Renner is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

American

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

's Blackford County.Blackford County Historical Society's "Ghost Towns in Blackford County, Indiana". Although Renner has been listed as a “populated place” by the U.S. Geological Survey, this description is misleading. Renner was a railroad stop on the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad. The land around the railroad stop was originally used to supply timber for railroad crossties, and eventually became a livestock farm. Housing for the families of the employees of the livestock farm was also located nearby. Although it is not known for certain, Renner is thought to have been named for railroad executive John W. Renner. Renner was an executive of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad, and later the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

, and retired with over 50 years of railroad experience. Another community,

Rennerdale, Pennsylvania Rennerdale is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Collier Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, about southwest of Pittsburgh. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 1,103. Geography Set in the ...

, was named in his honor in 1895. The farm adjacent to the Renner railroad station was owned by Benjamin Johnson. It became known as the Renner Livestock Farm in the early 1890s, and produced prize-winning Hereford cattle, Hampshire hogs, and

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

s – including the horse “Poetry of Motion”, a champion show horse.Shinn, p. 36.
Portions of Shinn’s book have been reproduced on web pages.
/ref> Livestock were shipped from the Renner station, and the railroad made as many as four stops per day. In the early 1900s, the Renner station was considered one of the principal railroad stations in Blackford County. In 1919, Johnson sold all the farm's livestock, and then sold the farm. The farm was purchased by Fred A. Stimson. Stimson had purchased some of the Renner Stock Farm's cattle, and returned them to the Renner Stock Farm. He successfully continued the farm's tradition of award-winning livestock. Early in 1927, Stimson sold the cattle, and general farming was practiced afterward. In 1937, the farm was sold to the Scripps Foundation in connection with

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

(Oxford Ohio).

History

The Renner railroad stop was located in Blackford County's Licking Township, northwest of Hartford City. (See railroad map herein.) The Renner railroad station was used by the nearby Renner Stock Farm to ship

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

all over the world. Although the rail line came to Blackford County in 1867, the farm was not started until the early 1890s. The Renner Stock Farm is credited as the originator of the

beef cattle Beef cattle are cattle raised for meat production (as distinguished from dairy cattle, used for milk (production)). The meat of mature or almost mature cattle is mostly known as beef. In beef production there are three main stages: cow-calf opera ...

breed of Polled

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

known as the Bullion 4th.

Railroad

The

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

line that ran through Renner was named Union and Logansport Railroad Company by the time it entered Blackford County in 1867, and it was the county’s first railroad. This line was proposed in 1862, and completed to Hartford City in 1867 — running through the Blackford County communities of

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

, Converse, Millgrove, Hartford City, and eventually Renner. The railroad was eventually named Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad.''Biographical and historical record of Jay and Blackford Counties...,'' pp. 759-760. Other names for the railroad since that time include the Panhandle division of the

Penn Central Transportation Company The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania Railroad, ...

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busine ...

, and

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

. The line is now abandoned east of Hartford City, but still in place west of the city through Renner to

Upland, Indiana Upland (pronounced as "up-land") is a town in Jefferson Township, Grant County, Indiana, Jefferson Township, Grant County, Indiana, Grant County, Indiana, United States. The population was 3,821 at the 2020 census. It is the home of Taylor Univer ...

Geography

250px, Blackford County railroads 1890s Renner is in

East Central Indiana East Central Indiana is a region in Indiana east of Indianapolis, Indiana, and bordering the Ohio state line. The Indiana Gas Boom, which took place during the 1890s, changed much of the area from small agricultural communities to larger cities ...

, northwest of Hartford City. The northern half of Indiana, including what became Licking Township and Renner, was flattened by two

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s millions of years ago. These glaciers are also responsible for the rich Blackford County farmland. The region is still

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

-oriented.

Soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source o ...

s and

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

are the most popular crops grown in Blackford County, and over are devoted to these two crops.

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

's Indiana CropMA
web site.
/ref> Additional crops and livestock are also grown in the county. A farm still exists in the area, and can be seen via satellite, but the railroad station is gone.

Major highways

Interstate 69 Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of eight unconnected segments. The longest segment runs from Evansville, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, and includ ...

(approximately west)

Adjacent cities

Upland Upland or Uplands may refer to: Geography *Hill, an area of higher land, generally *Highland, an area of higher land divided into low and high points *Upland and lowland, conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level *I ...

(about 4 highway miles west) * Hartford City (about 5 highway miles southeast) * Gas City (about 10 highway miles west) *

Marion Marion or MARION may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Marion (band), a British alternative rock group * ''Marion'' (miniseries), a 1974 miniseries * ''Marion'' (1920 film), an Italian silent film * ''Marion'' (2024 film), a UK short People a ...

(about 18 highway miles northwest) * Muncie (about 26 highway miles southeast)

Notes and references

Notes

References

* * * * * * * {{Authority control Former populated places in Indiana Former populated places in Blackford County, Indiana