Abandoned Towns
Water spilling over the low rock ledge of Hindostan Falls across the East Fork White River, with autumn trees on the far bank

Hindostan Falls

A river town laid out at the falls of the East Fork in 1819 that became the county seat, then lost its people to sickness and hard times within ten years. The townsite is now a state public fishing area, and the falls and the old mill holes are still there.

38°37′28″N 86°51′03″W · ≈460 ft

Photo: David Kurvach, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Overview

A county seat at the falls

The open, grassy townsite above the East Fork, with the river gorge beyond the line of bare trees, February 2013
The open, grassy townsite above the East Fork, with the river gorge beyond the line of bare trees, February 2013 · Photo: Nyttend, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

The East Fork of the White River drops over a broad rock ledge in eastern Martin County. A settler named Frederick Sholts kept a tavern there by 1817, and in March 1819 he sold the land to a group calling itself the Proprietors of Hindostan. The name came from Caleb Fellows, an English-born investor who had served with the East India Company. By November a traveller found houses going up and saw and grist mills turning at the falls.

The town sat on the stage road between New Albany and Vincennes and became the seat of the new Martin County in 1820. The census that year counted 351 people. Later writers, and the state marker put up in 1966, give about 1,200, and Wikipedia says many lived on houseboats on the river.

Then came the sickness. A doctor who spoke at Hindostan on July 4, 1821 spoke of the "dreadful mortality" of the past year, and the state's Historical Bureau reads that as an epidemic in 1820. An economic depression around 1820 did the rest: settlers who had bought on credit could not pay. The county seat left in 1828, the post office closed at the end of 1830, and the ground went back to farms. The falls, the holes cut in the rock for the mills, and the graves on the hill are what is left.

Video

The falls at low water

A visitor films Hindostan Falls in October 2023, with the river low. The first two minutes show the water pouring over the ledge and the pale shelf rock exposed below it, then the camera walks the bare rock and gravel bars beside the channel. The last two minutes move to Spout Spring, a short drive northeast, with its rock overhang and carved graffiti. The video has music and no narration. Spout Spring is a separate site to the northeast, not part of the old town.

Play “Hindostan Falls and Spout Spring, October 2023” from YouTube
“Hindostan Falls and Spout Spring, October 2023”, by Brandon B on YouTube. The player loads from YouTube when you press play.

Timeline

Ten good years, then the fever

  1. Frederick Sholts (also spelled Schultz or Shulz) comes up from Vincennes to buy land at the falls of the East Fork, by a 2024 Visit Indiana account; Wikipedia, citing a 1954 newspaper, dates the founding to 1816. A travel journal of July 1817 already names Sholt's Tavern on White River, 36 miles east of Vincennes.
  2. Sholts sells the land to a group known as the Proprietors of Hindostan. A traveller in November 1819 finds a town laid out "last May," with houses going up and saw and grist mills at work.
  3. A post office opens at Hindostan.
  4. Hindostan becomes the seat of the new Martin County. The 1820 census counts 351 people there; later accounts, and the 1966 marker, say about 1,200.
  5. A deadly sickness sweeps the town. A doctor speaking at Hindostan on July 4, 1821 refers to "that dreadful mortality, which within the past year" had struck its homes. Other accounts date the epidemic to 1826 or 1827, and the marker to 1828.
  6. The legislature lets Martin County move its seat away from Hindostan, to Mount Pleasant.
  7. The post office closes.
  8. Land in Hindostan still changes hands in the county deed index, so a few people stayed on.
  9. The USGS Shoals sheet shows Hindostan Church and two cemeteries on the hill north of the falls.
  10. The Indiana Sesquicentennial Commission puts up the "Site of Hindostan" marker at State Road 550 and County Road 55.
  11. The state buys 134 acres at the falls for a fishing and wildlife area. The 1978 USGS Rusk sheet shows the boat ramp, a campground and the "Public Fishing Site."
  12. The state's Historical Bureau reviews the marker and finds the 1818 founding date and the 1828 sickness date unsupported.
  13. Visit Indiana describes the site as a state-owned fishing and wildlife area with boat ramps above and below the falls.

The dates on the marker are the shakiest part of the story. It says the town was first settled in 1818 and struck by a "Great Sickness" in 1828. In its 2010 review the Indiana Historical Bureau found settlement before 1818, the town itself laid out in 1819, the 1,200 figure unconfirmed against the 351 of the 1820 census, and the best evidence for the epidemic pointing to 1820. A 1914 history put it at about 1826 or 1827. The marker also says the town "was never occupied again," but deeds show land in Hindostan still being sold until 1848.

Legend says a county tax collector fell ill in the epidemic with several thousand dollars in gold and silver, buried it in an iron pot, and died before he could tell anyone where. Other stories put town money in a well, or gold in a cave under the falls. None of it has been found.

What's left

Falls, mill holes and graves

One of the square holes cut into the flat rock below the falls to hold a mill frame, October 2013
One of the square holes cut into the flat rock below the falls to hold a mill frame, October 2013 · Photo: David Kurvach, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

No buildings survive. The falls themselves are the attraction: Visit Indiana calls them the widest in the state. On the flat rock along the river are square holes, 128 of them at 18 by 18 inches by Visit Indiana's count, cut to anchor the mills. Wikipedia credits one mill to Frederick Shulz, for whom the county seat of Shoals is named. They show best at low water.

