Beautiful Lake Maxinkuckee and Its Great Attractions in the Summer
Unwillingness of the Indianas to Depart from the Love Lingeing-Place
Indianapolis People Who HAve Cottages There
On the map Lake Maxinkuckee has about the outline of a fat Saddle Rock Oyster, and the
sectin line show it to be two and a half miles long and one and a half wide in the its
widest parts.
Few, if any, Maxinkuckians are disposed to accept these dimesnsions. When asked as to
the size of the lake they usually give its width as not less than two miles, and the
length as nothing less than three and a half. They are not singular in this.
All lake dwellers magnify the body of water upon which they live. Maxinkuckee or
rather, thous not spelled so, Maxcukukee - is the Indiana name of this gem, and signifies
"beautiful water" which indicates that the red man was apt in expression, for there is
certainly no more beautiful body of water of its size in AMerica.
Along back in the '30's when the Indians were remoced from Marshall and surrounding
counties to locations further west, many of these about the beautiful lake refused to
go and were taken away by force. Quite a number hid themselves, and for yeears lingered
about the lake.
It was full of fish and its borders abounded in game while mink, otter and beaver where
there to afford profit to the red trapper, who coul barter their plets for poweder and
lead.
The lake out in its middle is sixty feet or more in depth, and from its peculiar location
and appearance comes the geologic theory that it was formed in the glacial age, that a
hugh iceburg had become lodged there and had turned round and round until it produced a deep
holeof cup-like shape.
There are many springs in the lake, as well as a number of fine large springs on the shore.
In the last two years people at the lake have bored to put down driven wells with the result
of finding spouting wells, furnishing a head of water of from twelve to eighteen feet. These
make beautiful fountains and furnish an abundant supply of delightfully cold water.
The water craft on the lask is something astonishing. Of row-boats, for the most part of rapid,
clinker chape, there is no end. There are a score or more of sailing-boats, some of which are
very fine.
W. O. DeVay has a little steamer that will carry twenty-five or thrity people; the
"W. R. McKeen",
Mr. Lord, master, will
carry forty or more and the
"Welcome" a new steamter, owned
by Captain Morris, will acoomodate
eighty or a hundred.
The Maxinkuckites are as enthusiastic about the spring water that abounds there as Floridians
are about climat. The water is a fine chalybeate, being impregnated with iron and magnesia. It
is very stimulating, and is considered a great blood-purifier.
A singlular thing about the lake is the circle of rising ground or little hills. Some distance
back of the lake the ground is level, in many places is low and marshy, while it looks as if
nearly all the little hills in the country had come up and circled about the lake to furnish
lovely and beautiful sites for cottages.
Within the last five years the summer population of Maxinkuckee has increased greatly and
Indianapolis is represented by more than a hindred cottages. The
Plymouth Club-house stands at the north
end of the lake, with a number of cottages of Plymouth people nearby, among them those of
Mr. Corbin,
Mr. Hill and
Mr. McDonald, the last named editor of
the Plymouth Democrat, being a most ancient admirer of Macenkuckee and perhaps entitled more than
any one to the credit of having made its beauties known to the world.
Next comes a little hotel called the
Palmer house, then
the cottage of Mr. Culver,
of St Louis Mr. Culver is the largest property owner on the northeast side of the lake. His cottage
is worth $8,000 or more, is very handsome, and is built not as a mere summer house, but so that it
need be, it can be occupied all the year round.
Below this comes the cottages of the majority of Indianapolis lake dwellers. First is
"Hilarity Hill", occupied
by Messrs Koehne,
Kiefer and others; the comes the cottages
of Otto Stechhan,
Willis C. Vajen,
the Peru club-house, the
Bay View house, headquarters for
the Robert Park people;
Mr. Miller of Peru;
Mrs. B. B. F. Peirce of Crawfordsville; Mrs. Ed Wheeler, of Plymouth;
the Highland View House,
kept by Mrs. Heller, of Indianapolis; the cottages of
Mr. Marmon, J. B. Dill,
J. H. Vajen; then the cottages of a number
of Terre Haute people, Joseph Strong, Mr.
Green, Mr. Martin; the branch store of Parker & Wyse, natives; then comes a
strip of building lots,
1,100 feet ownded by Willis Vajen; next the cottages of Mathias A. Maus, R. P. Daggett, and
Chalmers Brown of Indianapolis; then the
Haylcon Club room and boat house of
H. B. Scott, of
Detriot, Mich., and below the cottage of H. Fulton, of Indianapolis.
Maxinkuckee is but thirty-two miles from Logansport, and a number of residents of that city have
cottages upon the lake, among them Messrs
Snyder,
Purcell, and Wilson,
Geo. Forgy and
Frank Rice.
W. O. DeVay, Harry Adams, Martin Rice, W. B. Buford, John F. Wallick, Rev. J. A. Rondthaler,
McGilhard and Darke all of Indianapolis, have cottages. Mrs. R. L. McQuat has an old-fashioned,
picturesque white house that attract much attention. Dr. P. H. Jameson and
John M. Judah have a
cottage and usually spend the summer months at the lake.
"686-844_e_shore_vonnegut_row_schnull/schnull_family.htm" target=new>Henry Schull has a fine piece of
ground, and will probably build for next summer.
On the west side of the lake, at what is known as
Rochester Point, are a number of cottages and
the Arlington Hotel,
kept by Mr. Knapp, a very popular man.
Mr. McSheehy of the Logansport
Chronicle, has a cottage at ROcherster Point.
Maxinkuckee has grown in favor among Indianpolitians by reason of the facility and dispatch with
which it may be reached, the new branch of the Vandalia making the trip a plesant one of little
more than four hours.
Marmont is the name of the station on the Bandalia. This is a picturesque village, neat and clean.
The grounds about the railroad station attract notice from the way in which they are adorned and
the way in which they are cared for. - Jun 26, 1887 Indianapolis Journal