Lusk Home and Mill Site
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| Lusk Home and Mill Site | |
|---|---|
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
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| Location: | Marshall, Indiana |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Built/Founded: | 1826 |
| Architect: | Britton,J.A. |
| Architectural style(s): | Greek Revival, Federal |
| Added to NRHP: | October 29, 1974 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 74000017 [1] |
| Governing body: | State |
The Lusk Home and Mill Site was the basis from which Turkey Run State Park, Indiana's second oldest state park, began.
Captain Salmon Lusk, originally of Vermont, was given the land due to his services to William Henry Harrison at the Battle of Tippecanoe. He built a log cabin on the site in 1822. His gristmill was built in 1826. It had a stone-cut stone foundation, with a horizontal waterwheel powered by water diverted by a dam down a race. The family, which included eight children, outgrew the cabin and built the brick home in 1841. Lusk and his sons did the work for the brick house, from carving the walnut woodwork, to making the bricks themselves. A personal coal mine was used to obtain coal for use in heating the home. A village had grown around his settlement, until a flood along Sugar Creek on New Year's Day in 1847 washed away the gristmill and all the buildings of the village, save for Lusk's brick house. On his death, he willed the property to his son, John. After Salmon's wife and John's mother died in 1880, John's only interaction with the world was keeping people from chopping down trees in his 1,000-acre (4.0 km²) property.
When John died in 1915, the property was put up for auction. Hoosier Veneer almost obtained the property, intending to use the land for lumber. However, the State Park Committee, a group led by Richard Lieber, purchased 288 acres (1.17 km²) for the sole purpose of turning the property over to the state for use as a park on November 11,1916, thanks to last-minute funding by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It became the basis for Turkey Run State Park.
The state park opens the house for seasonal tours.[2] Although there is a fee for visiting the park, the Lusk Home is easily accessible from a public road, and therefore nothing forces a visitor to pay to visit. The coal mine now serves as a bat cave.[3] Considering its distance from the House, and the proximity it shares to the main visitor's area, it is harder to visit for free; one would have to negotiate the rugged hiking trails Turkey Run is noted for.
[edit] See also
- Arch in the Town of Marshall
- Richard Lieber Log Cabin, within Turkey Run State Park
- Beeson Covered Bridge
- Parke County Covered Bridges
- List of Registered Historic Places in Indiana
- Parke County Covered Bridge Festival
[edit] References
- ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
- ^ Captain Salmon Lusk
- ^ Division of Reclamation - Protect Resources, Bats and Mines
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