Mollie, Indiana
Encyclopedia
Mollie is an extinct
American village in Blackford County, Indiana
, that flourished during the Indiana Gas Boom
from the 1880s until the 1920s. The region around Mollie experienced an economic "boom" period because of the discovery of gas
and crude oil
. Mollie was a stop along the Fort Wayne, Cincinnati, and Louisville Railroad — and happened to be near the region's oil fields
, a convenient location for the area's oil workers.
Mollie's location on the railroad
line was approximately half-way between the two largest cities in Blackford County: Hartford City
and Montpelier
. In addition to the oil fields, the area was also fertile farmland. Two county roads intersected at Mollie, making it well-located for area farmers as well as the oil workers. The small community had a feed mill, a grocery, a Post Office
, and a livestock station. The sole manufacturing facility was a brick and tile mill. Mollie's significance, in addition to its participation in the Indiana Gas Boom and its railroad station, is that Mollie is thought to be the site of the first aircraft
landing in Blackford County.
Most of the small community's growth and demise is linked to the Indiana Gas Boom. Two other factors were minor contributors to Mollie's decline. First, the depletion of the raw material used in the community’s tile manufacturing factory meant that Mollie lost its only manufacturer. A second factor was the automobile
. Improvements in modern highway systems, automobile reliability, and automobile availability made people less dependent on railroads for transportation — diminishing Mollie's value as a stop along a railroad line.
Today (2011), none of the community’s commercial buildings
remain. Two houses are located nearby — including one that was built using bricks made from the community's tile mill. Interurban lines declined in popularity in Indiana during the 20th century, and a line serving Mollie was removed in the 1940s. Although the track that was the Mollie railroad spur is gone, freight trains operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway
still operate over the adjacent main line.
village named Mollie was located in the Harrison Township
section of Blackford County
, at the intersection of county roads 400 North and 300 East. A railroad line passes very close to the intersection. A former resident, interviewed in 1972, believes the community was named after an early resident named Mollie, but she cannot recall Mollie's surname
. The community was essentially a small informal cluster of houses around a train station, and it was never officially platted
.
In 1887, natural gas was discovered in nearby Hartford City, and Blackford County began its participation in the Indiana Gas Boom. More importantly for Mollie, oil was discovered north of Hartford City in Harrison Township. Blackford County's first oil well began producing during 1890 in Harrison Township south of Montpelier, Indiana (which is north of Mollie). By the mid-1890s, about two thirds of Harrison Township (25 square miles) was considered part of an oil-producing region. Nearby Montpelier was thought to be "the very heart of the greatest natural gas and oil field in the world". Mollie's location along Blackford County's north-south railroad line is about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) from Hartford City and 3.6 miles (5.8 km) from Montpelier. During the Indiana Gas Boom, Mollie's location was ideal for men working in nearby oil fields. Thus, Mollie had the fortune during the 1890s of being located between two boomtown
s, having an oil field nearby, and having railroad service.
Mollie's Post Office was discontinued in February 1907, and area mail began being handled by nearby Hartford City's Post Office. Although the Mollie Post Office was busy during the earlier years when the Blackford County oil field operations were significant, Postmaster Jacob Burnworth felt that decreased business made it a "waste of time" to continue. Despite the closing of the Mollie Post Office, the grocery housed in the same building continued, as did the waiting station for the interurban that was also located in the building. In 1914, burning soot caused the grocery store building to burn to the ground.
biplane
was forced to land near Mollie because of engine failure. This was exciting news in Blackford County, and people paid to ride the trolley
(interurban
line) to Mollie to see the aircraft. A county historian believes this was one of the first, if not the first, aircraft to land in Blackford County.
. It is located about 44 miles (70.8 km) south of Fort Wayne, Indiana
, and about 71 miles (114.3 km) northeast of Indianapolis
.
Beneath the soil of Mollie lies the Trenton Oil and Gas Field responsible for the Indiana Gas Boom. Oil production from the Trenton Field, which affected Mollie more than the production of natural gas, peaked around 1904.
