History of Lake Wawasee
Lake Wawasee is a large, natural,
41°24′02″N 85°42′08″W / 41.40056°N 85.70222°W
Prehistoric
Pre-glacial
Around 1 million years ago just prior to the Pleistocene epoch, northern Indiana was covered by the Teays River system which flowed northwest out of Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio entering Indiana at Adams County and flowed about 45 miles (72 km) south of what is now Lake Wawassee.
Post-glacial
After the last
[2][3]Beach formations and peat beds indicate Wawasee was 7 to 8 feet (2.1 - 2.4 m) deeper than present. Continuing running water through the outlet to the north lowered the lake level 6 to 7 feet (2 m). A dam built in 1834 consequently raised the level back to where it is today.
Recent history
The 1800s
Prior to Europeans coming to Turkey Lake, it was the tribal lands of
Early settlers were
Wawasee geographical places
Cedar Point
Cedar Point is on Wawasee's eastern shore and is a
Cedar Point was the best authenticated site of
Conkling Hill
Conkling Hill was named after a William Conking, a settler and possible sailor during the War of 1812 who came to the area in the 1830s with his wife. In 1844 a visitor by the name of P.M. Henkle visited for a day or two of fishing recounted a small cabin with one bed. Conkling Hill was acquired by a church group in 1894 and became Oakwood Park. Today it is a 42-acre (170,000 m2) religious retreat called Oakwood Foundation.(Lilly, Eli)
Morrison's Island
Morrison's Island was originally Eagle Island when the first white settlers arrived because of the
Morrison built a cabin on Eagle Island where he and his family lived until the 1890s. The house was eventually destroyed by fire. An unsubstantiated story says he took the insurance money and purchased a new
Kale Island
In 1862 or 1863 Kale Island was settled by two brothers by the name of Thomas and Kale Oram. They made their livelihoods catching fish by net for sale in Goshen and cleared some 20 acres (81,000 m2) of land. Trees were floated through the main channel to a saw mill on Turkey Creek or one just south of Vawter Park. The poplar trees going to homes in Syracuse and oak made into barrel staves and firewood. The Oram brothers planted the area with Concord and
In 1873 or 1874, John Wysong and March McCory built Island House on Kale Island, Lake Wawasee's first summer hotel. Badly built, it declined in popularity becoming a poker and boozing hang-out and eventually burned down. Kale Island was finally acquired by George W. Miles who had it developed into an upscale area for homes.
Dog Creek Dam
Dog Creek Dam and the "fish trap" were located just off the north side of E. Pickwick Drive on Kale Island. A continuation of this dam extended south toward the higher ground of Oakwood Park. The north and west sides of this dam formed the "fish trap" which flooded in the springtime. As waters receded, local settlers would then be able to net and pitchfork fish.
The outlet between Lake Wawasee and Syracuse Lake, which flowed westward between the south and north
Wawasee establishments
Cedar Beach Club
The Cedar Beach Club was established in 1880 and was the first hotel on this site. The property was purchased by the North Lake and River Association. Judge John V. Pettit of
The Jones Hotel
The Jones Hotel, established in September 1881 on the north shore of the lake just east of Willow Grove, was the first major establishment for entertainment on Turkey Lake. It was built by Abram M. Jones, a native of
The Jones Hotel was a successful endeavor from its inception serving great meals to its patrons and visitors. The rooms were said to be comfortable. The hotel had a barn behind it where many of Wawasee's early boats and yachts were built. The Jones Hotel was sold in 1920 to Mr. M. E. Crow of Elkart.
Sargent's Hotel
The Sargent's Hotel was built in the early 20th century and owned by Mr. J. (Jess) M. Sargent. It was located on the northeast shore of the lake, bordering the north side of Spink's Wawasee Hotel and south of the Lilly homes in a grove of trees.
J. M. Sargent came to Wawasee in 1899 and assisted on refurbishing the sailboat, Mary Louise, for Bob Fishback. Eventually Sargent opened a boat repair and rental which expanded with success. Sargent married a Laura Ballard from Terre Haute and soon the Sargents were renting rooms to visitors at the lake. The Sargents then began purchasing land extending to the B&O station nearby. The hotel, built soon after, hosted dinner parties for large groups. Sargent's Hotel was razed to the ground in 1957.
Buttermilk Point
Buttermilk Point was a resort hotel located at the extreme south end of the lake and south shore of Buttermilk Bay. It was owned by Lewis Jarrett, a Civil War veteran and member of an early Wawasee family. In 1893 Lewis died and his wife, Elizabeth, became the owner. At the source of a spring, a log milkhouse was built early on which serviced the passengers in passing steamboats with buttermilk, sweet cream, and butter. Later this site would be home to the Johnson Hotel operated by the Johnson family and later sold to the Hilburt family. The Johnson Hotel, the last of the great old hotels was sold at auction in 1971.
