L. G. Walker's Boathouse - 138 & 140 West Shore Drive

1915 - Feb 25 - The Walkers are putting yp another cottage on the former John Murray Place at the south end of the lake. Ther are already two cottages there. The new building will be two stories in height and will contain nine of ten rooms.

James E. Rinesmith

LLoyd Rovell & Ora Florence Rinesmith

L G Walker & Ida Etta (Shipley) Rovell

The Rinesmith family

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Morris recalls that his aunt & uncle rented out boats $3 a day to fishermen. At one time, there were 42 boats docked and vailable at the boathouse. Morris' Auntie Egan was his other aunt, and she moved to the Culver area from Pennsylvania.

According to Morris, the Rovells & Walkers used to commercial fish in Florida in the winter and return in the spring to Culver to run the boathouse.

Morris was there around 1948, his cousin Jim long before that. "It was pretty busy in 1948 – people came from all over the state. $3 you could fish all day long, and bring your own motor if you wanted that. They rented rowboats, though."

Morris worked the boat house about 5-6 years and "stayed pretty busy. They were getting up in years and getting down to where they weren’t doing much at all.

Jim Rinesmith was retired from the Navy and he ran a grocery store out of his house next door, after there was no more boathouse. Jim built his aunt Ora a little place across the road where she lived until she passed away. That building has been torn down since then."

Morris Rinesmith at 13-14 years old is on the pier standing, L.G. Walker in the boat behind him (recalls Morris: "the guy told me to go stand on the pier, he was making postcard!"). There’s a wooden gantry, says Morris, to the left of the big tree "where they pulled boats out of water…it had a hoist."

This is looking out the backdoor of the Walker Boat house - towards the west - and the railroad in the background - at the time this photo was taken the west side of the road was totally un-developed in this area.

Jim Rinesmith, in an interview in the Culver Citizen before his death, recalled riding the train from Ohio to the Delong station each summer and walking from Delong to the Walker boat house for a summer of work and play. youthful Jim Rinesmith holds a fish he caught in Lake Maxinkuckee, standing on the west side of the Walker Boat House

The original house, seen above, was here in 1908 and moved to 138 W. Shore. when the large house, at 140 W. Shore dr., was built by the Walkers.

Narrative by: Jeffery Kenney