A Nice Place To Live

Years ago, Tyner was a small but bustling railroad community with more than a hint of promise. But now, one might call it the town that never really was.

The land was in the name of Samuel Miller, who deeded it to Thomas Tyner on the 4th day of July 1855. Originally named Tyner City, the town was platted in 1855, by Jacob Miller, Maynard Miller and Thomas Tyner(for whom the town was named).Thomas Tyner was a brother of James N Tyner who was Postmaster General under Ulysses S Grant's administration. He was county commissioner during the Civil War. He also was president of the old I.P. & C. railroad that ran from Laporte to Plymouth.

Tyner is about seven miles northwest of Plymouth and was the chief business and school center of Polk Township. The town was established along the Plymouth & Laporte railroad, then being built and which was completed the next year. This is now part of the Nickel Plate system. The Tyner station was discontinued in about 1934, and the building was moved and transformed into a house which is still occupied today. Tyner City reportedly had the first county railroad station to hear a conductor's call of "all aboard".

The early settlers of Polk Township were deeply interested in the cause of education. This early longing for knowledge and advancement was no doubt the inspiration of one of the early school masters who taught in Tyner about 1865-1870. This man, Professor James G McGraw, was an outstanding personality whose reputation and ability as a scholar and instructor was far reaching. It is said that U.S. Senator Nickolson of Illinois, hearing of this man's fame journeyed to Tyner to secure his services as an instructor in Illinois, but could not persuade him to leave because he had other plans and ambitions.

It is not generally known to the younger generation, but this early schoolmaster and Mr. Thomas Tyner had formulated plans to found a university near the site of the former H.J. Heinz pickle factory. It was about the time that Valparaiso University was founded by Henry Baker Brown and this, together with the death of Professor McGraw, caused the plans to be abandoned.

The Tyner City Post Office was established September 11th, 1856 with Consider Cushman being appointed the first postmaster.

Tyner City was incorporated as a town in 1873, according to an early newspaper article, as the result of a fued between the towns people and the people outside the town. The fued was carried to such an extent that no resident of the town could be elected to a township office. The incorporation allowed the town to elect a justice of the peace, and within a few years the warring elements subsided and the corporation was dissolved , by a vote of 22 to 11 , after the November 29, 1879 election and has remained so ever since.

Thomas Tyner died Oct 18, 1880, and thus the county lost one of its most respected and honored citizens. He is credited with assisting in moving the archives of the state government to Indianapolis from Corydon, after the capitol was established there.

The town name was changed to just Tyner on July 10th, 1894.An article in a local paper describes the free movie as drawing crowds to Tyner."The largest crowd in the annals of Tyner's history gathered in the town open-air theatre to witness the miracle picture, "The Healer". The picture was shown on a silver screen erected on the green grassy lawn in the beautiful park which surrounded the town's City Hall. No actual count was taken, but it was estimated there were no fewer than 200 cars and from 700 to 900 people. The free movies were shown every Monday night, and were sponsored by the Tyner Chamber of Commerce. Judging from the license plates on some of the cars which visited the performance, the fame of these events had become nationwide, because there were cars from many states of the union."

In its early history, Tyner boasted a wooden pump factory, a stave factory, two copper shops, a blacksmith shop, a coffin factory, and two brick kilns. There was a cider mill, a pickle factory, a telephone company, and a bank in town. Tyner had a good little bank from 1920 to 1930. It opened June 19th, 1920 and had capital of $25,000, and was named Farmers State Bank. Stockholders were mostly citizens living in Polk Township. Albert Burke, township trustee was chosen president; Carl Wolff vice-president; and Charles Miller cashier. Other organizers were Charles Powell, Earl Bennett, John Johnson, E.O. Samuelson and Dr. A.A. Thompson. The bank operated for ten years and in 1930 due to the financial depression of the time was closed for voluntary liquidation. No depositor lost a dollar.

Tyner also had two hotels, a hardware and lumber company, not to mention that our town was referred to as the great 'Huckleberry Emporium of Marshall County'. The first school was built on Main St, and later (1902) a new school was built at the corner of Walnut and French Streets, it had been remodeled in the years 1912, 1928, 1939, and 1955, and was in operation as a high school until 1966. It remained open for grades 4 and 5 through the 1973 school year.

The Tyner of later years, mainly from 1950 thru the late 1960's(my era), had two grocery stores, a hardware & lumber company, a garage, an elevator, a barber shop and printing office, two churches, and a restaurant for a short time. We had our own local doctor. The Tyner I.O.O.F. occupied the old post office building until the early 1970's when the new lodge was built.

Present day businesses are the post office, a grocery/video store, a lamp shop, a garage, a beauty parlor, and our Polk Township Volunteer Fire Department. One church remains today, the Tyner United Methodist.

Unfortunately, the lamp shop closed in 1996. It will be missed.

The leather and lace beauty shop closed in 1998.