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"The Paradise of the Laboring Man as Well as of the Capitalist and Manufacturer."
Rare promotional map published by the Manufacturers Gas Land Improvement Company, as proprietors of Matthews, Indiana, at the center of Indiana's "Gas Belt", during a brief boom period at the end of the 19th Century.
The reverse side of the map spells out the excitement over the discovery of Gas in the region and Matthews future prospects.
Matthews, Indiana
Matthews was founded in 1895 and named in honor of then-governor Claude Matthews. Founders located the town near the center of the Trenton Gas Field, and it was hoped that this geographically central location could become the future capital of Indiana, moving it from Indianapolis, which had been laid out for that specific reason less than one hundred years earlier in 1825. The plan was abandoned in 1903 when the gas field was depleted, leaving the town with a main street unusually wide for its size.
The following appeared in the Indianapolis Star, Sunday, May 8, 1949
Unlike the other gas belt towns of north central Indiana, Matthews was bom of the boom. With an eye on the potential riches of the Trenton gas field, Indianapolis businessmen organized the Manufacturers' Gas Land Improvement Company and quickly purchased 2,300 acres of high, fertile ground along the rolling banks of the Mississinewa River, midway between Marion and Muncie. A company director was Governor Claude Matthews and the new town, heralded by con-has been able to make a living in the neighborhood of temporary newspapers as the "Wonder City," took his name.
Clearing fields, the company platted its headquarters town. Immediately it began construction of a railroad to connect with the Big Tour at Fairmount, 10 miles distant. It negotiated for factories, promising free fuel and land, along with cash subsidies. To gain publicity, it promoted bicycle races from Indianapolis and gave town lots to winners over the 75-mile course.
A MULTI-COLORED CIRCULAR distributed by the promoters proudly proclaimed Matthews as the "metropolis of the gas belt." It recalled in glowing terms how "Ancient Tyre rose from smoking embers' in grandeur, Cairo rose from the wilderness on the banks of Jhe Nile so modern Matthews will rise on the classic banks of the Mississinewa." This new Utopia had everything and the promoters didn't let modesty keep them from informing an eager public. Their literature, designed to be irresistible, made such extravagant statements as: Matthews. It is the paradise of the laboring man, as well as of the capitalist and manufacturer. Fuel is perpetual and unlimited." The new Matthews quickly reached out and absorbed the 60-year-old village of New Cumberland, nearly a mile from the new business district, and in 1895 the New Cumberland Post office became Matthews and was moved "downtown." Despite the open fields separating the two communities today, New Cumberland remains a part of Matthews. Its Identity gone, residents now refer to it as "Old Town."
Rarity
We were not able to find any other examples of the map.
