Lakeview Hotel

Attention was first attracted to the lake as a summer resort by the erection of a clubhouse by a few residents of Plymouth on the east shore of the lake on grounds leased of L. T. Vanschoiack. the same now being owned by Mrs. McOuat, of Indianapolis. This was in 1875. The lease was to run five years. The club house was a story and a half frame building, with sleeping apartments above, and parlor, dining room and kitchen below. It became quite a popular place of resort, and many times during the hot summer months as many as fifty persons were entertained at one time. The officers of the club were Joseph Westervelt, president; William W. Hill, treasurer, and C. H. Reeve, secretary. - History of Marshall County Indiana (1908) Daniel Mc Donald pg. 99

Messrs. Buck, Toan, Thayer, and Corbin of Plymouth, have their cottages at Lake View well under way.

Judge and Mrs. Siddall, of Richmond, Ind., are the guests of Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Toan at Lake View for the summer.

Hon. H. Thayer struck a two-inch flowing well in front of his mansion on the Plymouth club grounds, Thursday afternoon. He will have a fountain in front of his plazza, supplied by a hydraulic ram.

The Lake View club stuck a two-inch flowing well in front of their club house on Monday afternoon. This is the fourth flowing well on the grounds, and the fifth on the North side. Others in contemplation will be sunk soon.

First, at the Plymouth Club House, and the surrounding cottages of the members of the club, there are four wells. The well in front of the Club House runs a ram which supplies the house with water. This, like the other three wells, is bored about eight feet above the surface of the lake, and will flow to an additional hight of eight feet when confined. The members having wells near their cottages are Messrs. H. G. Phayer [Thayer], McDonald and Hill. Mr. Phayer [Thayer] utilizes the energy of his well in work ing a ram, while the much stronger flow at that of Mr. McDonald, wastes its force in a beautiful fountain. This flow, when unconfined, rises in a two-inch stream ten inches above the top of the pipe, which is itself eleven feet above the surface of the lake.

These four wells are all bored to about fifty feet, and each passes through the same strata of clay, sand and gravel. The bank of the lake upon which the Plymouth Club House stands is about forty feet high, and at the foot of this bank are a great number of springs. Mr. McDonald informed us that he had counted twenty-four within a few yards.

The Vandalia Company has purchased the Plymouth Club house and grounds at Lake Maxinkuckee. The tract of ground contains eight acres and is the most desirable property at the lake. - Logansport Pharos April 23, 1891

The T. H. and L. division of the Vandalia will hereafter have much better facilities at Lake Maxinkuckee than in the past, the company having bought out the property of the Plymouth Club at the head of the lake. There are fifteen acres in the tract which includes the beautiful bluff so much admired by all visitors. The consideration was $16,000. - Logansport Reporter April 24, 1891

...
$120.71 for repairing club house and cottages at Marmont.
...

Chesterton Tribune 29 Apr. 1896 - The Northern Indiana Editorial Assoc. will met at Maxinkuckee Lake on Thurs. & Fri. July 10 & 11th 1896 at the Plymouth Clubhouse in annual session. This assoc. includes all of the towns located north of the Wabash river.

In the 20 March 1896 Culver Herald is found:

Keifer & Whitcomb, the wide-awake gentlemen that conducted the Bay View Hotel last season, has leased the Lakeview Hotel and will conduct the same this year.

And change of management occured again in early summer by this notice found in the Logansport Pharos pg. 3 dated 22, 23, 24 & 25, Jun. 1896, & August 24, 26, & 31, 1896 and also the Logansport Reporter Tuesday June 30 1896

"The Lake View", Lake Maxinkucekee - This hotel will re-open on strickly first-class basis, July 1st. New management, improved service, appointments thoroughly modern. Accomodations will be reserved upon appriciation to C. S. Moody, Manager, Lake View Hotel, Marmont, Ind.

1896 - Sept. 7 Logansport Reporter - Will Brnggeman, who has been employed as clerk at the Maxinkuckee Lake View hotel during the summer will return to Logansport the latter part of next week when the hotel will be closed for the season.

