Lake Maxinkuckee Its Intrigue
History & Genealogy

Culver, Marshall, Indiana

Hawk Lake

Names for this small lake that lays west of Lake Maxinkuckee over the years has been:

Lost Lake - 1900 Topograpical Map
Little Maxinkuckee - 1936 Plat Map
Little Maxenkuckee - 1898 plat map
Hawk Lake

Many years of the plat maps bear no name at all for this little lake.

The map in connection with the Biographical survey gives 'Lost Lake' and shows the area around it -

Those of the 1960's, 1970's and 1981 bear the name "Little Maxinkuckee"; the 1995-1996 and 1996 bears "Lost Lake"; if there is any plat map bearing the name "Hawk Lake" I have not found one as yet. But the name Hawk Lake is the name that has been associated with it the most. The name being derived from the David Hawk family who settled the area within it shore area and owned most of the northern and western farm ground around it at one time.

HAWK The HAWK family settled close to Lost Lake, known in other years as Little Maxinkuckee and sometimes HAWK Lake, taking the name of the settlers whose log house had been built, so close to its shore.

In early times, the lands of the HAWK family in Union Township consisted of 100 acres in the name of D. HAWK, west of Lost Lake; northwest of that, 92 acres, also in the name of D. HAWK; and north of the Lost Lake tract, 60 acres in the name of F. HAWK.

The settlement of the family in this township was made around 1860. DAVID and CATHERINE HAWK had come to Allen County, Indiana, about 1859. After spending a little over a year there, they came on to the Lost Lake home-site. - One Township's Yesterdays Chapter XXIX by Corwin

Descendants still own the Hawk Homstead plat and the Hawk Homestead Barn plat they are: Randy & Janice, Donald & Mary, Michael & Terry Hawk. Up until parcels of it was sold in the late 1990's it was owned by Lawrence and Veenice (Hawk) White; they had went to Frankfort, Indiana to reside in a assisted living care center.

Hawk Lake is also a natural lake and also is fed by Lake Maxinkuckee the larger lake to the east of it. The outlet from Lake Maxinkuckee being on the northerly western shore near South Street on West Shore Drive.

This is a postcard view of the outlet area of years past - with the railroad bridge crossing over it;

The outlet then continues through a swampy and brush covered area

until it reaches the little lake with two streams entering Hawk lake

The Hawk Homstead farm sits on the North-western shore of Hawk Lake as seen below:

Little development on the shores of Hawk Lake has occured over the years. Some of the houses sit within the shores of Hawk Lake in the West Shore Circle developement [which can be seen on the large map of entire plats further below]. There is a small development on the northern banks of the lake:

This is a post card form the 1960's era - it is captioned 'A peaceful Pond Near Lake Maxinkuckee'

In the background of it in the upper right you can see what appears to be a dam - I have cropped this out - this was done to help maintain the level of Hawk Lake and built the the residents after a fish kill in the 1950's. To counter-act the wier/dam that was placed at the outlet of Lake Maxinkuckee on St. Rd. 17/West Shore Drive to maintian the level of that lake.

Those owning the parcels of land on the banks are:

The demise of Hawk Lake was slowly developing as a result of the Culver Sewage Plant being built on the north of the of the lake on the outlet stream of Lake Maxinkuckee in 1952. Which is pictured below:

One of the earlier accounts found is:

There is an air of mystery, incompentence, and neglect surrounding a recurring problem once again rearing its head at Hawk Lake. Residents there awoke Thursday morning to millions of dead minnows and hundreds of thousdans of dead fish floating along the shores - bloating and rotting in the heat. By noon the odor was positively unbearable ! All homes were closed up tightly and women and children confined indoors. The usual dry midsummer heat has caused water levels in Lake Maxinkuckee - - which feed Hawk Lake - - to lower, leabing the little lake full of stagnant water. In ddition, Culver's sewage plant has been feeding Hawk Lake for the past seven years, causing extra fertilization to obnoxious plants in the lake and choking out desirable plants; the result is too little oxygen in the water for fish to exist. - 22 July 1959 Culver Citizen - here is what appears to be the full article an anymous Letter to the Editor

The renowned writer and Indianapolis Star reporter Robert K. Kyle even had his say.

In the 1970's. 1980's the home owners on the northern edge of the lake took action to try and halt the demise of Hawk Lake - this was spear headed by Larry Boetsma as well as the other homeowners of Sunny Lane, during that time period.

Lawrence and Veenice (Hawk) White built the only house that stood on the western shore for years which is below:

The Hawk farm land to the west of it was sold of in the late 1990's and developement on it has started to occur. Below includes all of the platted areas on Hawk Lake.

The western shore property that once was the Hawk farm is from north to south is now owned by:

and on the south east end one can see a small plat laid out - this it what was the Busart farm and is held by the heirs as Denise Runhow etal.

About 2006/7 a house was built on the north western shore across from the Hawk homstead farmhouse; this plat of ground is owned by William R. III and Robin Harris. One of the Old Hawk farm barns still stands on the western shore near there and the new home sit north of the barn and bear the lake shore.

There was a dam built to maintain the water level of the Lake Maxinkuckee - it assumed that it is here - on the southern edge of Hawk lake at the outlet -

The Outlet again continues at the southern edge of Hawk lake off to the east of Tamarack Road. From there it continues on south through Banks Farm which belonged to Fred and Edith (Hatten) Banks and 76 acres of it still belongs to their son Randel E. and Gloria Banks and the Manchester farm on the west and the the Busart/Runhow property on the east.

and down through the next section of land belonging to John G. Loxas and the southwest corner of the old Joe Burns Gravel Pit and the Transit Mix Concrete plant site on 20th A Rd; now belonging to Alfred Nyby.

and through the Gregory Sefack farm to St. Rd. 110 and across it and continues on down to the Tippecanoe River.

Last updated 22.11.2009

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