Milan Township, Allen County, Indiana

Milan Township
Township
Location in Allen County, Indiana
Coordinates: 41°08′17″N 84°56′54″W / 41.13806°N 84.94833°W / 41.13806; -84.94833Coordinates: 41°08′17″N 84°56′54″W / 41.13806°N 84.94833°W / 41.13806; -84.94833
Country	United States
State	Indiana
County	Allen
Government
• Type	Indiana township
Area
• Total	37.49 sq mi (97.09 km2)
• Land	37.18 sq mi (96.29 km2)
• Water	0.31 sq mi (0.80 km2)  0.83%
Elevation	758 ft (231 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	3,749
• Density	101/sq mi (38.9/km2)
ZIP codes	46741, 46774, 46797, 46835
GNIS feature ID	0453624

Milan Township is one of twenty townships in Allen County, Indiana, United States. Milan Township is located in east central Allen County, with the Maumee River meandering across the township. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,749.^[1] The township is highly rural, with only 1,137 houses in the 2010 census.^[1]> Many of the residents of Milan Township are Amish.

Overview

Milan township is generally demarcated by Schwartz Road to the west, Notestine Road to the north, Sampson Road to the east, and Gar Creek Road to the south.

The principal town in Milan Township is Milan Center, at 41°8'39"N 84°56'46"W. Milan Center lies at the intersection of Milan Center Road and Doty Road, and at an earlier time consisted of Brueggeman's (a combination lumberyard, hardware and grocery store), a small wood-frame church, Milan Center School, a feed mill, and four houses.

In the mid-20th century, telephone communication across relatively short distances could be prohibitively expensive. Northern Milan township had traditionally been served by the Harlan telephone exchange, and southern Milan township by the New Haven telephone exchange. To make a call between differing exchanges, one could incur so-called "long distance" surcharges. Brueggeman's store at Milan Center served as a progressive business and community center by having telephones from both exchanges. The New Haven telephone exchange was purchased by the Home Telephone company in Fort Wayne, which was itself subsequently acquired by General Telephone of Indiana. The Harlan telephone company was also eventually acquired by General Telephone of Indiana. General Telephone is now a part of Verizon.

Brueggeman's Do-It-Best Center subsequently left to build a new store several miles removed to take advantage of traffic on State Highway 37 (at Ricker Road). The original Milan Center structure subsequently was lost to fire, and the relocated Brueggeman's closed April 12, 2014 after 100 years of business.

The Milan Township and Maumee Township (city of Woodburn) school districts cooperatively built and dedicated Woodlan High School for the 1959-1960 school year. Located in Milan Township, the school lies just east of Five Points on the Woodburn Road. Harlan High students began attending circa 1965, as the schools had been consolidated into the East Allen County School district a year earlier. Junior high and elementary schools are also now located on the campus.

Five Points is a settlement located at the junction of Old US Highway 24, Webster Road, and Woodburn Road, along the old Wabash-Erie Canal route. At one time it consisted of a small diner for truckers, a gas station (later a bicycle shop), a tile mill, and a few homes. A newer water tower labeled "Woodlan" near Woodlan School may result in the community being known as "Woodlan" in the coming years.

Gar Creek was once a shipping point on the Wabash and Toledo Railroad. A small community of 500 people eventually settled around the station. The 1882-1883 Indiana State Gazetteer and Business Directory published by R.L. Polk & Company, stated that lumber and grain were the primary exports of the station. Gar Creek enterprises listed at that time included a shingle manufacturer, two carpenters, a Justice of the Peace, a saw mill, a general store with a railway agent and a Postmaster (Jesse Rothgeb), a blacksmith, a hoop manufacturer, and United Brethren and Lutheran churches. The population at that time was listed as 130.

Thurman was a settlement located on the Detroit branch of the old Wabash Railroad. A few homes and businesses remain to this day.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, Milan Township covers an area of 37.49 square miles (97.09 km²); of this, 37.18 square miles (96.29 km²) is land and 0.31 square miles (0.80 km²), or 0.83%, is water.^[1]

Unincorporated towns

• Five Points at 41°07′24″N 84°56′25″W / 41.123382°N 84.940244°W / 41.123382; -84.940244
• Milan Center at 41°08′39″N 84°56′46″W / 41.144216°N 84.946077°W / 41.144216; -84.946077
• Thurman at 41°07′17″N 85°00′07″W / 41.121308°N 85.0019815°W / 41.121308; -85.0019815
• Gar Creek at 41°05′41″N 84°57′09″W / 41.094751°N 84.952513°W / 41.094751; -84.952513

(This list is based on USGS data and may include former settlements.)

