Lyles Station
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 22.173 W 087° 39.573
16S E 442384 N 4247024
Freed Slaves community in western Indiana
Waymark Code: WM17JB
Location: Indiana, United States
Date Posted: 02/12/2007
Views: 66
Location: Lyles Station:
Sponsor: Indiana Historical Bureau and Lyles Station Historic Preservation Corporation.
State marker text:
Side one:
Settled in late 1840s by Joshua and Sanford Lyles, former slaves from Tennessee. African Methodist Episcopal Church (since 1860) and schools (1865-1958) played important roles in sustaining the community. On land donated by Joshua Lyles, railroad companies maintained a station circa 1870-1950s for passenger, freight, and mail service.
Side two:
Named Lyles Station 1886. Community declined after widespread flooding in 1913. It remains probably most intact African-American settlement in the state; several present residents are descendants of original settlers. Lyles Consolidated School, built 1919, listed in National Register of Historic Places 1999; restoration began 2001.
Marker by church:1886..........LYLES STATION, INDIANA...........1986
Dedicated to preserve the memory of Joshua Lyles
Lyles Station, Indiana, the state's only remianing Black-named community, was settled more than one hundred years ago by Joshua Lyles, a freed slave from Tennessee.
He encouraged other freed slaves to settle as farmers in Indiana. The "Negro Colony", as it was called prior to and after the Civil War, became a Northern picture of Southern culture.
The community served as a symbol of hope for freed men and slaves.
THENCEFORWARD - FOREVER FREE
County: Gibson
Year Placed: 2002
Name: Lyles Station
ID#: 26.2002.1
|
Visit Instructions:
Post a photo of: the marker in relation to its surroundings, other details of the site, you or a team member at the location, etc.