Tunnelton, Indiana

Tunnelton was platted in 1859. Before Tunnelton was platted, the Tunnelton United Methodist Church was platted in 1816 by Thomas Milligan, the first minister in Lawrence County who also served all of Southern Indiana. The church itself, however, was built in 1891.[3] The first schoolhouse was built in 1881, a large two story frame building. In 1910 a brick school was built, housing grade school and high school. In 1929 it was remodeled and later modernized. The Tunnelton High School had 250 to 300 in attendance. In 1957 a large, new gymnasium was completed. Now the school is abandoned.[4] Its name commemorates local tunnels which had recently been completed on the railroad.[5] The Tunnelton post office opened in 1860 and the first Postmaster from 1860 to 1881 was Alfred Guthrie who also owned the town's General Store and was an agent of the B&O railroad. The second Postmaster was M.D., "Doc" Guthrie who served from 1881 to 1885 he was the town's physician.[6] On February 10, 1882, an ambush (dubbed the Tunnelton Massacre) occurred. Sometime during the 1880s the town had a tavern alongside the railroad. An old small brick building in town which now is privately owned, was used during the Underground Railroad.[7]