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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Atkinson, Indiana
Atkinson is an unincorporated community in Center Township, Benton County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The site of Atkinson is home to the county's only junior/senior high school, Benton Central.

Geography

Atkinson is located at 40°33′46″N 87°14′48″W / 40.56278°N 87.24667°W / 40.56278; -87.24667 on the border of Center and Oak Grove Townships. U.S. Route 52 and the Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern Railroad both pass northwest through the town.

History

Early years

Atkinson and Swanington, Indiana, in Center Township

A post office was established at Atkinson in 1873, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1923. The town was named for Cephas Atkinson, the son of Thomas and Francis Head Atkinson and served as a shipping point on the Big Four railway. Atkinson was noted as one of the seven Benton County towns on the Big Four railway when Elmore Barce listed these seven towns in The History of Benton County, Indiana, from northwest to southeast: "Raub, Earl Park, Fowler, Swanington, Atkinson, Templeton and Otterbein."

In 1882, the Western Telephone Company of Chicago established telephone service in Benton County, with offices in Atkinson, Fowler, Templeton, Oxford, and Otterbein.

A 1916 lightning storm in Atkinson "opened a hole in the road eight feet in diameter and four feet deep", killing a man and his team of horses, and destroying a wagon.

Despite its small size, during the 1920s, Atkinson was called a "thriving little village" in the Oxford (Indiana) Gazette.

Education

The first school in the Atkinson area was named the Gwin School, built in 1857 one mile south of Atkinson and which burned down a few years after. Later, a "fine brick" schoolhouse was completed in Atkinson in 1906.

In the 1960s, a new school, Benton Central School, was built at Atkinson Station. This complex is now known as Benton Central Junior-Senior High. Prairie Crossing Elementary School opened in October 2006.

Demographics

Atkinson
historical population
YearPop.±%
189050—    
190041−18.0%
192046+12.2%

Despite its location on a major rail line, Atkinson's population remained small. The population of the community was 50 in 1890, and just 41 in 1900. The population of the community was recorded as 46 in 1920. Its population in the 1920s was from 10 to 15.

References

  1. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  2. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  3. ^ "Atkinson, Indiana". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  4. ^ "Benton County". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  5. ^ Baker, Ronald L. (October 1995). From Needmore to Prosperity: Hoosier Place Names in Folklore and History. Indiana University Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-253-32866-3. The name honors Cephas Atkinson son of Thomas and Francis Head Atkinson, a prominent cattleman...
  6. ^ Barce, Elmore; Swan, Robert A. (1930). History of Benton County, Indiana. Fowler, Indiana: The Benton Review Shop. p. 113.
  7. ^ Counties of Warren, Benton, Jasper, and Newton counties, Indiana. Chicago, IL: F.A. Battey & Co. 1883. p. 305.
  8. ^ "Deadly Bolt Kills Farmer and Team and Rends the Earth". Connersville Evening News. p. 8. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
  9. ^ "Untitled". Oxford Gazette. p. 3. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  10. ^ McKnight, Levi Adolphus (1906). Progress of education in Benton County, Indiana, with an explanation of the Indiana school system and the duties of school officers, patrons and pupils (PDF). Scott-Miller Co., printers. pp. 66, 68.
  11. ^ Johnson, Mary Moyars (1987). Some Indiana Descendants of John Rhodes, a Mennonite Minister in the Shenandoah Valley. M.M. Johnson. p. 28.
  12. ^ "About Prairie Crossing Elementary". www.benton.k12.in.us. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  13. ^ Cram, George Franklin (1890). Cram's Universal Atlas: Geographical, Astronomical and Historical, Containing a Complete Series of Maps of Modern Geography, Illustrated by Numerous Views and Charts; the Whole Supplemented with Valuable Statistics, Diagrams, and a Complete Gazetteer of the United States. G.F. Cram. p. 364.
  14. ^ Cram's Modern Atlas: The New Unrivaled New Census Edition. J. R. Gray & Company. 1902. p. 134.
  15. ^ Premier Atlas of the World: Containing Maps of All Countries of the World, with the Most Recent Boundary Decisions, and Maps of All the States, Territories, and Possessions of the United States with Population Figures from the Latest Official Census Reports, Also Data of Interest Concerning International and Domestic Political Questions. Rand McNally & Company. 1925. p. 185.
  16. ^ Birch, Jesse Setlington (1942) [1928]. "Towns of the County". History of Benton County and Historic Oxford. Oxford, Indiana: Craw & Craw. p. 200.
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