Willow Creek is a

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

in the city of

Portage, Indiana Portage ( ) is a city in Portage and Westchester townships, Porter County, in the U.S. state of Indiana, on the border with Lake County. The population was 37,926 as of the 2020 census. It is the largest city in Porter County, and third large ...

in Porter County. It is the location of the junction of the Garrett Subdivision, Porter Subdivision, and Barr Subdivision, all sections of the

CSX Railroad CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

History

Willow Creek is the site of the Willow Creek Confrontation. According to a marker placed by the Indiana Historical Bureau, this occurred when the

Michigan Central Railroad The Michigan Central Railroad (reporting mark MC) was originally chartered in 1832 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan, and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in th ...

refused to allow a

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

line to cross its tracks. The Michigan Central briefly defied

court order A court order is an official proclamation by a judge (or panel of judges) that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a hearing, a trial, an appeal or other court proceedings. Such ruling requires or authorizes the carrying o ...

s and the

state militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or serve ...

, but eventually a crossing was built at Willow Creek Station.

References

{{reflist Populated places in Porter County, Indiana