A green way to go

“For the first four decades of the 20th century, electric railroads — urban and interurban — provided the Wabash Valley with rapid and inexpensive transportation.”

So begins an article on the interurban transportation system in the Terre Haute area by Vigo County Historian Mike McCormick. The article appeared as an ad in the Jan. 25, 2001, issue of the Terre Haute Tribune-Star. The ad, Wabash Valley Profiles: A series of tributes to hometown people and events that have shaped our history, was sponsored by Terre Haute First National (Financial) Bank.

At the end of World War I (1918), the Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern Traction Co. (THI&E) included 454.7 miles of track. “Interurban cars were named after local schools and local people. Each stop adopted a name and number.”

The coming of more paved roads and more automobiles doomed the interurban.

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