Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 176, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1911 — OIL TOWN BECOMES MEMORY. [ARTICLE]

OIL TOWN BECOMES MEMORY.

Four-Acre Site of Once Favorite Retreat Sold by Sheriff. Marion, Ind., July 28.—The little town of Troy, near the line separating Grant and Huntington counties, within a few miles of Van Buren, is entirely off the map since the rite on which it stood has been sold and is being converted into a stock pasture. Troy sprang up almost in a day during the oil boom in this section, and it was a favorite retreat with oil workers in both Grant and Huntington counties. Several houses were built in the little village and were occupied mostly by men employed in the oil fields. Later a few stores and a blacksmith shop were established in the hamlet. The oil workers organized a brass band, which was prominent in Sunday entertainments there, together with baseball games. The fall of Troy came with the passing of the oil fields, and gradually the little town became nothing more than a settlement district. Later the houses were moved away and the end of the hamlet came when the land was sold at sheriff’s sale for $420.87. The town site consisted of four acres, which Nathan Bond had laid off into blocks and lots, The history of Troy is not without its tragedy, as it was there that Thomas Souers killed his brother-in-law, “Shad” Thomas, a few years ago. Souers served a term in prison.