Springville is an

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 Springfield Township in northern

LaPorte County, Indiana LaPorte County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 111,467. The county seat is the city of La Porte, and the largest city is Michigan City. This county is part of the Northwest Indiana and Michiana ...

, at the intersection of

U.S. Route 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...

and Indiana Route 39, less than one mile north of the LaPorte exit on the Indiana Toll Road. It took its name from a large spring that formerly flowed near the town. Springville is the site of the Springville Free Methodist Church, built in 1891. Businesses in the town include two large gas stations serving highway travelers, and a large mobile home park. Springville is part of the Michigan City Area Schools school district. The Springville area was originally almost entirely forest, but is now a mixture of forest and farmland. The town stands on a low hill that divides the watershed of Trail Creek from the Galena River, which rises a short distance to the east in the Springfield Fen, which provides habitat for a variety of rare plants and animals.

History

Springville was first settled in 1833, and platted on August 19, 1835. It lay on the Michigan Road, an important early road which ran from the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

Michigan City, Indiana Michigan City is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States. It is one of the two principal cities of the Michigan City-La Porte, Indiana Metropolitan statistical area, which is included in the Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City Combined sta ...

. In the mid-19th century, it was the site of businesses including a mill, sawmill, schoolhouse, tannery, shoemaker and general store, as well as both Baptist and Methodist congregations. Springville also had a post office from 1835 to 1863. During the 1840s, many locals hoped that Springville would become the county seat. The town's ambitions of becoming a location of importance ended, however, when the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway passed through LaPorte instead of Springville. In the 1850s, a company was organized in Springville to build a

plank road A plank road is a road composed of wooden planks or puncheon logs. Plank roads were commonly found in the Canadian province of Ontario as well as the Northeast and Midwest of the United States in the first half of the 19th century. They were oft ...

from Michigan City to South Bend, but this too was unsuccessful. Later, however, the LaCrosse Division of the Pere Marquette Railroad, running from New Buffalo to LaCrosse was built through the town and stopped at Springville. The Pere Marquette right-of-way was ultimately acquired by the

Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond to ...

, and was abandoned in the late 20th century.

References

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{{authority control Unincorporated communities in LaPorte County, Indiana Unincorporated communities in Indiana