Sugar Creek to New Palestine: A Main Street Walk

A town that answered to two names for fifty years. Walk its Main Street, its railroad trail and its creek.

Play this quest in Shenanigo

Jonathan Evans laid out the town on October 1, 1838: fifteen blocks and thirty-six lots beside Sugar Creek. For decades it answered to two names. The post office said Sugar Creek, the railroad said Palestine, and only on January 16, 1889 did everything officially become New Palestine. The railroad arrived in 1869, and the town incorporated in 1871.

This walk reads that story on the ground: the first home Evans built, still standing on Main Street, a paved trail beside the railroad, the street named for the depot, and the creek that gave the town its first name. About 1.5 miles on sidewalks and the Depot Trail. Allow about an hour and a quarter.

Main Street is US 52, a busy truck route: stay on the sidewalk and cross only at crosswalks. The railroad beside the Depot Trail is an active CSX main line: stay on the trail, never step onto the tracks or the gravel beside them, and cross only at the marked street crossing when the signals are quiet. The Evans home and the churches are private: look from the public sidewalk only.

Play safe: stay on public sidewalks and grounds, respect private property, and never read your phone while driving.

Quest details

More quests: all Shenanigo quests in New Palestine.

Play it free on your phone. Go in daylight, stay on public ground and follow local rules.