unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
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 so ...
of
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 ...
.
It is located on
Indiana State Road 13
State Road 13 (SR 13) is a north–south state road in the US state of Indiana. The southern terminus is at an intersection with U.S. Highway 36 (US 36) and SR 67, in the town of Fortville, and its northern terminus is at the Mic ...
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 Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...
ted in 1881 by Christian W. Speicher, and named for him. An old variant name of the community was called Spiker.
A post office was established under the name Spiker in 1881, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1913.
Christian W. Speicher was a farmer and carpenter from Lagro and was originally from Holmes County, Ohio. On January 29, 1858, Christian married Catherine Cosly; a native from Carrol County, Indiana.
In 1866, Christian purchased a plot of land that adjoined his father's land that consisted of 280 acres. He had multiple well cultivated fields and barns that allowed the appearance of an already established homestead that were prominent in the area. Along this tract of land, the Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan Railroad Company began construction of a new station that would later be coined "Spikerville".
With this new station, Christian then began construction of a general store. Following the general store, other trades began to emerge within the town surrounding the original farm that Christian had built including a blacksmith and, in 1881, the post office that platted the town.
Christian W. Speicher passed away on August 19, 1900 and was buried in Urbana, Wabash County, Indiana.