E. Longest documents locomotives, rail equipment, the moving of stock, depots, rail stations, and freight houses, and finishes with a tour of the rail museums and excursions that still allow tourists and aficionados to “ride the rails.”
The Images of Rail series from Arcadia Press
cloth 128 pp. 2005/ISBN 0-7385-3958-9/$19.99
Order No. 2560
Indiana's Covered Bridges
Robert Reed
Once there were hundreds of 19th century and very early 20th century covered bridges in Indiana—so many in fact, that the state ranked third in the nation in the number of structures still standing. By the early 1930s and 1940s a movement was afoot to preserve those magnificent spans which had not already disappeared due to desertion and deterioration. Some were saved, but many were not. Captured in the volume are nearly 200 of those illustrations from the mid-20th century and before, representing more than 36 Indiana counties from Adams County to Wells County.
Images of America series from Arcadia Press.
paper 128 pp. 2004/ISBN 0-7385-3335-1/$19.99
Order No. 2490
A Sampling of Penn Central
Jerry Taylor
Over 200 photographs taken between 1970 and 1972 along with detailed captions, illustrate the 5,000 miles of the Penn Central's Southern Region.
cloth 424 pp. reprint 2000 (1973)/ISBN 0-253-33702-X/$59.95
Order No. 2234
Pennsylvania Railroad In Indiana
William J. Watt
An economic powerhouse, which qualified as the nation's largest industrial employer, set the pace in freight tonnage, ridership, excellence of service, and fast schedules for its famous passenger runs.
cloth 192 pp. 1990/ISBN 0-253-33708-9/$49.95
Order No. 2235
Broadsides: Transportation and Communication
Dani B. Pfaff
Reproductions of primary source materials from Indiana history for use across the curriculum; activities, maps, timelines, reference materials, finding aids.
paper $0.75/Order No. 6008
Covered Bridges of Indiana
Truss types, images, extant bridges and location, and list of bridges by county.
paper 8 pp. 1998/$.50
Order No. 6072
Indiana Barns
Study of barns in Indiana.
paper 8 pp. 2001/$.50
Order No. 6088
Iron Bridges of Indiana
Iron Bridges of Indiana
History, images, truss types of Indiana iron bridges.
paper 8 pp. 1999/$.50
Order No. 6074
Related Issues of The Indiana Historian
paper/ISSN 1071-3301/$1.00 (1-19 copies); $.30 (20 or more copies)
Marking Indiana's History
Marking Indiana's History as a pdf file
Transportation in Indiana history and the importance of historical markers in commemorating that history.
16 pp. 1994/Order No. 7025
Canal Mania in Indiana
The development and impact of the Whitewater Canal on southeastern Indiana.
16 pp. 1997/Order No. 7040
Canal Construction in Indiana
How canal building progressed and affected individuals.
16 pp. 1997/Order No. 7041
Aviation in Indiana
Many "firsts" of aviation in Indiana, people and communities involved over the years - from the first airmail in 1859 through Hoosier astronaut David Wolf's stay on the Russian space.
16 pp. 1998/Order No. 7044
"a marvel of ingenuity"
The phenomenon of the bicycle when it was a short-lived "craze" in the 1890s, and its economic and social impact.
16 pp. 1996/Order No. 7038
Vroom! Speedway in May
Vroom! Speedway in May as a pdf file
The Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, including history and a 1910 map of Speedway, Indiana.
12 pp. 1992/Order No. 7009
". . . Every Hoosier is Justly Proud"
". . . Every Hoosier is Justly Proud" as a pdf file
Indiana's rich and interesting automobile heritage.
12 pp. 1993/Order No. 7017
