Lyles Station, Indiana
| Lyles Station, Indiana | |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated community | |
 Lyles Station
Lyles Station
|
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| Coordinates: 38°22′13″N 87°39′33″W / 38.37028°N 87.65917°WCoordinates: 38°22′13″N 87°39′33″W / 38.37028°N 87.65917°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Indiana |
| County | Gibson |
| Township | Patoka |
| Lyle's Purchase | 1849 |
| Elevation | 400 ft (100 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 401 |
| ZIP code | 47670 |
| FIPS code | 18-45414 |
| GNIS feature ID | 438427 |
| Website | http://lylesstation.org/ |
Lyles or Lyles Station is an unincorporated community in Patoka Township, Gibson County, Indiana. The community dates from 1849, although its early settlers first arrived in the 1830s, and it was formally named Lyles Station in 1886 to honor Joshua Lyles, a free African American who migrated with his family from Tennessee to Indiana around 1837. Lyles Station is one of Indiana's early black rural settlements and the only one remaining. The rural settlement reached its peak in the years between 1880 and 1912, when major structures in the community included the railroad depot, a post office, a lumber mill, two general stores, two churches, and a school. By the turn of the twentieth century, Lyles Station had fifty-five homes, with a population of more than 800 people. The farming community never fully recovered from the Great Flood of 1913, which destroyed much of the town. Most of its residents left for economic reasons, seeking opportunities for higher paying jobs and additional education in larger cities. By 1997 approximately fifteen families remained at Lyles Station, nearly all of them descended from the original settlers.
Although most of Indiana's black rural settlements no longer exist as self-contained communities, Lyles Station continues. The restored Lyles Consolidated School building, which serves as a local living history museum and a community center, and the Wayman Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, are two remaining points of interest in Lyles Station. In 2016 the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., plans to feature Lyles Station as part of its exhibition on black rural communities in the Midwest.
Lyles Station is located in Patoka Township, Gibson County, Indiana, at 38°22′13″N 87°39′33″W / 38.37028°N 87.65917°W, approximately 4.5 miles (7.2 km) west of Princeton, in the southwestern part of the state. By 1900 the settlement bordered the Patoka River on the north; old U.S. 40 on the east; Indiana State Route 64 on the south; and the boundary line with the Illinois state line on the west. Its proximity to the White, Patoka, and Wabash Rivers, makes it especially susceptible to flooding.
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