Looking back to the 1880s

In the United States/World in this decade

  • 1880 France begins work on the Panama Canal.
  • 1880 Edison patents the Electric Lamp.
  • 1880 The first Pay Telephone service in the US is established in New Haven, Connecticut.
  • 1880 Wabash, Indiana, is the first town to claim to be completely illuminated by electric lighting (4 lights).
  • 1881 President James Garfield is shot on July 2 and dies 2 months later from infection. Chester Arthur becomes President
  • 1881 Clara Barton becomes President of the American Red Cross.
  • 1882 Jesse James was shot and killed by one of his own men for the $5000 reward that was offered.
  • 1883 Vaudeville begins and the first Vaudeville theater opened in Boston.
  • 1883 The Brooklyn Bridge opens.
  • 1884 The Washington Monument is now complete. It’s dedicated in Feb. 1885 and opens to the public in October 1888. It was the world’s tallest structure between 1884 and 1889.
  • 1884 Mark Twain writes Huckleberry Finn.
  • July 1885 The Statue of Liberty comes to the US from France. Dedicated in 1886.
  • 1886 Pharmacist Dr. John Pemberton invents Coca Cola.
  • 1887 The first Groundhog Day is celebrated.
  • 1888 The Blizzard of ’88 kills 400 people in the eastern US.
  • 1889 North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington become states.

In Connersville

  • The population is 3,223 in 1880.
  • 1882 John McFarland, a buggy manufacturer, purchased 5 acres along the Canal. Twenty other firms (suppliers of parts he needs) will build there. It becomes the first Industrial Park in Indiana.
  • 1884 Longwood Bridge is constructed.
  • 1884 The McFarland Hotel Building is built.
  • 1887 The Kennedy Brothers build the Covered Kennedy Bridge over the river at 5th Street.
  • 1887 The Connersville Times is the first daily newspaper for Connersville
  • 1888 Connersville’s first Police Department is organized.
  • 1888 Eighth Street School is built and used until 1971.
  • 1888 First National Bank building is completed.

At First Presbyterian Church

  • The Ladies Aid Society is organized in 1883. Members met every two weeks. They paid a $.25 initiative fee, $.05 at every meeting, and a $.01 fine for tardiness. They helped with projects for the church and mission work including sewing items for the poor. In 1884, the ladies of the church also organized a Missionary Society. There were 18 charter members. It met once a month. Fees of $.25 to join and $.10 a month were assessed for membership.
  • A new pastor was called in 1884. Rev. Thomas H. Hench was hired for $1200 a year to be the pastor. He remained until 1894.
  • “By 1888, the Sabbath School needed more space, and it was determined to build a room east of the church, expecting to spend five or six thousand dollars. After discussion of the needs of the church, the final decision was to build a new church adjoining the old one on the east and use the original structure as a Sabbath School room. They figured on a cost of $10,000. But as the building grew, ideas and improvements grew with it, until the final cost of the Sabbath School room and church furnished and complete, was $25,000, representing a total value, including the ground, of quite 30,000. The new addition adjoining the original building was dedicated on Feb. 15, 1891.”
  • The church membership at this time was over 300.
  • The stained-glass windows in the church were memorials. The North window was given by the Mount family and the original South window by the Roots family. Each window cost about $1200 when they were installed when the sanctuary was built.