AllPumpkinvine
Aboard
The
by Harold D. Gingerich
Most tourists who
visit Shipshewana
strumental in both spurring economic
growth and unifying the fledgling
community. Ironically while most
people refer to these two rail lines as
the Pumpkin Vine and the Valley Line,
those were not their legal names.
Market, the downtown
Following the Civil War, the
shops, to eat at the Blue Gate,
railroad industry experienced
and of course to see the Amish. unprecedented expanUnless they take the time to stop at the sion and growth.
old Farver School, they may have no
Eager for
idea that Shipshewana was once a busy profrailroad town. In fact, for a period of
time there were two rail lines operating in Shipshewana.
These railroads
were in-
come because of the Flea
its, the competition was cut-throat.
The Lake Shore-Michigan Southern (LS&MS) Railroad, which
had constructed a spur to Goshen prior to the war, extended
the tracks to Middlebury
cont. on next page
Ezra Miller on the Pumpkinvine
First Motor Car to Shipshe 1905 - 1906
TheThe Hometown Treasure Apr. ‘12 ·· pg 15
Hometown Treasure · · Apr. ‘12 pg