Lyles Station, Indiana
Posted by: YoSam.
N 38° 22.215 W 087° 39.558
16S E 442407 N 4247102
A Negro farming community, that is now the ONLY Negro farming community still intact.
Waymark Code: WMRPX0
Location: Indiana, United States
Date Posted: 07/20/2016
Views: 1
County of site: Gibson County
Location of town: 5 miles W. of Princeton, 1 mile N. of IN-64/65, CR-500, Lyles Station
Location of town in county: NW corner of county
County is in the SW corner of the state
Elevation: 400 ft (100 m)
Population: 401 (2000)
"The legacy of Lyles Station, a small community located 4.5 miles west of
Princeton, Indiana, began in the early 1840’s as a settlement of freed slaves,
One of these early settlers, Joshua Lyles, donated 6 acres of ground to the
Old Airline Railroad to establish a rail station. In 1886, the settlement was
officially named Lyles Station in honor of Joshua Lyles and his contribution.
"The town flourished during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,
developing into a self-sustaining community of approximately 800 residents. At its
peak (1880-1913), Lyles Station consisted of fifty-five homes, a post office, a
railroad station, an elementary school, two churches, two general stores, and a
lumber mill. However, the 1913 flood of the Patoka and Wabash Rivers left
much of the area under water, marking the start of the settlement’s decline.
Today, only a few homes remain in the community of Lyles Station but nearly
half of the residents are descendants of the original black settlers. Along with
the scattered houses, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, a grain elevator,
and the schoolhouse are all that stand as a physical reminder of the once-
thriving settlement of Lyles Station, Indiana.
"However, the spirit of freedom and perseverance which made the town prosper
is still very much alive in the hearts and minds of those individuals who have
worked to restore the Lyles Consolidated School building. Ground breaking on
the renovation project was held in June of 2002 and in May of 2003, the
dreams of preserving the Lyles Station legacy were realized with the opening of
the restored Lyles Consolidated School." ~ Gibson County Visitors &
Tourism Bureau