Shakamak State Park

Shakamak State Park
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)

The Nature Center on the west side of the lake
Location Clay, Greene, and Sullivan counties, Indiana, United States
Nearest city Jasonville, Indiana
Area 1,766 acres (7.15 km2)
Established 1929
Governing body Indiana Department of Natural Resources

http://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/2969.htm

Shakamak State Park Historic District
Nearest city Jasonville, Indiana
Coordinates 39°10′12″N 87°14′24″W / 39.17000°N 87.24000°W / 39.17000; -87.24000Coordinates: 39°10′12″N 87°14′24″W / 39.17000°N 87.24000°W / 39.17000; -87.24000
Area 685 acres (277 ha)
Built by CCC; WPA
Architectural style Park Rustic
MPS New Deal Resources on Indiana State Lands MPS
NRHP Reference # 00000199[1]
Added to NRHP March 15, 2000

Shakamak State Park is a state park in Indiana, United States. It is located 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Terre Haute, Indiana.

Shakamak's main attraction is its excellent fishing. Shakamak has several outdoor recreational activities such as swimming, hiking, paddle boating, row boating, camping, fishing. The park offers rentals for cabins and campsites and is located just 3 miles (4.8 km) from Jasonville, Indiana

History

Shakamak State Park was dedicated on September 3, 1928.

The land was donated for a state park from the counties of Clay, Greene and Sullivan. The name "Shakamak" was chosen by the park's founders. The word is said to mean "river of the long fish" in the language of either the Delaware (Lenape) or Kickapoo Indians, and was said to be used by them to describe the nearby Eel River. The park founders simply adopted the name for the park long after any Delaware departed the area—well over 100 years before in 1819.[2]

The first lake of Shakamak Park was created by the stopping up of a 5-foot (1.5 m) sewer and additional lakes were added in following years (30 years later in the case of Lake Kickapoo). There were no lakes in the area prior to that time. It was purposely stocked with bass by Richard Lieber in May 1930, starting the park's fame for fishing in July 1932 after sufficient time had passed for the original bass to reproduce enough to populate the lake.[3] Further development of the park also occurred with the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). CCC Company 522 was located in the park from 1933 until 1942.[4]

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000 as a national historic district.[1]

Shakamak hosted many Mid-States AAU Championship Swim Meets, drawing a huge attendance. A platform and a 5 and 10 meter diving platform (called the "16" and "32" by local swimmers preferring to measure the heights approximately in feet) was created for the meets and remained open and in use by the general swimming public until the 1990s when Shakamak Lake was closed to swimming and a swimming pool was constructed.

The park is located approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) from Jasonville, Indiana, a town with the motto of "The Gateway to Shakamak".

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ http://www.in.gov/dnr/3245.htm/ Official (Indiana) DNR Historical Timeline
  3. ↑ Shakamak State Park Indiana Swimming Pier History
  4. ↑ "Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD)" (Searchable database). Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. Retrieved 2015-08-01. Note: This includes Glory-June Grieff (March 1999). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Shakamak State Park Historic District" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-08-01. and Accompanying photographs.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.