Town of Austin

Location: SW corner US 31 & West Morgan Street, Austin. (Scott County, Indiana)

Installed: 2002 Indiana Historical Bureau, Preservation Alliance, Inc., and Scott County Community Foundation

ID# : 72.2002.9

Text

Side one:

Jeffersonville Railroad construction began 1848, completed through here 1852. First station built on this site circa 1853 with two wood yards nearby for fuel. Official plat of Austin recorded 1853. Tradition is that town named by Mexican-American War veterans who used land vouchers given for service; several had served in Austin, Texas.

Side two:

Early industries were timber-related with several saw and stave mills, which produced materials for ship building and made millions of barrel staves before the large trees were depleted. Food canning then became the major industry. In 1899, J.S. Morgan and others opened first cannery, which developed into national supplier of canned foods.

Keywords

Historic District, Neighborhoods, and Towns, Military, Transportation

Annotated Text

Jeffersonville Railroad construction began 1848, completed through here 1852.(1) First station built on this site circa 1853 with two wood yards nearby for fuel.(2) Official plat of Austin recorded 1853.(3) Tradition is that town named by Mexican-American War veterans who used land vouchers given for service; several had served in Austin, Texas.(4)

Early industries were timber-related with several saw and stave mills, which produced materials for ship building and made millions of barrel staves before the large trees were depleted.(5) Food canning then became the major industry. In 1899, J.S. Morgan and others opened first cannery, which developed into national supplier of canned foods.(6)

Notes:

(1) Carl R. Bogardus, Centennial History of Austin, Scott County, Indiana ([Austin], 1953), 29, 33; Indiana Laws, 1849, p. 364.

(2) Bogardus, 58.

(3) Plat, Scott County Recorder's Office, May 3, 1853.

(4 ) Descendants of Mexican War Veterans Web site, description of Types of Veteran Records, Bounty Land Files, accessed June 28, 2001; Ronald L. Baker and Marvin Carmony, Indiana Place Names (Bloomington, Indiana, 1975), 7; Bogardus, 51.

(5) Bogardus, 97-98.

(6) Bogardus, 99-108; Morgan Foods Web site, accessed December 5, 2001, 1-9; James Madison, Indiana Through Tradition and Change: A History of the Hoosier State and its People, 1920-1945 (Indianapolis, 1982), 220; Lotys Benning, The Vegetable Canning Industry (Indianapolis, 1938), 67; S.H.S. Booster, April 22, 1943.