Future Northern Indiana, including what became Harrison Township and Mollie, was flattened by two glacier
s millions of years ago. These glaciers are also responsible for the rich Blackford County farmland, which includes the land surrounding Mollie. "Standard cereals, wool and live stock" were the products of the area farms during Mollie's more prosperous years in the 1890s. One hundred years later, the region is still agriculture
-oriented. Soybean
s and corn
are the most popular crops grown in Blackford County, and over 65000 acres (263 km²) (60%) are devoted to these two crops according to a survey from the 1990s. Additional crops and livestock are also grown in Blackford County.
humid continental
seasonal climate. There are four distinct seasons, with winters being cold with moderate snowfall, while summers can be warm and humid. The highest average temperature is in July at 84 °F (29 °C), while the lowest average temperature is in January at 18 °F (−8 °C). However, summer temperatures can top 90 °F (32 °C), and winter temperatures can drop below 0 °F (−17 °C). Average monthly precipitation ranges from 2 to 4 in (50.8 to 101.6 mm), with the heaviest occurring during June, July, and August. The highest recorded temperature was 103.0 °F (39.0 °C) on June 26, 1988, and the lowest recorded temperature was −26.0 °F (−32.0 °C) on January 19, 1994.
Census
information is not directly available for Mollie. Residents of Mollie were counted as part of Blackford County's Harrison Township
, and the "Name of incorporated city, town, or village, within the above named division" heading on the census page was left blank. The population in 1890 for the entire Harrison Township less the city of Montpelier was 1,900. This would include farms, Mollie, and other small villages similar to Mollie. For the year 1900, the census lists the population for Harrison Township less the city of Montpelier as 1,867. Based on entries in a county directory, Mollie was populated by at least 15 households in 1902. Using the Mollie households listed in the county directory, and census counts for each matching Harrison Township household, Mollie's unofficial population must have exceeded 55 in 1900. The 1900 Census is probably the census that is closest to Mollie's peak year for population. The oil part of the Indiana Gas Boom was just beginning in 1890, and the boom was already over by 1910 — as evidenced by the closing of the Mollie Post Office in 1907. Mollie's population has been estimated to have a peaked around 25 during the 1920s, less than half of the probable population in 1900. Over the next 50 years the population continued to decline, and by the 1970s, Mollie consisted of just two houses. Mollie's population in 1972 was 4 — increasing to 5 people in 1980.
Mollie's economy was centered on its railroad stop and agriculture. Mollie had a grain elevator
, and grain and hay
raised by area farmers were shipped out via the railroad. Mollie’s railroad facility, and the Mollie stockyard, were used by area farmers to ship livestock
. Farmers on horseback, and on foot, would drive cattle or hogs down the county roads to Mollie's stockyard. Livestock were typically shipped to stockyards in New York or Chicago
. Some livestock, such as lambs from the west, also came into Mollie by rail.
Mollie's only manufacturing facility was a tile mill. Drainage tiles were important in Blackford County during the 19th century because of the original swampy
condition of the land. The tile mill manufactured drain tile, building blocks, and bricks. At least one of the two houses still standing in the Mollie was built by using bricks from the local tile factory. Tile mill products could easily be shipped on the nearby railroad.
Other businesses in Mollie included the general store, a cider mill
, and a blacksmith
shop. These businesses had extra demand for their services during the Indiana Gas Boom, when numerous oil field workers worked nearby.
s stopped in the small community. A grain elevator and stockyard were located nearby, serving the area farmers. Livestock was transported to and from the area. Other buildings in Mollie included the tile factory
, grocery store
, cider mill, and a blacksmith shop. In later years, the grocery store was described as a “general store”. A community as small as Mollie could not justify having a hospital. However, Mollie had at least one registered physician, Doctor H. B. Reed.
