Southern Tour (continued from page 2)
14. Your roadway will turn to the left as you approach Westport and you are in the area of stone quarries. From the earliest settlements, the limestone was used for buildings, sidewalks, fences and fence posts. Later stone was used for crushed stone for roads and lime for the fields. Felix Boicourt was one of the first to use soft limestone from the creek bed on his property. Some was used for the old Boicourt Grist Mill at Horseshoe Bend. Another quarry in the area was named the McGee Quarry. The most productive quarry opened in 1880 and was just west of the now Historic Covered Bridge. Westport stone was well known for its excellence and durability and was used in a governmental building at Cincinnati, courthouses in Evansville and Bryan, Texas, the walls of the statehouse at Indianapolis, structures in St. Louis, Chicago, Louisville, Nashville, Tenn., and Bloomington. It is reported the quarries went out of business in the 1940's.
As you enter Westport, look out for the enthusiastic leaders of a small community that is getting things done! They proudly boast of their historic covered bridge that you will visit on your tour. Historian George Cann reports that it was the Armstrong family that settled east of Westport on Sand Creek in the spring of 1821, starting a steady stream of settlers into the area.
15. Turn right on North Street, then left on Owens Street, right on Bennett Street and you will be at the intersection of Main. Turn right and you enter the downtown business district. In 1995, a "Westport of the Worlds" Convention was held with a gala parade of residents carrying flags of all the Westports from around the world gathered, including Westport, Ireland.
16. The town of Westport was officially founded on March 23, 1836, by Simeon Sharp who owned 80 acres north of Main Street where you are now and Hockersmith Merryman who owned 40 acres south of Main Street. It is reported the land was selling for $ 1.25 an acre. It is interesting to note that records indicate an early sale of eight lots for $ 65.25 and another five lots sold for $ 33.15.
17. A newspaper in early Westport was named the Westport Courier-Independent. You can see the Gas Station at the corner where the first frame was reportedly built in 1837. A fire in 1872 devastated several businesses on the north side of Main Street. The same determination that rebuilt the business district then continues today with an active merchant's group known as The Independent Westport Area Business Association (TIWABA). Driving up and down the business district, you will still be able to see the pride of its current owners and the small town friendliness of a unique community. The townspeople overcame a second severe fire that again destroyed many businesses in 1911.
18. One interesting story of townsfolk in Westport was the couple of David and Mary Boicourt. They were married 50 years and one survived the other by only 13 minutes, as recorded in Mr. Cann's History of Westport written in 1976. Another is the determination of local residents to have a railroad, calling a public meeting that raised $ 2,500 in 1871 and their dream came true in 1880 when the rail north to Greensburg was opened. In 1904 some businesses included a sawmill, restaurant, barber, optician, grist mill, harness shop, feed store, furniture, undertaker, livery barn, photographer, carriage shop, hotel, blacksmith, basket maker, shoemaker and hardware store. By 1915, many additional businesses had been established and Westport could boast of having the same conveniences as other larger towns and cities.
19. Westport celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1986. As you leave this special Decatur County community, drive East on Main Street which is also CR 1100 S.