1897 - May 31 - Logansport Reporter - "The Lake View," Lake Maxinkuckee - Tbe New This hotel reopens on strictly first-class basis, June 7th. management, improved service, appointments thoroughly modern. Accommodations will be reserved upon application to J. B. Schofield, manager, Lake View Culver, Ind; This a;lso ran in the same paper June 1,2,4,5,& 7 1897.

On the 1898 Plat Map (wall version) the lot is listed as "T.H. & I. RR [Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad] Lake View Club".

Also by the looks of the pictures - extensive remodeling and expansion of the Plymouth Clubhouse or Lakeview Club was done after the railroad had purchased the property.

Mrs. Schofield and daughter, who ran the Lake View Hotel at Lake Macinkuckee, are in the city enroute to Indianapolis - pg. 4 Sep. 24, 1898

1898 - Found in the 1898 Annual report is:

...The loss in operating the Lakeview Hotel at Culver was $824.89, a decrease of $164.19...pg. 57 Fifieth Annual Report of the of the President and Directors of the Terre Haute and Indianapolis Railroad Company to the Stockholders for the Year Ending November 30 1898 By Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad Company

Here is a section referring to the Lake View Hotel from the 1900 topographical map by J. T. Scovell:


1903 - Found in the Fifth annual report was:

Paving sidewalks at Culver............. $72.20
New ice houses at hotel at Culver...... 669.07
Hotel and cottages at Culver repaired.. 618.89

Fifth Annual Report of The Terre Haute & Logansport Railway Company For Year Ending December 31, 19O3. Terre Haute & Logansport Railway Co.pg. 8

1905 - June 8 the new Lake View Hotel was dedicated dedicated to the general public. Another account says steps were being take in 1906 to build a new hotel but this was found in the Logansport Daily Pharos pg. 8 dated Jul 7 1905

Lake Maxinkuckee
Some Inklings Concerning This Beautiful Sheet of Fresh Water
Fast Becoming Favorite Resort
Logansporters and Others Have Cottages There
...
The new Lake View hotel constructed by the Vandalia railroad, was opened and dedicated to the general public June 8 and is a neat and modern structure. No pains have been spared by the Vandalia to beautify the grounds surrounding the depot. Sodding has been done, cement walks are put down, flowers and trees have been planted, and a regular gardner is engaged to look after the grounds and keep them in order...

But in January 1906 it was told that there were intentions of the Vandalia Railroad officals to build a new hotel:

Steps are being taken by the Vandalia railroad company to erect one of the finest hotels in this part of the state. It is to occupy the present site of the Lake View and is to contain 150 rooms. - Rochester Sentinel, Friday, January 12, 1906

1906 - The Vandalia will open the Lake View hotel at Culver today for for the season. - pg. 3 June 7 1906 Logansport Daily Journal

1907 - W. McCoy, manager

A rarity is the following which David Burns dug up many years ago and is now in the possession of his widow:


It is the brass key tag form the Lake View Hotel - it reads as follows: Lake View Hotel Marmont, Ind. 8 * If carried away return * unsealed * By mail postage - { 3 } - cents. Amongst this too was some of the plain white china used at the hotel; Indiana Beer bottles and a clay pottery jug.

1909 - April 22 – The old boat house in the hollow east of the Lake View was taken down last week, loaded upon a car and shipped out of town…


The location of the hotel can be found here from various years and in relation to the location of the Jungle and Palmer House also.

Part of the original 4 page lease dated 12 Dec. 1911 till 15 Oct. 1913, by the Vandalia Railroad Co. to John P. Walter of Culver and C. A. Shorb [Charles A. Shorb] of Warsaw, Indiana of the Lakeview Hotel and 5 cottages at Culver, Lake Maxinkuckee, Indiana. Attached is a complete inventory of the personal items and the rent is stated at $125.00 per season.