cities of Fort Wayne and Muncie
— running through the Blackford County communities of Montpelier, Mollie, and Hartford City
(see railroad map). Although work constructing the railroad line began in the 1850s, it was not completed (by connecting Fort Wayne to Muncie) until 1870. The original company was named Fort Wayne & Southern Railroad Company, but by the time the railroad began operations, it was named Fort Wayne, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad. (Most of the "Louisville" part of the name can be seen on the railroad map herein.) The Lake Erie and Western Railroad
acquired the Fort Wayne, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad in 1890, and both names were used to describe the railroad during Mollie's more prosperous years. A short piece of railroad track branched off from the main line to enable the loading and unloading of railcars in Mollie. The Mollie "loading track" was listed in 1895 as having a length of 361 feet (110 m). Another short branch line, the 800 feet (243.8 m) Manhattan Oil spur, was located nearby. Although these branch lines have been removed, trains still operate over the main line.
Around 1905, an interurban line began running parallel to the railroad. The interurban, called the trolley by the locals, connected with Montpelier to the north and Hartford City to the south. Automobiles gradually replaced interurbans as the popular choice for passenger transportation. Blackford County's interurban was removed in the early 1940s.
in Mollie was significantly diminished. By 1907, Mollie's Post Office was discontinued because of lack of demand — the oil workers had moved away. Elsewhere in the county, the gas and oil workers left, some of the manufacturers moved, and some of the service industries were forced to close or cut back. According to the United States Census, Blackford County's population peaked at 17,123 in 1900, and it still has not returned to that zenith 100 years later. Mollie was still listed on maps during the 1920s, but its decline was already two decades old.
Other contributers to Mollie's demise concerned Jacob Burnworth and his tile factory. Burnworth was Mollie's leading citizen and entrepreneur
. He owned the town's general store (which also contained the interurban station}, and tile factory. The clay used by the tile factory became depleted, and the tile factory was moved to Hartford City. Burnworth died August 12, 1917, at the age of 76.
A smaller factor to affect Mollie was the automobile. During the 20th Century, the quality of automobiles and roads improved — resulting in the decline of interurban lines and passenger service on the railroads. The last interurban train ran on January 18, 1941. Passenger service on the Lake Erie and Western Railroad line (owned by the Nickel Plate Road by that time) had already been discontinued in 1931. Many small towns, including Mollie, had started as stops on railroad lines. The automobile contributed to the decline of the railroad as a major provider of passenger transportation. It also changed “business and shopping patterns at the expense of the small-town merchant”.
In 1972, Mollie's population was down to 4 people, and the community consisted of two houses. A "Welcome to Mollie, pop. 4" sign was kept nearby for the amusement of passing motorists.
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
American village in Blackford County, Indiana
Blackford County, Indiana
Blackford County is located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Indiana. The county is named for Judge Isaac Blackford, who was the first speaker of the Indiana General Assembly and a long-time chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. Created in 1838, Blackford County is divided...
, that flourished during the Indiana Gas Boom
Indiana Gas Boom
The Indiana Gas Boom was a period of active drilling and production of natural gas in the Trenton Gas Field, in the US state of Indiana and the adjacent northwest part of Ohio The boom began in the early 1880s and lasted into the early twentieth century....
from the 1880s until the 1920s. The region around Mollie experienced an economic "boom" period because of the discovery of gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
and crude oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
. Mollie was a stop along the Fort Wayne, Cincinnati, and Louisville Railroad — and happened to be near the region's oil fields
Oil field
An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area...
, a convenient location for the area's oil workers.
Mollie's location on the railroad
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
line was approximately half-way between the two largest cities in Blackford County: Hartford City
Hartford City, Indiana
Hartford City is a city in the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Blackford County. Located in the northeast central portion of the state, the small farming community experienced a 15-year “boom” beginning in the late 1880s...
and Montpelier
Montpelier, Indiana
Montpelier is an American city in Blackford County, Indiana. This small rural community, the county’s first to be platted, was established by settlers from Vermont, and is named after Vermont’s capital city – Montpelier....
