Linden, IN

Linden was already receiving mail by 1851, and the railroad arrived the next year. The town was platted in 1852 as the line reached Montgomery County, turning an old stage road between Crawfordsville and Linden into the route for a depot. That first Linden depot stood behind the present post office, and the railroad quickly brought hotels, travelers, and business to the town. Linden’s history is therefore easy to picture: a Main Street community whose first big opportunity came on steel rails. The depot gave the town momentum.

ATTRNyttend / Public domain

Today U.S. 231 runs through town as Main Street, leading south to Crawfordsville and north toward Lafayette. North Montgomery School Corporation serves Linden, with Pleasant Hill Elementary handling the elementary years. The historic depot remains part of the community’s memory, and the post office still helps give the town a recognizable center. Linden is a northern Montgomery County town shaped by an old transportation bargain, a railroad station, and the school and highway ties that followed.