The Crow's Nest
The Crows's Nest is on Wawasee's east-southeast shore and was built by Nathaniel N. Crow who was a pioneer farmer. Born October 13, 1823 in Champaign County, Ohio, United States, Crow left home around 1839 and traveled to Madison County, Ohio and worked as a farm hand until 1845 when he came to Kosciusko County. To purchase some land in Kosciusko County Nathaniel gave $20 and sold his horse for the 80 acres (320,000 m2) he wanted. This property sat unused for years and was sold by Crow for a profit which he used to purchase a farm in Section 24 of Turkey Creek Township.[5]
Crow married Eliza Airgood on October 14, 1852. Eliza was born in Germany on September 13, 1832. Her parents were Frederick and Maria Airgood. Nathaniel and Eliza started their married life on the farm. Through careful farming practices, the farm swelled to 550 acres (2.2 km2) of tillable land. The Crow's Nest had a blacksmith's shop operated by a spring running a hydraulic ram.[7] The ruins of the spring and ram were remaining through until the 1960s.
In the 1950s the farm became the Crow's Nest and is located at E1100N (NE Wawasee Drive) and N. Lung Drive. The Crow house and huge barn became the Crow's Nest Yacht Club in 1959. The barn was made into a boat storage structure and is capable of housing several boats on 2-3 levels. Natti Crow Beach is one of Wawasee's true sand beaches extending as much as 20 feet (6 m) from homes to water's edge and running approximately 1,200 feet (370 m) north to south. The homes in the vicinity are included in the Natti Crow Beach Association, one of the 32 neighborhood associations which comprises Wawasee Property Owners Association. The wetlands near the Crow's Nest property are known as the WACF Nathanial Crow Wetlands according to the Wawasee Area Conservation Foundation.[8]
Vawter Park
Vawter Park Village was plotted in 1887 and the Vawter Park Hotel was built around 1888 followed by a row of cottages extending to the southeast of the hotel. The hotel is said to have been built and furnished with Victorian era gentility. Those settling in this area were Ovid Butler of Indianapolis and others. In 1918 or 1919 Vawter Park Hotel burned to the ground. Around 1920 a new hotel was built on the site only to burn down between 1920 and 1925. The South Shore Inn would take its place in subsequent years. Indiana University operated a laboratory here for some time.
South Shore Inn
The South Shore Inn was a hotel built on the site of the old Vawter Park Hotel. During the 1950s and early 1960s, the hotel attracted visitors and patrons with a water
Wawasee Inn
The Wawasee Inn was built in 1892 by
Wawasee Inn (2)
The second Wawasee Inn was not on the north shore as was its predecessor as that site was occupied by the Spinks Wawasee Hotel. The (second) Wawasee Inn was formerly the Tavern Hotel, a 2-story structure erected in 1926 with 26 rooms on the south shore of Lake Wawasee. On April 18, 1955 the inn was gutted by fire. Damage was estimated at $75,000.
Spink Wawasee Hotel
The Spink Wawasee Hotel was built by the Spink family of Indianapolis in 1925 and was built on the site of the Wawasee Inn Cedar Beach Club. Following the deaths in the Spinks family, the hotel was sold to the Crosier Order of the Roman Catholic Church and after extensive remodeling it opened its doors on August 15, 1948 as Our Lady of the Lake Seminary with Father Leo Kapphahn, OSC, as
Waco
Waco (Wawasee Amusement Company) was an entertainment hall constructed about 1910 and originally planned as a floating pavilion but this idea was abandoned and it was built on land and located in the Lakeview-South Park area just west of Black Stump Point. Being low-lying land, sand fill was pumped in from the lake bottom. There were no sleeping quarters for the entertainment and
Wawassee Yacht Club
The
Angler's Cove
Angler's Cove was a surf and turf restaurant and bar located on N. Ogden Park Road, Ogden Island. The restaurant was popular with boaters in the late 1950s through 1970s and accessible from the channel on the west side of Johnson's Bay.
A&W Root Beer stand
From the 1950s through the early 80's, Jack's A&W Root Beer Stand on E. Pickwick Drive adjacent to the bridge over the main channel and on the east side of the channel. This root beer stand was accessible by boat and car serving standard hamburger stand fare. At the time, just the A&W, Angler's Cove, and Waco had food available by boat. The A&W is now The Channel Marker Restaurant.
