Current Newsletter 

March 2012

"Strike Up The Band"
The Wainwright Band & Orchestra Camp

Hawpatch History Detectives Report

 

Next Meeting:  

March 19, 2013

"Tales of the Outhouse"

Topeka Branch Library 6:30 pm

Email: harjan68@hotmail.com

Welcome to:

Topeka Historical Society

 

 

             Situated in the heart of northeast Indiana’s Amish Country, Topeka was originally home to the peaceful Potawatomi Indians and the Hawpatch Trail first used by the black buffalo to cross the marshes.  Anthony Nelson was among the first white settlers to move onto the Hawpatch in 1832.

 

 Originally known as Slabtown because of its many sawmills and houses built of slab-wood, the town was renamed Topeka in 1892 at the suggestion of the Wabash Railroad.  Topeka was platted on June 14, 1893; however the Town of Topeka was not officially organized until September 1, 1913.

 

Nothing captures the spirit of Topeka and her residents better than words of a historian in 1882 who described the emerging community.  “As for the people, they are intelligent, enterprising and cultured and with a decided penchant for large farms and comfortable or even elegant homes, where generous hospitality is always found.”