Hubbell Station

Submitted by Mark Hubbell

Pioneer families settled in the southwest corner of Owen County's Jefferson Township about the same time Indiana became a state in 1816. They built homes along the Eel River known then as the " Eel River Settlement." The Hubbell family built a grain mill utilizing the power of the river and operated the mill for two generations until the wooden structure burnt down in 1880. Around 1850, this same river would become part of the Wabash-Erie Canal, stretching 468 miles across the midwest. This was a prosperous time for the community until the railroad came through just north of the settlement in 1860, then transportation by river was reduced considerably. A train depot was built and shortly afterwards a hotel and dance hall would follow west of the depot. This would become Hubbell Station, Indiana. A country store was attached to the depot and was operated in the later years by the Shouse family until 1939 when it burnt down. A single room, white framed school house was built north of town and taught children through the eight grade. It closed its doors in 1926. A post office became part of the depot in 1881, but lived a short life, closing in 1883 due to the inactivity. All the commercial buildings of the town are gone today. Several farm houses still exist but that is all. A tree line that once paralled the tracks cross Highway 157 diagonally and is the only reminder the town was there. A road heading east off the highway still has the street sign saying " Hubbell Station Rd." Until recently, maps still had the town included, but they called it Hubbell. Today on many of the current GPS satelite tracking system you can enter the town of Hubbell and it will take you to a spot in the road considered the center of a town that no longer exist. For many of us who are the desendents of these great pioneers that developed early Indiana, it will not be needed, the town still lives in us.