. In addition to the oil fields, the area was also fertile farmland. Two county roads intersected at Mollie, making it well-located for area farmers as well as the oil workers. The small community had a feed mill, a grocery, a Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, and a livestock station. The sole manufacturing facility was a brick and tile mill. Mollie's significance, in addition to its participation in the Indiana Gas Boom and its railroad station, is that Mollie is thought to be the site of the first aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
landing in Blackford County.
Most of the small community's growth and demise is linked to the Indiana Gas Boom. Two other factors were minor contributors to Mollie's decline. First, the depletion of the raw material used in the community’s tile manufacturing factory meant that Mollie lost its only manufacturer. A second factor was the automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
. Improvements in modern highway systems, automobile reliability, and automobile availability made people less dependent on railroads for transportation — diminishing Mollie's value as a stop along a railroad line.
Today (2011), none of the community’s commercial buildings
Commercial building
A commercial building is a building that is used for commercial use. Types can include office buildings, warehouses, or retail . In urban locations, a commercial building often combines functions, such as an office on levels 2-10, with retail on floor 1...
remain. Two houses are located nearby — including one that was built using bricks made from the community's tile mill. Interurban lines declined in popularity in Indiana during the 20th century, and a line serving Mollie was removed in the 1940s. Although the track that was the Mollie railroad spur is gone, freight trains operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...
still operate over the adjacent main line.
History
The small East Central IndianaEast Central Indiana
East Central Indiana is a region in Indiana east of Indianapolis, Indiana, and borders the Ohio state line.- Counties :*Blackford*Delaware*Hancock*Henry*Jay*Madison*Randolph*Wayne- County seats :*Anderson, Indiana-Madison...
village named Mollie was located in the Harrison Township
Harrison Township, Blackford County, Indiana
Harrison Township is one of four townships in Blackford County, Indiana. As of the 2000 census, its population was 2,940. The township was named after William Henry Harrison, hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe, former governor of the Indiana Territory, and 9th President of the United...
section of Blackford County
Blackford County, Indiana
Blackford County is located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Indiana. The county is named for Judge Isaac Blackford, who was the first speaker of the Indiana General Assembly and a long-time chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. Created in 1838, Blackford County is divided...
, at the intersection of county roads 400 North and 300 East. A railroad line passes very close to the intersection. A former resident, interviewed in 1972, believes the community was named after an early resident named Mollie, but she cannot recall Mollie's surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
. The community was essentially a small informal cluster of houses around a train station, and it was never officially platted
Plat
A plat in the U.S. is a map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. Other English-speaking countries generally call such documents a cadastral map or plan....
.
Gas boom
In 1887, natural gas was discovered in nearby Hartford City, and Blackford County began its participation in the Indiana Gas Boom. More importantly for Mollie, oil was discovered north of Hartford City in Harrison Township. Blackford County's first oil well began producing during 1890 in Harrison Township south of Montpelier, Indiana (which is north of Mollie). By the mid-1890s, about two thirds of Harrison Township (25 square miles) was considered part of an oil-producing region. Nearby Montpelier was thought to be "the very heart of the greatest natural gas and oil field in the world". Mollie's location along Blackford County's north-south railroad line is about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) from Hartford City and 3.6 miles (5.8 km) from Montpelier. During the Indiana Gas Boom, Mollie's location was ideal for men working in nearby oil fields. Thus, Mollie had the fortune during the 1890s of being located between two boomtown
Boomtown
A boomtown is a community that experiences sudden and rapid population and economic growth. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although the term can also be applied to communities growing very rapidly for different reasons,...
s, having an oil field nearby, and having railroad service.