It is said that by 1922 the Lake View had mereged with the Jungle Hotel but this account has been found: It was sold by the Vandalia Railroad in March of 1922 to V. F. and H. M. Outland owners of the Jungle Hotel but before they had full possession of it 2 cottages caught fire and another was destroyed to contain the fire to the area. The Vandalia Railroad re-built these cottages for the new owners. Another source says that - While the Outland's owned it the meals for this hotel were served out of the Jungle Hotel kitchen.

Site location on the north shore of Lake Maxinkuckee, 1922:



In relation to its location of the Jungle Hotel and Palmer Hotel can be found on this plat map of 1922:


This was found about the Lakeview:

LAKE MAXINKUCKEE WILL HAVE NEW SUMMER HOTEL A transaction was completed last Saturday whereby E. R. Culver and B. B. Culver purchased the buildings and property known as the Palmer House of J. P. Walter. The Culvers then announced that they would erect a new and modern hotel that would equal any resort hotel in Indiana. It is estimated unofficially that this will require an expenditure of between a quarter to half a million dollars.

The transaction is not that of the Culver Military academy but is a private investment of E. R. and B. B. Culver. These men feel that Lake Maxinkuckee should have hotel accommodations that are in keeping with the beauty of the lake and would attract the desirable class for which this lake is noted. While no definite plans have been announced for the new structure, it is safe to assume that no expense will be spared to make it known thruout the United States and make Lake Maxinkuckee a mecca for resorters and vacationists.
Start Next Spring No improvement will be started until next spring as C. A. Shorb and Son have a lease that will not expire until the end of the year. Then it will be necessary to wait for suitable weather. It is probable that it will take a year to eighteen months to complete the structure. The deal Saturday night included 252 feet of lake front, and land where the garage help quarters, and boat houses are located.

This announcement is regarded as the most important and significant to the Culver community since the school was founded. It makes a host of other meetings, which officers desire to hold them out of noise and confusion of a large city. The possibilities thus opened are unlimited.

The building of this structure will aid the smaller and less expensive hotels at Culver also as more people will be attracted to the lake and will seek places with lower rates than the new hotel will charge.

It will probably be some time before plans for the new building are completed as Messrs Culver intend to visit the leading hostelries and vacation centers of the nation and profit by their examples. And in the meantime it can be assured that the building and grounds will be constructed in the typical complete and thoro manner of the Culver family, which markes all their undertakings. - The News-Sentinel, Saturday, June 20, 1928

It sat on the bluff above the lake in the area known as "the Indian Trails" now being owned by the Culver Military Academy.

In April 1929 it was acquired by the Culver Family. here is the announcement:

ACADEMY BUYS PROPERTY The Culver Military Academy has announced that they have purchased the real estate facing Lake Maxinkuckee known as the Lake View Hotel property. This gives the academy a solid stretch from the Palmer House to the boat house. - -The News-Sentinel, Thursday, May 2, 1929

Before it could be utilized as an Academy-owned hotel, burned on 15 November 1929. The remaining buildings and tent frames were razed shortly thereafter.

The remaining buildings and tent frames were razed shortly thereafter. Academy trustees showed no interest in developing the tract after the hotel burnt and allowed it to return to nature.

A request was made by the Lake Maxinkuckee Fish and Game Club in 1933 for ground to use as a fish a hatchery. Thus the academy sat two acres aside west of the inn for the purpose of the hatchery. The hatchery was financed and funded by the Lake Maxinkuckee Fish and Game Club. They established three ponds and they were from Academy Road to the lake.

The fish hatcheries were located on the very easterly end of the Indian Trails - as these pictures depicts. The 1922 plat map above shows the drive way for the Jungle Hotel. The aerial view of the fish hatcheries shows the - drive way again to the - on the very east edge of the Indian Trails; but no buildings on it.


