Fairbanks
The village of Fairbanks originated during the lively days when the old state road from Vincennes to Terre Haute was the route for a considerable commerce and the daily passage of stage coach and road wagon. Benjamin Ernest, James Pogue and Samuel Myers were the men who, about 1840, set aside a tract of twenty acres which was surveyed and platted as a townsite. The town was given the name of the township, which was bestowed to honor a lieutenant who was massacred by the Indians while escorting a train of supplies toward Fort Harrison.
Fairbanks because of its inland situation has grown little since the railroad era. At the present time and for several years past the residents of this vicinity have indulged in the prospect of railroad or electric inter-urban facilities, which, when realized, will at once give a heavy impulse to business activity in this region. At the present time the village has its graded school, one or two churches, and the stores and professional activities of the small center.
Source: A History of Sullivan County, Indiana. Closing of the first century’s history of the county and showing the growth of its people, institutions, industries and wealth. Thomas J. Wolfe, Editor. The Lewis Publishing Company, 1909, page 216.