First imagined around 1890 and realized in 1899, the Anderson-headquartered Union Traction Company built a 370-mile electric-powered interurban railroad that connected all the cities in the gas belt with Indianapolis, along with 50 miles of street railway in the cities it operated. In Indianapolis, passengers could transfer to rail lines serving nearly every part of Indiana and neighboring states. An interurban line from Muncie to Indianapolis made Pendleton a key junction, with passenger and freight trains running down the centerline of what is now Pendleton Avenue. Pendleton's interurban station had a high ceiling, a large potbelly stove, benches along the wall, and a schedule painted on a blackboard, where the station agent marked whether a car was ahead of or behind schedule. In the mid-1930s, the line's name changed to the Indiana Railroad, and the old high-floor red cars were replaced by low-slung high-speed models painted brilliant yellow. Born in the horse-and-buggy era and valued for rapid transportation, the interurban was ultimately doomed by automobiles, and on Saturday, January 18, 1941, the line through Pendleton ceased operation forever.