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- 40+ mile multi-use trail between Zionsville and Lafayette for walkers,
bicyclists and horseback riders with agri-tourism attractions along a
section of former rail corridor
- Eventually provide 60+ mile connection between the Cultural Trail in
downtown Indy and Prophetstown State Park
- Provide a unique attraction for central Indiana
- Revive small towns that encompass the abandoned rail corridor
- Educate the public about agriculture
- Enhance recreational opportunities
- Immerse visitors in local history, heritage, and culture
- Provide trailside business opportunities
- Enhance experience of farmland, native plants and wildlife
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- Indianapolis, Cincinnati, & Lafayette Railroad/ “Big Four”
- This was the next urgent form of transportation after roads and canals
were becoming too slow to transport harvests.
- “Lawrenceburg & Indianapolis Railroad” chartered in 1832.
- 1850 changed to Lawrenceburg & Upper Mississippi Railroad
- Succeeded on December 1, 1853 by Indianapolis, Cincinnati, &
Lafayette Railroad
- Later was reorganized and purchased as Indianapolis, Cincinnati &
Lafayette Railroad in 1871 to 1873
- Merged in 1880 to become Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis, &
Chicago Railroad”
- Merged again in June of 1889 to become “Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago,
and St. Louis Railyard”.
- Then leased on February 1, 1930 to New York Central Railroad
- Again merged with Pennsylvania Railroad in February 1, 1968
- Reorganized on April 1, 1976 as “Conrail”
- Abandoned between Zionsville and Lebanon in 1976
- Abandoned between Lebanon and Lafayette in 1985 (land deeded to John
King in 1991)
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- Farmers Markets
- Dairy Market
- Heritage Museum
- Architecture and Infrastructure
- Demonstration farms
- Landmarks and Historical sites
- Bed and Breakfast and restaurants
- Petting Farm
- Deer Farm
- Tree Farm
- Greenhouses
- Orchards
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- Connecting the following places:
- Lafayette - rich in history; a major focus for the trail
- North Crane - town south of Lafayette. Opportunities include a large
grain elevator that could be restored to foster the trail.
- Stockwell – was a popular shipping point of Stockwell Lumber Company.
Opportunities for a park as well as an equestrian point to access the
trail.
- Clarks Hill – this town was also developed as a shipping point.
- Colfax – this is the town that is midway between Indianapolis and
Lafayette.
- Known for its saw mill and hickory furniture.
- Thorntown – where French traders and Native Americans first settled.
- Lebanon – has rich railroad history; important link to Indianapolis area
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- Offers the only attraction and experience of its kind in the nation
- Educates urban-dwellers on the value and heritage of agriculture
- Brings recreational opportunities to underserved rural areas
- Provides opportunities to improve health
- Provides an outdoor classroom for agriculture, nature, history
- Provide a transportation link between Indianapolis & Lafayette
- Conserves a swath of green space averaging 100 feet in width
- Connects the Eagle Creek, Sugar Creek and Wabash River watersheds and
supplies wildlife habitat and mobility
- Encourages revitalization of small town economies
- Offers endless volunteer opportunities
- Provides a community gathering place
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- Chambers of Commerce, Tourism boards, Convention and Visitors Bureaus,
Civic groups
- Purdue University
- Local Government Units
- Farmers and Adjacent Landowners
- Nonprofit organizations and volunteers
- Businesses
- Professionals
- Trail users and the general public
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- Boost Economic Development
- provide a unique rural attraction to draw visitors
- Improve the quality of life
- providing an amenity for recreation
- safe transportation, exercise, socializing
- promoting local history and heritage
- conserving open space
- reuse of declining structures, natural habitat preservation, and
boosting identity and sense of place.
The FHT communities are underserved in facilities for recreation
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- Educate the public about agriculture
- Teach the importance of agriculture
- Answer “where our food comes from”
- Help preserve farmland, rural way of life by strengthening the public’s
bond to, and understanding of, agriculture
- Strengthen communities
- provide community focal project
- heavily reliant upon volunteerism
- multi-jurisdictional cooperation
- everyone can contribute!
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- The trail is a project to bring communities together:
- Trees, flowers and other landscaping
- Birdhouses
- Interpretive signs for natural and cultural history
- Mile markers, informational and regulatory signs
- Benches, memorials
- Murals, sculptures and other trailside art
- Bridges, fencing, surfacing, safety features, tangent paths
- Outdoor classrooms
- Maps, brochures, and information kiosks
- Trailside public spaces: pocket
parks, pauses, vending, fountains, air pumps, playgrounds, etc.
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- Lafayette Area
- Prophetstown, Battle Ground, Wabash River, Purdue University, Tapawingo
Park, John Myers Bridge, Amtrak Station, Downtown Lafayette, Fort
Ouiatenon, Armstrong Park, southwest suburbs, North Crane Equestrian
Trailhead
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- Thorntown and the
- Keewasakee Trail
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- Lebanon and the Friendly City Greenway
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- Endorsed by:
- Boone County Commissioners
- Clinton County Commissioners
- Boone County Chamber of Commerce
- Thorntown Town Council
- Colfax Town Council
- Hoosier Heartland RC & D
- Greater Lebanon Community Vision Committee
- Lafayette Parks Board
- Coalition for Living Well After 50
- The Indiana Trails Fund has begun to negotiate with the primary corridor
owner
- Grants are being sought to fund land acquisition and human resources
- Support is being gathered from organizations in Boone, Clinton,
Tippecanoe Counties
- Core group of supporters is growing
- Most support needed in Tippecanoe County
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- BOONE COUNTY Status:
- 1 mile open in Thorntown (called the Keewasakee Trail)
- Trail is centerpiece of master trails plan for county and the focus of
efforts of a new incorporated grassroots trail group (Friends of Boone
County Trails) which meets regularly
- $1 million Transportation Enhancements grant being sought by Boone
County to fund acquisition of the trail corridor (and associated costs)
between Lebanon and Colfax
- Lebanon Utilities has given permission to use 2 miles of the corridor
for a trail and an area for a trailhead
- Thorntown plans to develop another 1 mile south of the town
- An historic bridge will being used over Serum Plant Road in Thorntown
- All major gov’t units and many civic groups support the trail
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- CLINTON COUNTY Status:
- Colfax Town Board and County Commissioners support the trail
- Funding for acquisition sought for trail between Lebanon and Colfax
- An informal 0.5-mile rustic trail is open in Colfax
- Frankfort Mayor Don Stock is working with a new county trail-support
group to connect city to the FHT
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- TIPPECANOE COUNTY Status:
- 1.5 miles open between Beck Lane and 18th Street (called the
Lafayette Linear Park)
- Lafayette Parks Board and the area in general is in support of the trail
- Trail corridor is in danger of eradication by development southeast of
Lafayette
- A local grassroots group is needed to oversee preservation and promotion
of the trail in the area
- Trail needs to be added to/appear on local comprehensive and
transportation plans to be preserved and promoted
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Notes