HISTORIC REFLECTION … The village of Melbern in Center Township owes its existence to the railroad. Melbern was originally surveyed as “Kan-sas” on June 27, 1856. The village was platted halfway between Edgerton and Bryan on the north side of the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana (now Norfolk Southern) Railroad, which reached Bryan in 1855. Kansas doesn’t appear to have grown until the railroad established a station there early in 1866. In 1869, the village was replatted and christened Melbern, the same name as the post office established there on March 16, 1866. By 1874 Melbern boasted two stores, a cooper (barrel maker), blacksmith shop, doctor’s office, post office, railroad depot, sawmill and a Lutheran church. Melbern contained at various times a shoe shop, Grange hall, cheese factory, saloon, school, stock yard, grain elevator, coal busi-ness, barber shop, and butcher. Transportation advances such as improved roads and automobiles led to the decline of the railroad’s local importance and business. Melbern still has an active United Methodist church, but the numerous busi-nesses that once made it a bustling rural economic center are gone. This circa 1910 photograph shows the west side of Melbern’s Main Street (County Road 9) looking north from the railroad. The residence on the left still stands. This vintage image is from the Kevin Maynard collection.
