Johnsonville is a small

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Steuben Township,

Warren County Warren County is the name of fourteen counties in the USA. Some are named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War: * Warren County, Georgia * Warren County, Illinois * Warren County ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

History

Johnsonville was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bear ...

ted July 8, 1874 by John R. Johnson, Senior, near Sumner Station. A post office was established there on December 2, 1875, with George W. Johnson as postmaster. As of September 1875 there were said to be about 50 people living in the town; there were several businesses including a dry goods store and a tan yard that produced leather. The town also had a druggist, a doctor, a lawyer, a blacksmith, a grain dealer, a railway agent, a tinker, and a boarding-house. As of 1913, the population was about 80. The town was established at the intersection of two rail lines: the existing Toledo, Wabash and Western Railroad and the new Coal Branch of the Chicago, Danville and Vincennes Railroad (the branch being known as the " Pumpkin Vine" Railroad), which was laid down in 1872. The well-chosen location favored the town's success, but trains had stopped running on the Pumpkin Vine by 1880, just six years after the town was formally established; and when the rails were removed shortly thereafter, the site's importance was diminished, and the town began to dwindle. The post office closed on August 31, 1907. As of 2007, Johnsonville consists of a non-denominational Christian church and a few residences.

Geography

Johnsonville is located in the southwestern portion of the township, at the T-intersection of County Road 875 West (a paved road) and 600 South (a gravel road). It is about east of the

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

border. Flat, open farmland lies to the north and west, while wooded valleys and hollows lie to the southeast. The

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

passes southwest through Johnsonville on its way to

Danville, Illinois Danville is a city in and the county seat of Vermilion County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 33,027. As of 2019, the population was an estimated 30,479. History The area that is now Danville was once home to the Miami, K ...

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Indiana Unincorporated communities in Warren County, Indiana Populated places established in 1874 1874 establishments in Indiana