Boating on Wawasee
Early boating on Wawasee
Steamboats
- The Anna Jones, a steam tug named after Abram B. Jones' daughter, was purchased in Chicago in the mid-1880s. It was brought to Wawasee via the B&O Railroad and unloaded at the channel between Syracuse Lakeand Wawasee. It was then cut in half and a center section added making it roughly 40–45 feet in length.
- The Anna Jones II, a 76-foot (23 m) steam yacht was purchased by Abram Jones about 6 years after the Anna Jones. Capable of holding 100 people, it was the largest boat to ever ply Turkey Lake.
- The Gazelle, brought to Wawasee in 1885 was another steam powered yacht with screw propeller and size of about 70 feet (21 m) with no sail rigging.
Sailboats
- The Anita was a 20-foot (6 m) sloop built by Higgins & Gifford of Glouschester and owned by Walter Nordyke.
- The La Cigale and sister boat Margaret were designed by Dr. Harry S. Hicks of Indianapolis and were built in the barn behind the Jones Hotel. They were the first flat bottomed scows on Turkey Lake.
- The Keflin, the lakes first fin keel sailing yacht was built behind the Jones Hotel. Its unique feature was a torpedo shaped ballastof several hundred pounds on the keel's end. It was said to be impossible to capsize the Keflin.
- The Mary Louise was a large sail cabin yacht having the largest sail area of any boat on the lake.
- The Eleanor was an 18-foot (5 m) catboat owned by H.S. Tucker and built in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
- The Cynthia was a 20-foot (6 m) sloop sporting 647 square feet (60 m2) of sails and 1 ton of ballast owned by Col. Eli Lilly.
- The Emanon and Leirion were A-Scows built at the start of the 20th century. These two boats participated in the 1901 Inland Lake Yachting Association races at Green Lake, Wisconsin.[9]
Events
Proposed draining of Wawasee
In the late 1880s a group of farmers owning
The abduction of Laura Sargent
In the early 20th century Laura Sargent was abducted on the north side of Wawasee by an Ogden's Island resident by the name of Patterson. Patterson and his wife were friends of the Sargents but that friendship soured when the Sargents had taken the side of Mrs. Patterson over Mr. Patterson's drinking problem. Patterson rented a car and employed its owner by posing as a
Sturgeon in Wawasee
Sturgeon, an elusive, primitive, and rare, fish have been caught on occasion in Wawasee. The first account was around 1855 when Jake Renfro and three others by the last names of Kitson, Etter, and Snyder speared a sturgeon in the main channel between Syracuse Lake and Wawasee. In the 1870s, Jim Jones, the pilot of the steamboat Anna Jones, saw a sturgeon while ice fishing. The latest account was in 1991 when a sturgeon estimated at over 90 pounds was caught and released by a local fisherman, David Riddle. Sturgeon are an endangered species and protected.
The Great Wawasee Storm of 1943
On Wednesday, July 21, 1943 a large thunderstorm mushroomed over the southwest tip of Michigan and moved southeast rapidly. At 6:05 pm the storm hit Elkhart ripping trees from the ground and blowing down power lines. By 6:10 the leading edge of the storm had traveled the 10 miles (20 km) from Elkhart to Goshen. In New Paris two 80-foot (24 m) smokestacks weighing 4 short tons each were destroyed. At 6:30 trees were falling in Syracuse and in minutes waves on Wawasee were at 6 feet (2 m) with a driving rain and hail. Six boaters on Wawasee; Sergeant Lloyd Burkholder (25) of Goshen, Dean Yoder (21) of Elkhart, Lloyd Conklin (21) of Goshen, Dorothy Beckerich (21) of Indianapolis, Billie Binkley (20), and Virginia Rush (20), lost their lives.[10]
Sources
- ^ An Introduction to the Prehistory of Indiana by James Kellar Archived 2006-12-10 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Glacial Kame Culture
- ^ Cultural chronology of Indiana Archived 2007-07-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Izaak Walton League of America,
- ^ Bowen, B.F., Progressive men and women of Kosciusko County, Indiana, 1902, p. 580-581.
- ^ Progressive men and women of Kosciusko County, Indiana, B.F. Bowen & Co.
- ^ Lilly, Eli. Early Wawasee Days. Indianapolis: Studio Press Inc., 1960.
- ^ Wawasee Area Conservation Foundation: Chairman's Report
- ^ "Inland Lake Yachting Association".
- ^ *NOAA 1943 storm
- Lilly, Eli. Early Wawasee Days.