Post office
Mollie's Post Office was established October 19, 1888. Henry H. Dean was the first postmaster, and this Post Office lasted for about one year before it was discontinued. The Post Office re-started on February 6, 1890, with Anderson Hatfield as the postmaster. It was housed in the front of Jacob Burnworth's grocery store. This Post Office became especially useful for workers in the nearby oil fields because mail could be easily sent and retrieved using the railroad. Although the grocery building burnt to the ground in 1891, the facility was rebuilt. The United States Official Postal Guide lists the Mollie Post Office as one of seven Post Offices in Blackford County during 1895. In addition to the Post Office, the grocery building had a small waiting room for railroad passengers.Mollie's Post Office was discontinued in February 1907, and area mail began being handled by nearby Hartford City's Post Office. Although the Mollie Post Office was busy during the earlier years when the Blackford County oil field operations were significant, Postmaster Jacob Burnworth felt that decreased business made it a "waste of time" to continue. Despite the closing of the Mollie Post Office, the grocery housed in the same building continued, as did the waiting station for the interurban that was also located in the building. In 1914, burning soot caused the grocery store building to burn to the ground.
Aircraft landing
Near the end of World War I, an armyUnited States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
biplane
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
was forced to land near Mollie because of engine failure. This was exciting news in Blackford County, and people paid to ride the trolley
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
(interurban
Interurban
An interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...
line) to Mollie to see the aircraft. A county historian believes this was one of the first, if not the first, aircraft to land in Blackford County.
Geography
Mollie is considered part of East Central Indiana and Northern IndianaNorthern Indiana
Northern Indiana is the region of Indiana including 26 counties bordering parts of Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio. The area is generally sub-classified into other regions. The northwest is economically and culturally intertwined with Chicago, and is considered part of the Chicago metropolitan area...
. It is located about 44 miles (70.8 km) south of Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
, and about 71 miles (114.3 km) northeast of Indianapolis
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
.
Beneath the soil of Mollie lies the Trenton Oil and Gas Field responsible for the Indiana Gas Boom. Oil production from the Trenton Field, which affected Mollie more than the production of natural gas, peaked around 1904.
Future Northern Indiana, including what became Harrison Township and Mollie, was flattened by two glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s millions of years ago. These glaciers are also responsible for the rich Blackford County farmland, which includes the land surrounding Mollie. "Standard cereals, wool and live stock" were the products of the area farms during Mollie's more prosperous years in the 1890s. One hundred years later, the region is still agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
-oriented. Soybean
Soybean
The soybean or soya bean is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean which has numerous uses...
s and corn
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
are the most popular crops grown in Blackford County, and over 65000 acres (263 km²) (60%) are devoted to these two crops according to a survey from the 1990s. Additional crops and livestock are also grown in Blackford County.
Climate
Mollie has a typical MidwesternMidwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
humid continental
Humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters....
seasonal climate. There are four distinct seasons, with winters being cold with moderate snowfall, while summers can be warm and humid. The highest average temperature is in July at 84 °F (29 °C), while the lowest average temperature is in January at 18 °F (−8 °C). However, summer temperatures can top 90 °F (32 °C), and winter temperatures can drop below 0 °F (−17 °C). Average monthly precipitation ranges from 2 to 4 in (50.8 to 101.6 mm), with the heaviest occurring during June, July, and August. The highest recorded temperature was 103.0 °F (39.0 °C) on June 26, 1988, and the lowest recorded temperature was −26.0 °F (−32.0 °C) on January 19, 1994.
Demographics
Milestone years in Mollie's history are 1870, when the railroad line was completed; 1878, when leading-citizen Jacob Burnworth moved to Blackford County; 1888, when the Mollie Post Office opened; 1890, when the first oil well was successfully drilled between Montpelier and Mollie; and 1907, when the Mollie Post Office closed because of the end of the Gas (and oil) Boom. These events outline the rise, and the beginning of the decline, of the community. Population patterns can be expected to follow this outline.Census
United States Census
The United States Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. The population is enumerated every 10 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats , electoral votes, and government program funding. The United States Census Bureau The United States Census...
information is not directly available for Mollie. Residents of Mollie were counted as part of Blackford County's Harrison Township
Harrison Township, Blackford County, Indiana
Harrison Township is one of four townships in Blackford County, Indiana. As of the 2000 census, its population was 2,940. The township was named after William Henry Harrison, hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe, former governor of the Indiana Territory, and 9th President of the United...