The uppermost pond was used for fingerlings, and as the fish grew they were released into the middle pond, and then finally a bit more larger into the third pond before finally being released into the lake. The hatchery became operational by the late spring and remained until a new hatchery was constructed next to the old American Legion Post on Indiana 10 [the legion property is now or was owned by Mc Carty's]. June (Garn) Napier Sirus remembers as a child with her brothers, sisters and neighborhood friends going to hatcheries on the Indian Trails and catching the turtles etc. and playing in the area.

This article was found about the construction of the hatcheries:

CULVER FISH HATCHERY IS PROGRESSING RAPIDLY

Culver, Ind., Mar. 18. - The Culver fish hatchery, being built by the Maxinkuckee Fish and Game club, is moving rapidly along so that citizens can already get an idea of what the project will look like when finished.

A fine flowing well has been finished and it is planned to drill one or two more at once. Two of the ponds will be completed next week. Attention will then be turned to improving and beautifying the grounds.

The club is in need of immediate financial assistance as the response of volunteer labor has been greater than contributions of money. But there is considerable of the project that cannot be handled except by the expenditure of money and the club's treasury has been drained by the work done so far.

Water will be turned into the ponds the middle of April and fish will be placed in the ponds at once. The fish will spawn about the middle of May and will be kept in the hatchery until along in September when the fingerlings will have reached a length varying from two to six inches. Then they will be ready for placing in larger bodies of water.

An official of the State Conservation Department looked over the hatchery Monday and declared the prospects indicated a hatchery as good as any in the state.

An invitation has been issued by the Culver Military Academy for all workers on the hatchery to be guests of the Academy at dinner Friday noon of this week at the Canteen as a special treat in recognition of the work these men are doing. - The News-Sentinel, Saturday, March 18, 1933

At one time there were three trails: LOWER trail wound around the edge of the lake from the town park to the Academy grounds there were several free flowing wells along the trail one could stop and get a drink of water at. By the mid 1970's it had started to completely disappear because of the erosion of the waves on a windy day, and the ice of the winter breaking up and hitting the shore line. MIDDLE trail was accessed from the lower trail were it converged with the lower trail near both ends. It is on this trail that at one time you could see the partial foundation of the Lake View Hotel property the remains is cement and stone left from a stone wall. UPPER trail was made by the Academy and has been black topped and is used the academy students as a walk way between campus and town about mid way one could access the middle trail from the Upper trail. And off the upper trail just a ways one could find the basement area of probably one on the main buildings, the fill that was placed in the basement over the cement floor has settled over the years. These probably were in reality the old sidewalks or paths through the Lake View grounds.

Also further back from this point by what David Burns said is the 50 foot cement turntable for the Vandalia train engines. And one could find if they dug far enough under silt and dirt that covered it over the years. It is also known that he dug up remains of the white hotel china and bottles that were buried from the hotel and club. It took 10 boys on each end to turn the engine around and they were paid 5 cents apiece for this task; and from what he told he performed this task many a time as well as other boys of the community. This area is probably what is referred to as Bunker Hill - David Burns always called it that and said that it was named such as the Vandalia Trains filled up there. In an interview that Jeff Kenney and I was on with George Franz on 9 June 2007 he related that the railroad had underground storage area for their water tanks and possibly other railroad equipment that was needed for the area - where Papa's is today - something that I have never heard David ever mention and thus the real meaning of the name origin 'Bunker Hill'!


The hillside has several artisian wells on it.

In 1931 the Culver Reality and Investment Company was established by Bretram and Edwin II Culver. Through this they bought up the north shore property of the lake between the Culver Town Park and the original acreage H. H. Culver had bought and the academy sat on. This was done to stop speculators from buying it up and decreasing the outside development by other on the area around the academy. All that could not be bought up at the time was the railroad right-a-way. Thus this property became part of Culver Military/Culver Educational Foundation.

This was done sometime in the 1980's with arrangement being made by James F. Dickie II, a trustee of the Culver Educational Foundation. The delinquent property taxes on the railroad right-a-way was paid up in full and the property was transferred to the Culver Educational Foundation; also waiving all responsibility to the railroad for any clean-up that was required as they had already salvaged the ties and rails from along the right-a-way.