Lee is an unincorporated community in Monon Township, White County, in the U.S. state of Indiana.[3][4]
Lee, Indiana | |
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Unincorporated community | |
![]() View north from Madison Street toward corn fields and grain elevators | |
![]() ![]() Lee ![]() ![]() Lee | |
Coordinates: 40°53′47″N 86°58′05″W | |
Country | United States |
State | Indiana |
County | White |
Township | Monon |
Established | 1883 |
Platted | August 1886 |
Named for | John Lee |
Elevation | 673 ft (205 m) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
ZIP code | 47978 |
FIPS code | 18-42642[2] |
GNIS feature ID | 437727 |
The site of what is now Lee is first recorded as a station stop on the Indianapolis, Delphi and Chicago Railroad,[5] a company which by late 1879 had completed its initial 40-mile stretch of railroad connecting Rensselaer and Delphi.[6] The following year on 25 October[7] a post office was established at the location to serve the rural districts northwest of Monon with Calvin Anderson as its first postmaster.[8][9] Around 1884 the railroad became known as the Monon Route.[6][10]
Lee was established in 1883 and named for John Lee, the president of the ID&C Railroad, who opened a grain market there.[11][5] Lee's location in the northwestern portion of the county[12] was "a rich district of drained lands, admirably adapted to live stock," and as well as a place for marketing and shipping grain it was also an important local shipping point for hay; a 1915 history notes that hundreds of tons were baled and shipped annually.[13]
In August 1886 the location was platted under the name of Oakdale by Noble J. York, a local businessman and president of the Monon town board,[14] and Benjamin A. Linville, but it was generally known as Lee.[13] In 1949, a petition led to one of Lee's street being vacated .[15][16]
Lee's post office closed on 30 June 1933.[7][17] The line through Lee is now part of CSX Transportation Monon Subdivision[18] and is used by Amtrak. While shown on Amtrak maps, service provided on the Cardinal (and previously also on the Hoosier State) does not stop at Lee.[19]
In 2016, Helen Louise George, an 88-year resident of the area, published History and Reflections of Lee, Indiana which chronicles the history of Lee.[20]
Lee is located at 40°53′47″N 86°58′05″W about 5 miles (8.0 km) northwest of Monon[8][13] near the intersection of County Roads 1000 North and 500 West[21] and on the rail line between Monon and Rensselaer.[18][22] The surrounding farmland is drained by Slough Creek, a tributary of the Iroquois River[23] that flows just south of Lee in a westward direction.
Lee. MP 83.1 1st Subdivision. Named for the President of the Indianapolis, Delphi and Chicago Railroad, John Lee, this community was founded in 1883. The station name appears on timetables of the ID&C as early as 1878. The community was a grain market.
In 1872 a company was organized to construct a narrow gauge railroad from Indianapolis to Chicago, under the title of the Indianapolis, Delphi and Chicago Railroad. By the latter part of 1879 about forty miles of this projected road, that part running from Delphi to Rensselaer, was built and opened for traffic.
A post office was established on October 25, 1880; closed on June 30, 1933. The village was named for John Lee, president of the Indianapolis, Delphi, and Chicago Railroad, who developed a grain market here.
Lee Post Office, in the northwest corner of the township, was established about the year 1880. The first Postmaster was Calvin Anderson. He was succeeded, late in 1882, by Mr. Hoover, the present encumbent.
Lee, village in White County. Established in 1883 as a grain market by John Lee, president of the Indianapolis, Delphi, and Chicago Railroad and named for him.
The only existing postoffice in Monon Township outside the village is Lee, in the northwest corner, about a mile from the Jasper County line on the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago (Monon) Railroad... In August of [1886] it was platted by Benjamin A. Linville and Noble J. York, who laid out 120 lots on fractions of sections 3, 10 and 11, township 28 north, range 5 west. It is about five miles northwest of Monon and is the center of a rich district of drained lands, admirably adapted to live stock... Oakdale, or Lee, is an important shipping point for hay. Hundreds of tons are baled at the station every year and shipped abroad, and, with the improvement of the surrounding farming lands, it has become an equally good point for the marketing and shipping of grain.
Lee (1880-1933)
Map D Index: Cities and Towns of White County Indiana: Lee.
Municipalities and communities of White County, Indiana, United States | ||
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County seat: Monticello | ||
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