, and the "Name of incorporated city, town, or village, within the above named division" heading on the census page was left blank. The population in 1890 for the entire Harrison Township less the city of Montpelier was 1,900. This would include farms, Mollie, and other small villages similar to Mollie. For the year 1900, the census lists the population for Harrison Township less the city of Montpelier as 1,867. Based on entries in a county directory, Mollie was populated by at least 15 households in 1902. Using the Mollie households listed in the county directory, and census counts for each matching Harrison Township household, Mollie's unofficial population must have exceeded 55 in 1900. The 1900 Census is probably the census that is closest to Mollie's peak year for population. The oil part of the Indiana Gas Boom was just beginning in 1890, and the boom was already over by 1910 — as evidenced by the closing of the Mollie Post Office in 1907. Mollie's population has been estimated to have a peaked around 25 during the 1920s, less than half of the probable population in 1900. Over the next 50 years the population continued to decline, and by the 1970s, Mollie consisted of just two houses. Mollie's population in 1972 was 4 — increasing to 5 people in 1980.
Economy
Grain elevator
A grain elevator is a tower containing a bucket elevator, which scoops up, elevates, and then uses gravity to deposit grain in a silo or other storage facility...
, and grain and hay
Hay
Hay is grass, legumes or other herbaceous plants that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal fodder, particularly for grazing livestock such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs...
raised by area farmers were shipped out via the railroad. Mollie’s railroad facility, and the Mollie stockyard, were used by area farmers to ship livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
. Farmers on horseback, and on foot, would drive cattle or hogs down the county roads to Mollie's stockyard. Livestock were typically shipped to stockyards in New York or Chicago
Union Stock Yards
The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co., or The Yards, was the meat packing district in Chicago for over a century starting in 1865. The district was operated by a group of railroad companies that acquired swampland, and turned it to a centralized processing area...
. Some livestock, such as lambs from the west, also came into Mollie by rail.
Mollie's only manufacturing facility was a tile mill. Drainage tiles were important in Blackford County during the 19th century because of the original swampy
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
condition of the land. The tile mill manufactured drain tile, building blocks, and bricks. At least one of the two houses still standing in the Mollie was built by using bricks from the local tile factory. Tile mill products could easily be shipped on the nearby railroad.
Other businesses in Mollie included the general store, a cider mill
Cider mill
A Cider mill refers to the location, structure, or machinery used to crushed apples into apple juice for use in making apple cider, applejack, hard cider, apple wine, pectin and other products derived from apples. The mills used to manufacture the juice products, ferment them, store them and ship...
, and a blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
shop. These businesses had extra demand for their services during the Indiana Gas Boom, when numerous oil field workers worked nearby.
Infrastructure
Mollie is located at the intersection of county roads 400 North and 300 East. A railroad passes very close to the intersection. During the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, passenger and freight trainTrain
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
s stopped in the small community. A grain elevator and stockyard were located nearby, serving the area farmers. Livestock was transported to and from the area. Other buildings in Mollie included the tile factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
, grocery store
Grocery store
A grocery store is a store that retails food. A grocer, the owner of a grocery store, stocks different kinds of foods from assorted places and cultures, and sells these "groceries" to customers. Large grocery stores that stock products other than food, such as clothing or household items, are...
, cider mill, and a blacksmith shop. In later years, the grocery store was described as a “general store”. A community as small as Mollie could not justify having a hospital. However, Mollie had at least one registered physician, Doctor H. B. Reed.
Railroad
Located in Mollie next to the intersection of the two county roads is a railroad line. This line was authorized in 1849, and connects the IndianaIndiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
cities of Fort Wayne and Muncie
Muncie, Indiana
Muncie is a city in Center Township, Delaware County in east central Indiana, best known as the home of Ball State University and the birthplace of the Ball Corporation. It is the principal city of the Muncie, Indiana, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 118,769...
