Lewisville

L ewisville lies at the intersection of 1150 West and Lewisville Road. It's shown in Sections 15 and 22 in the south central part of Ashland Township, west central Morgan County, Indiana.This is a community of farms and rural homes off the beaten path. The Lewisville General Store is a local landmark.

 

 Henry Lewis was born in New Jersey. After voyaging around Cape Horn to San Francisco in his early years, he settled in Indiana. He worked for Benjamin Butterfield who was a millwright, farmer and carpenter until he acquired his own grist mill in the area that is now Lewisville.

     I n 1874 the only store in the area was in Lewisville. Hobson & Stillwell ran what is described as a nice little country store. The name Lewisville was already in common use. The post office was in Alaska which was just west of town on Lewisville Road.

 The store started in 1876 when a load of merchandise was brought up from Louisville, Kentucky. Partners Wigal and Haldom joined Lewis to build the Lewisville General Store in 1880 and their initials still can be seen in the brick. Lewis bought out Haldom when he was elected as Morgan County Sheriff and moved to Martinsville. Wigal sold his share some time earlier. Until 1982 the Lewis family owned and operated the store.

 Lewisville once had a shoe store, several blacksmiths, a sawmill, a gristmill and later a gasoline service station and telephone switchboard.

There was also a feed store; a grade school, a cream station and about 15-20 houses.

What is currently left of the town is an old store, which at last visit was doing just a token business. It is a crossroads that many persons in or from the area use as a reference point in directing persons to other areas.

As a little girl, I remember Sunday visits to my great grandparents who lives just a few miles southwest of Lewisville. We would stop there before getting to their house. The store just fascinated me..it had everything--groceries, overalls, material and farm tools.