was built to serve as grades 5-8 during construction of a new school. Also used for classroom space was the Methodist, Baptist and Nazarene churches. A small one-room school house once stood near the intersection of Green and School Streets and is why today the current school is not even located on the same side of town as School Street. Other points of interest Wabash & Erie Canal Francisco was a town built on the East Banks of the Wabash and Erie Canal. The Manmade Canal ran from Lake Erie in Ohio to the Ohio River at Evansville. Francisco was home to many Rowdy Irishmen who came to help build the canal. The Heyday for the Wabash & Erie Canal was mid-1850s and the canal was closed to traffic around 1870. A large outbreak of cholera broke out among canal workers near Francisco around 1852; as many as 100 workers died and many more fled from the area. Those who stayed and survived were assigned the task of burying the dead. Many were buried along the banks in long trenches, while others were burnt in piles on the floor of small shanties along the canal. Drinking establishments or Doggeries were popular among canal workers and in that day were very prominent around Francisco. Whiskey was supplied by "Jigger Bosses" to workers four times a day and caused many fights among the Irish and Americans. The Irish were generally assigned to digging with shovels, while Americans built culverts and bridges. Gallery References Towns in Gibson County, Indiana Towns in Indiana Evansville metropolitan area Communities of Southwestern Indiana Populated places established in 1851 1851 establishments in Indiana