Editing West Lebanon, Indiana (section)

==History==
[[Image:West Lebanon, Indiana.png|thumb|upright|left|Decorations on High Street]]
West Lebanon was laid out and [[plat]]ted in the fall of 1830 by Ebenezer Purviance, John G. Jemison and Andrew Fleming, and consisted of 64 lots.  Originally named Lebanon, the name was changed to West Lebanon in 1869 when the town was incorporated, possibly in deference to [[Lebanon, Indiana|the Boone County community of the same name]] which established its post office on December 15, 1832, just eleven days before their own.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Baker|first1=Ronald L.|last2=Carmony|first2=Marvin|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=1975|location=Bloomington, Indiana|title=Indiana Place Names|page=176}}</ref>

Not being close to any waterways, West Lebanon's early growth was relatively slow and for many years had no more than 20 families.  However, with the completion of the [[Wabash Railroad]] line one mile north of town in 1856, the community's fortunes improved and led to most of the town relocating closer to the station.  The original settlement area became known as Old Town.<ref>{{cite gnis|id=440606|name=Old Town}}</ref>

A [[Carnegie library]] was built at the corner of High Street and North Street in 1916 and continues to operate as the [[West Lebanon-Pike Township Public Library]].<ref>{{cite web
  |url=http://www.westlebanon.lib.in.us/
  |title=West Lebanon-Pike Township Public Library
  |access-date=October 2, 2012}}</ref>

Fire destroyed part of West Lebanon's business district the evening of January 26, 2011, destroying a row of buildings along the west side of High Street between First and North streets.<ref>{{cite news
 |title=Fire ravages West Lebanon business district
 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/847476589
 |newspaper=[[Journal and Courier]]
 |date=January 26, 2011
|access-date=December 14, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
 |title=Wood stove cited as cause in West Lebanon fire
 |first=Eric
 |last=Weddle
 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/847611795
 |newspaper=[[Journal and Courier]]
 |date=January 27, 2011
|access-date=December 14, 2016}}</ref>