The Winona History Center

07/27/2026

Did you know Winona Lake used to have its very own “Venetian Night” festival?

After Alexander McDonald, president of Standard Oil of Kentucky, financed the digging of the canal in 1902, “Venetian Nights” were held annually in midsummer along the canal banks. Unique parades of beautiful floats attracted vast crowds to huge bleachers that had been moved into position along the canal. The lake shores were “ablaze with colored lights, music will be by Rogers’ Band, and arrangements will be made to care for a great crowd of people,” according to the summer program.
A carnival queen was to be selected by popular vote, with the coronation of the queen occurring at a reception the night before the carnival. The Winona History Center owns one such crown (pictured below, but not currently on display), which would have been worn by Nell Denson King sometime prior to her marriage in 1910. Boats donated by the Assembly were thematically decorated, and prizes were awarded.

The last pageant was held in 1917, when a near-tragedy occurred. A float depicting the homes of a drunkard and a temperance man capsized when the drunkard fell overboard and the other passengers all rushed to his aid.

07/20/2026

This past Saturday, the 18th, marked the day when, 101 years ago, John Philip Sousa performed for Winona Lake’s Chautaqua programming.

The Chautaqua movement started as a summer program for Sunday School teachers at Chautauqua Lake, New York, in 1874. The movement spread rapidly, reaching its peak in the 1920s as a community-based cultural movement featuring lectures, music, drama, and education programs. Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Chautauqua is the most American thing about America.”

In 1894, Dr. Solomon Dickey, a leader of the Presbyterian Church, dreamed of building a “kind of religious Chautauqua,” which led him to purchase Spring Fountain Park with the financial backing of his denomination. A corporation known as The Winona Assembly and Summer School Association was formed and the first Bible conference was held in the summer of 1895. The Chautauqua programs drew crowds of as many as 250,000 in a summer!

John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) was a composer and conductor known as the “March King” because of his many outstanding U.S. military march compositions, including The Stars and Stripes Forever, Semper Fidelis (the official march of the U.S. Marine Corps), The Washington Post, and The Liberty Bell. Sousa also conceptualized the sousaphone, which aptly bears his name. John Philip Sousa and his band, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Walter Damrosch, played at Winona on July 18, 1925.

07/01/2026

Are you wondering how you should spend your 4th of July this week? Take some inspiration from Winona Lake 80 years ago!

This video from July 4, 1946, shows Winona residents gathering for games, races, time on the lake, and a tournament of tug-of-war – but instead of pulling a rope, they use what appear to be firefighter hoses to push a ball along a wire to the other team’s pole!

The 1940s was a decade of growing success for Winona Lake. The Winona Lake Bible Conference began to flourish and quickly became the centerpiece of the summer season in Winona. One church historian noted about the period, “The quality of the personnel running Winona, the larger and more efficient operation of concessions, the growing crowds, and the move of new organizations to the area all combined to push Winona to its height in popularity and fame.”

Also occurring in 1946:
- Grace Seminary faculty member Dr. Homer Kent, Sr., became the first pastor of Winona Lake Grace Brethren church.

- Dane A. Miller, who would eventually become the founder, president, and chief executive officer of Biomet and a significant contributor and civic leader to Winona Lake, was born on February 7 to schoolteacher parents in Springfield, Ohio.

- The USCGC Winona (WPG-65), a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter named after Winona Lake, Indiana, was commissioned on April 19 and stationed August 15 at San Pedro, California.

06/23/2026

The Billy Sunday Home will be having our open house again from 5PM-8PM this Fourth of July! As you enjoy the parade and concert before the fireworks, stop by the Sunday Home and get a taste of some local history!

06/12/2026

The Winona History Center will be closed today and tomorrow, June 12-13th for a private event. We will be open again Monday, June 15th, at 9:00 am.

05/23/2026

The Winona History Center will be closed for the day on Monday, May 25th.

05/23/2026

05/23/2026

Although normally this item is not on display, the Winona History Center owns a chair that was signed by Billy Sunday! It was used during his Winston-Salem campaign in North Carolina in 1925, preaching multiple times a day to crowds of thousands. Below is what is written on the bottom of the chair.

"Keep close to Jesus all the way - W.A Sunday
Psalm 34
"I sat on this chair for six weeks during the Winston-Salem campaign, April-May 1925
W.A Sunday"

04/18/2026

The Winona History Center will be closed today. We will be back to our regular hours on Monday, April 20th!