Adjacent townships

• Springfield Township (northeast)
• Maumee Township (east)
• Jackson Township (southeast)
• Jefferson Township (south)
• Adams Township (southwest)
• St. Joseph Township (west)
• Cedar Creek Township (northwest)

Cemeteries

• Amish Cemetery, located at 14702 Doty Road, behind the Amish School, about a half mile west of Milan Center.
• Barnett Chapel Cemetery, located on the northwest corner of State Road 37 (Maysville Turnpike) and Barnett Road. Lutheran. Earliest date 1875.
• Gar Creek Union Cemetery, located on the Gar Creek Road, 0.3 miles east of the Berthaud Road. Private. Earliest date December 23, 1884.
• Irving Family Cemetery, located on the south bank of the Maumee River, north of the B.F. Goodrich Tire Plant, on U.S. 24, on Goodrich land. Earliest date 1847.
• Platter Family Cemetery, located 0.2 miles south of the Platter Bridge on the northeast bank of the Maumee River. One stone: 1852.
• Saint Paul's Lutheran Cemetery at Gar Creek, located next to the church on Berthaud Road, about 0.2 miles south of Bremer Road. Earliest date 1884.
• Schwartz Family Cemetery, located on the north side of Irving Road 0.1 mile east of the Bruick Road. Amish. No markers.

This information is from the Allen County INGenWeb Project at http://www.acgsi.org/genweb/cemeteries/milan-township-cemeteries-allen-county-indiana.html retrieved 11/18/2015.

Historically significant churches

• Milan Evangelical Lutheran Church (Barnett Chapel) and Cemetery at State Road 37 and Barnett Road. Organized in 1864. Merged with St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Harlan (Springfield Township) in 1921. Now part of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (see Springfield Township).
• St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church-Gar Creek and Cemetery at 1910 N. Berthaud Road. Organized in 1880 by members of Emanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, New Haven. Birth, baptism, confirmation, marriage and death records exist since 1880. Early records in German. Records have been photocopied and are available at the Allen County Public Library.
• Milan Center Methodist Protestant Church at the corner of Doty and Milan Center Roads. Organized in 1905/06 when a series of meetings were held in the old Milan Center schoolhouse. Land was donated and construction on the church was begun in 1906. Church disbanded sometime after 1954. Records may be located at the DePauw University Library, Greencastle, IN. The church building has been utilized by various congregations since.
• The Gar Creek Mennonite Church is also now defunct. In about 1854, Mennonites first settled at Gar Creek, a village 11 miles (18 km) northeast of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Among them Michael Rothgeb, Abram and Jacob Bixler, John Federspiel, Hezekiah Rothgeb, and Nancy Lowery. Services were held in Bethel Chapel, a union building. There was no resident minister. Eli Stoffer, a minister in the Hudson (Indiana) congregation, and others conducted occasional services. In 1900 there were 20 members. After the establishing of the Fort Wayne Mission in 1903, the mission workers assumed responsibility for the services at Gar Creek. On 22 October 1905 the building was rededicated for church services. Regular services were discontinued about 1910.^[2]

This information is from the Allen County INGenWeb Project at http://www.acgsi.org/genweb/churches/milan-township-churches-of-allen-county-indiana.html retrieved 11-18-2015.

Other historically significant structures

Major highways

• I-469 (Ronald Reagan Expressway)
• US 24
• SR 37

Airports and landing strips

• Airpark Field

School districts

• East Allen County Schools

Political districts

• Indiana's 3rd congressional district
• State House District 79
• State House District 85
• State Senate District 14

References

• United States Census Bureau 2008 TIGER/Line Shapefiles
• United States Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)
• IndianaMap

External links

• Indiana Township Association
• United Township Association of Indiana

	Cedar Creek Township		Springfield Township
	St. Joseph Township		Maumee Township
		Milan Township
	Adams Township	Jefferson Township	Jackson Township

Municipalities and communities of Allen County, Indiana, United States
County seat: Fort Wayne
Cities	Fort Wayne New Haven Woodburn
Towns	Grabill Huntertown Leo-Cedarville Monroeville Zanesville‡
Townships	Aboite Adams Cedar Creek Eel River Jackson Jefferson Lafayette Lake Madison Marion Maumee Milan Monroe Perry Pleasant Saint Joseph Scipio Springfield Washington Wayne
CDPs	Harlan Hoagland
Other unincorporated communities	Aboite Arcola Ari Boston Corner Cedar Canyons Cedar Shores Cuba Dixon‡ Dunfee‡ Dunn Mill East Liberty Edgerton Five Points Four Presidents Corners Halls Corners Hessen Cassel Maples Milan Center Poe Sunnymede Woods Tillman Timbercrest Townley Yoder Zulu
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties