Starke County Historical Society

08/29/2026

Before founding Winona Lake, the original founders of the Winona Assembly had selected a site on Bass Lake here in Starke County, Indiana.

In October 1894, the Presbyterian Synod of Indiana appointed a committee headed by Dr. Solomon C. Dickey to find a location to create a retreat and discussion center. Dickey first chose Bass Lake. 160 acres on Bass Lake were purchased, with the plan that a railroad spur would be built to the community.

When they could not get the railroad spur built, the Bass Lake site fell through.

The committee shifted their plans and purchased land along Eagle Lake (which was then renamed Winona Lake) in Kosciusko County.

Here are two pictures from around 1900 of Winona.

08/22/2026

Grovertown's brick school was dedicated on September 26, 1904. This new school replaced a wood frame building that had burned down in March of that same year.

The school originally had four large rooms and was constructed of brick at a cost of $10,000. It was located at the north-east corner of SR 23 and 500 N.

In 1916, an addition was added for an additional cost of $12,000 allowing Grovertown to become a state commissioned high school.

Grovertown High School's graduating class of 1936 is shown in this photo. The names we have are:
Back row, left to right: Raymond Plake, Francis Huhnke, Frank McCay, Sigurd Peterson, Lewes Goze, Roy Swanson and Melvin Blad; center row: William Finley, Arthur Thompson, Kenneth Nelson, Charles H. Hinton (Principal), Merlin Dipert, Homer Forsythe and Robert Heidorn; front row: Hazel Harness, Sara Buell, Alyse Gjemre, Ruth Starr, Dorothy Awald, Sue Najmolovski and Eugena Kuklinski.

Of course, later Grovertown was consolidated into the Oregon-Davis School Corporation.

08/22/2026

Saw this earlier. One follower said it would not open without being a member. So.... I deleted that post and am trying again.

Let us know if this opens.

Artist: Angelique MiloLocation: Norwayne FieldUnveiled: June 19, 2026Commissioned by: Town of North Judson, IN and Starke County Community Foundation; Donated Spikes by the Hoosier Valley Railroad

08/20/2026

Last Friday we posted some information and photos about English Lake. Based on the response, we are adding a couple more photos that were shared with us.

First is a picture of Marie Royce (left) and her aunt Isel (Ort) Williams Black (right) sitting on the English Lake iron bridge in the 1920's. Below is the George Green home in its later years. Finally we have a photo of the Oxbow Bend near English Lake.

08/15/2026

Taken from McCormick's "A STANDARD HISTORY OF
STARKE COUNTY INDIANA.". published in 1915:

"English Lake, situated upon the south bank of the Kankakee River in Railroad Township, has two railroads. The Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad run through this station.

The little village has several business houses, and situated as it is in the Kankakee Valley has great opportunities for fishermen and others to visit this beautiful river. Its location among the fine hay fields of this valley makes that a very great industry, which is carried on to a great extent by the surrounding farmers., The hay is loaded upon the cars and shipped to the markets of the world, and brings good returns for those engaged in the business and greatly benefits the town."

So we pulled some photos from our collection of that general period - the depot, the stave mill, Lund's & Cerveny's stores & post office, and a photo labeled Mosquito Bend at English Lake.

As an aside, we would be interested if any of our followers can identify where the Mosquito Bend was.

08/07/2026

In 1931, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources decided to purchase this land and build a state beach. This was in the heights of the Great Depression, and both state and federal governments were eager to put people to work on public works projects.

Workers used long drag lines to pull sand from the lake's bottom to build the beach. The soil in that area is composed of a fine natural sand ideal for a beach.

Today much of that sand has washed back into the lake, and the water's edge is up to the beach house. The beach is part of the Starke County Parks system.

08/04/2026

It's time for another "before-and-after" .... this time the corner of Pearl and Washington Streets in Knox.

A photo dated 1941 shows Carl Coffin's Champion Motor Company in Knox. Mr. Coffin specialized in selling new Studebakers. Later Glenn Kay (Knox's first mayor) took over this dealership. He continued to sell Studebakers into the 1950's before switching over to Dodge and Plymouth sales.

Today, of course, we know this corner as the location of Fingerhut Bakery.

08/01/2026

Mark your calendars.

07/28/2026

The Starke County Historical Society is to be one of the educational stations at this year's Kankakee River Days.

https://wkvi.com/2026/07/registration-open-for-kankakee-river-days-field-trips-in-starke-la-porte-counties/?fbclid=IwY2xjawTWG59leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeSz7ndQMyHTIty3XWomJkunwb4sdg14sv1X9hH-P03fqqCL09imtLoLRfPk8_aem_UFj4uSbZMDrTVdR8NZHi5g

Elementary school educators still have an opportunity to register their fourth- and fifth-grade students for this year’s Kankakee River Days environmental education program.

07/27/2026

While looking through some old newspapers tonight, I found the attached clipping in the New Albany Ledger of Jan. 7, 1867.

The town of North Judson was organized in 1866, so this may be one of the earliest references to the town in a newspaper. The Chicago and Cincinnati Railroad (later the Pennsylvania) had been completed through the town in 1861. By 1866, the rail lines connected the town to markets.

17,500 bushels would weigh around 1 million pounds. Keep in mind, farmers here in Starke County were farming around marsh lands which had not been drained.