— running through the Blackford County communities of Montpelier, Mollie, and Hartford City
Hartford City, Indiana
Hartford City is a city in the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Blackford County. Located in the northeast central portion of the state, the small farming community experienced a 15-year “boom” beginning in the late 1880s...
(see railroad map). Although work constructing the railroad line began in the 1850s, it was not completed (by connecting Fort Wayne to Muncie) until 1870. The original company was named Fort Wayne & Southern Railroad Company, but by the time the railroad began operations, it was named Fort Wayne, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad. (Most of the "Louisville" part of the name can be seen on the railroad map herein.) The Lake Erie and Western Railroad
Lake Erie and Western Railroad
The Lake Erie and Western Railroad was a railroad that operated in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.-The beginning:The Seney Syndicate linked several short railroads in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to form the Lake Erie and Western Railroad in 1879 and 1880...
acquired the Fort Wayne, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad in 1890, and both names were used to describe the railroad during Mollie's more prosperous years. A short piece of railroad track branched off from the main line to enable the loading and unloading of railcars in Mollie. The Mollie "loading track" was listed in 1895 as having a length of 361 feet (110 m). Another short branch line, the 800 feet (243.8 m) Manhattan Oil spur, was located nearby. Although these branch lines have been removed, trains still operate over the main line.
Around 1905, an interurban line began running parallel to the railroad. The interurban, called the trolley by the locals, connected with Montpelier to the north and Hartford City to the south. Automobiles gradually replaced interurbans as the popular choice for passenger transportation. Blackford County's interurban was removed in the early 1940s.
Notable people
Mollie's leading resident during the Indiana Gas Boom era was Jacob Burnworth, who moved to Blackford County in 1878. Burnworth also owned Mollie's two major enterprises: the grocery store and the tile factory. The building that housed the grocery also had additional purposes. The Mollie store also housed a small waiting station for the interurban and a Post Office. Burnworth served as a the Mollie post master, and he was also a Justice of the Peace for Harrison Township. He died in 1917 at the age of 76.Decline
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Indiana Gas Boom gradually came to an end. The end of the Gas Boom was difficult for many small communities, and it was a major cause of Mollie's decline. Unlike some communities, Mollie did not have manufacturers that were dependent upon the low-cost energy provided by the abundant natural gas. However, the loss of the oil workers in the nearby Harrison Township oil fields meant that consumer demandSupply and demand
Supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a market. It concludes that in a competitive market, the unit price for a particular good will vary until it settles at a point where the quantity demanded by consumers will equal the quantity supplied by producers , resulting in an...
in Mollie was significantly diminished. By 1907, Mollie's Post Office was discontinued because of lack of demand — the oil workers had moved away. Elsewhere in the county, the gas and oil workers left, some of the manufacturers moved, and some of the service industries were forced to close or cut back. According to the United States Census, Blackford County's population peaked at 17,123 in 1900, and it still has not returned to that zenith 100 years later. Mollie was still listed on maps during the 1920s, but its decline was already two decades old.
Other contributers to Mollie's demise concerned Jacob Burnworth and his tile factory. Burnworth was Mollie's leading citizen and entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
. He owned the town's general store (which also contained the interurban station}, and tile factory. The clay used by the tile factory became depleted, and the tile factory was moved to Hartford City. Burnworth died August 12, 1917, at the age of 76.
A smaller factor to affect Mollie was the automobile. During the 20th Century, the quality of automobiles and roads improved — resulting in the decline of interurban lines and passenger service on the railroads. The last interurban train ran on January 18, 1941. Passenger service on the Lake Erie and Western Railroad line (owned by the Nickel Plate Road by that time) had already been discontinued in 1931. Many small towns, including Mollie, had started as stops on railroad lines. The automobile contributed to the decline of the railroad as a major provider of passenger transportation. It also changed “business and shopping patterns at the expense of the small-town merchant”.
In 1972, Mollie's population was down to 4 people, and the community consisted of two houses. A "Welcome to Mollie, pop. 4" sign was kept nearby for the amusement of passing motorists.