The 1960 USGS sheet marks Hindostan Church and two cemeteries on the hill north of the falls, either side of the road now called County Road 55. Wikipedia mentions a restored church and a few pioneer cemeteries nearby. A 2010 photo shows a broken headstone at the foot of a tree in one of them. The state marker stands 0.6 mile north of the river at State Road 550 and County Road 55.

The townsite itself is now open state land. The Indiana DNR lists the Hindostan Falls Public Fishing Area with two concrete boat ramps, one above and one below the falls, pull-off parking, picnic tables and walking trails, and no restrooms or fees. Visit Indiana noted in 2024 that there is no cell service.

  • The falls, a low rock ledge across the East Fork White River
  • Square mill holes in the riverbed rock
  • Pioneer cemeteries on the hill to the north
  • State historical marker (1966) at SR 550 and County Road 55
Current USGS topographic map of Hindostan Falls on the East Fork White River, with County Road 55 and Falls Road reaching the river
USGS The National Map, topo. County Road 55 comes down from State Road 550 at top to the falls on the East Fork. Falls Road branches west, and Elm Creek joins the river at right.
Aerial view of Hindostan Falls: the brown river with the pale line of the falls at center, a road and parking along the north bank, fields beyond
Aerial imagery, closer in. The falls show as a pale line across the river at center. The access road runs along the north bank to the east, with farm fields north and south.

Historic maps

Hindostan Falls on USGS maps, 1960–1986

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

USGS topographic map around Hindostan Falls, 1960
Shoals sheet, 1960, 1:24,000 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Map & directions

Getting there

Loogootee is the closest town, 5.8 miles and about 12 minutes away by State Road 550 and County Road 55. From Indianapolis the drive runs down I-69 and US 231 to Loogootee. Both routes end at the falls, where County Road 55 meets the river.

USGS topographic map between Loogootee and Hindostan Falls with the route drawn on it

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

From downtown Loogootee5.8 miabout 12 min
  1. From downtown Loogootee, take South John F Kennedy Avenue (US 231).0.1 mi
  2. Turn left on East Broadway Street (US 50/US 150).0.3 mi
  3. Turn right on South Kentucky Avenue (SR 550) and follow it east out of town.4.8 mi
  4. Bear right on County Road 55 and follow it south to the river.0.6 mi
Google Maps directionsApple MapsOpenStreetMap

Road and safety notes

  • The routes are computed from OpenStreetMap and haven't been driven by us.
  • The Indiana DNR describes the fishing area as five miles east of Loogootee off State Road 550, with pull-off parking at the ramps.
  • The state marker stands at the corner of State Road 550 and County Road 55, 0.6 mile north of the falls.
  • There are no restrooms at the fishing area, by the DNR's listing, and no cell service, by Visit Indiana's 2024 account.
  • Indiana DNR rules bar drones and other motor-driven airborne devices on DNR properties, such as this fishing area, except at sites designated for them.

Photos

Hindostan Falls in photos

Visitor reports

Been to Hindostan Falls?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

Nearby

Other sites near Hindostan Falls

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Indiana index.

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. Wikipedia, "Hindostan Falls, Indiana", retrieved October 2026: the 1816 founding date, the name and Caleb Fellows, the stage road, houseboats, the 1,200 figure, the epidemic and the depression, the tax-collector legend, the post office dates, the county seat's move, the mill holes and Shulz, the cemeteries and church, the coordinates.
  2. Indiana Historical Bureau, "Site of Hindostan (.6 mile south)," marker 51.1966.1, read October 2026: marker text, location and 1966 date; and its Marker Text Review Report, April 7, 2010: Sholt's Tavern in 1817, the March 13, 1819 deed, the November 1819 journal, the county seat in 1820, the 351 of the 1820 census, Dr. Ward's 1821 oration, the 1826–27 and 1828 dates, the 1828 move of the seat and the land sales to 1848.
  3. Discover Southern Indiana, "The Ghost Town of Hindostan Falls: Indiana's Lost Jewel," Visit Indiana, September 27, 2024: Frederick Schultz coming from Vincennes in 1808, the 134-acre state fishing and wildlife area bought in the late 1950s, boat ramps above and below the falls, the widest-falls claim, the 128 mill holes and their size, the treasure stories, no cell service.
  4. Indiana DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife, public fishing access sites layer, queried October 2026: Hindostan Falls PFA Ramps 1 and 2, their locations, no fee, picnic tables, walking trails, no restrooms, pull-off parking, the location note and the contact number. The same sites are on the DNR Where to Fish map.
  5. Brandon B, "Hindostan Falls and Spout Spring, October 2023," YouTube, posted October 8, 2023: the video on this page; the falls and exposed shelf rock at low water. A drone video of the falls posted November 2023 was left out because Indiana DNR rules bar drones on DNR properties.
  6. Indiana DNR, drone regulations, read October 2026: drones may not be operated at DNR properties except at sites designated for that purpose (312 IAC 8-2-8(i)).
  7. Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, Shoals 1960, Rusk 1978 and Bedford 1986 sheets. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Not field-checked.

Photo and map credits