The B & O Depot at Lexington

Lexington and the Railroad

From "Lexington" by Mary Wilson and Sharon Y. Asher, published sometime after 1975.

In 1868 the construction of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad (later known as the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad) began at Jeffersonville, Indiana, and was built north to North Vernon, Indiana, going through the community of Lexington.

A group of Catholic families from the Covington, Kentucky, area signed to work on the railroad's construction and settled in Lexington during the duration of the construction. Following its completion many of these families decided to remain in Lexington making their home there. Among these were the families of Patrick Shea, William Fortune, Thomas Meagher, Col. Tom Shea, Michael Storen and Bart Hanley.

A large two-story depot was built in Lexington for the railroad. The operator of the depot lived upstairs and downstairs there were freight rooms, a waiting room and office. The depot was painted red as was a water tower constructed on land approximately two miles from the depot which contained water for the steam engines. The tower was constructed on land purchased from the James Middleton farm and had a man who was there at all times to pump water for the engines.

Two Lexington men - Fred Dykins and Lou Hardy had positions with the B & 0 Railroad. Fred Dykins was a conductor and Lou Hardy an engineer. When Lou made his trips through Lexington on the train he would inevitably spell out his name with five toots of the train' s whistle.

In the early 1900's the passenger trains made it possible for some high school students to go to Charlestown High School, due to the fact that only three years of study were offered at the Lexington school. Among those who rode the train to the Charlestown High School were Mae Hall Sharp, Glenn Mahan Bonsett, Floyd Robbins and Wallace Baldwin.

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