Lyles or Lyles Station is an unincorporated community in Patoka Township , Gibson County , Indiana . The community dates from 1849 , although its early settlers first arrived in the 1830s , and it was formally named Lyles Station in 1886 to honor Joshua Lyles , a free African American who migrated with his family from Tennessee to Indiana around 1837 . Lyles Station is one of Indiana 's early black rural settlements and the only one remaining . The rural settlement reached its peak in the years between 1880 and 1912 , when major structures in the community included the railroad depot , a post office , a lumber mill , two general stores , two churches , and a school . By the turn of the twentieth century , Lyles Station had fifty-five homes , with a population of more than 800 people . The farming community never fully recovered from the Great Flood of 1913 , which destroyed much of the town . Most of its residents left for economic reasons , seeking opportunities for higher paying jobs and additional education in larger cities . By 1997 approximately fifteen families remained at Lyles Station , nearly all of them descended from the original settlers . Although most of Indiana 's black rural settlements no longer exist as self-contained communities , Lyles Station continues . The restored Lyles Consolidated School building , which serves as a local living history museum and a community center , and the Wayman Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church , are two remaining points of interest in Lyles Station
Great Flood of 1913
Great Flood of 1913
Lyles Station, Indiana