Maxinkuckee Landing  

The cottage was on the lake front & the Store at on the the corner of the Landing road and St. Rd. 117



1897 - December the issue of the Culver Herald dated 31 Dec 1897 - told of the fire that destroyed several buildings at Maxinkuckee Landing. One being a building that housed the grocery and confectioanry store operated by Frank Fernandez and the butcher shop which was next door.


Note - for now this is a guess as to what this building is - but from the story above I and giving a good guess it was the building that was to have been moved so that the brick store shown below could be built. Also John Bigleys writes of a building in his story on the Maxinkuckee Launches:
Captain Lee R. Finney , who owned the East Side May and the Carol, had his headquarters at the landing. He was the one that I knew in my youth and admired so much. In a small building on the lot of my father, Guy Bigley, had his shop, office and living quarters. He hired Dick Louden to run the East Side May and Eddie Boberg to take telephone messages and to keep the books. Captain Finney always ran the Carol as it was the fastes launch.




The issue of 10 Sep 1908 tell of the fire that destoryed the building owned by Thomas Bigley; the store at the time was under the managment of William Smead. pans were under way to to move the structure so that the Bigley Brothers could make room to erect a brick structure.

Bigley Store was built In 1908 by Guy Bigley and Chester Bigley with the help of their father Thomas J. They sold groceries and other goods; as well as gas and kerosene. It was to have a Tea Room. Living quarters were upstairs and the rear of the 2nd floor also house the telephone company. Guy sold the store in 1933. A large water wheel that sat near the road powered the water from the artesian well for the store.


1932-1964 - S. J. Rossa Grocery (East Side; PH:300)

Skip Higgins writes:

First, let me explain that my first Maxinkuckee experiences began in about 1950. My grandparents rented a home on the east shore, near the general store and its flowing well or spring. They were walking distance north of it. I think you have a webpage entitled Maxinkuckee Landing that discusses the area.

They were only there until about 1952. He had been the general manager for L.O. Gates Chevrolet in South Bend and he left Gates to open his own Chevy store on E. Jefferson St. in Culver. It was called Thoner and Sons Chevrolet. The business failed after only a short time, but the little white buildings in downtown (two, on the south side of the street) were there for many more years. He operated the business with his two sons Bob and Bill, who were fresh out of the Army and needed work. Bob still lives in South Bend and Bill is in Maryland. My mother, their sister, died in 1996 in Bloomington where my dad still lives at the age of 90.

As early as 1964, when I served as a Woodcraft Camp counselor, the house was gone. It was torn down and the property was serving as an asphalt parking lot in 1964. It wasn't the lakefront house. It was behind the lakefront house. Do you have any recollection of it? To me, a youngster, it seemed big and nice. It had a foundation built of lake stones, which provided substance for the house in many places. I think there was constantly flowing water in the house, but I'm not sure. My recollection is that the house was owned by an Indianapolis family at the time my grandparents were there, but I don't know that for sure. I know the Rocaps owned the general store property, and tore it down as your webpage says, but I don't know if they were the landlords of my grandparents or not.

In 1969 it was razed down by the owners, the Rocaps and is a bare lot and the address no longer exists. By ads placed by S. J. Rossa - he was into real estate, this ad was found n the 1962 plat book for Marshall county.

1987 1991, 1993    James F. Moore

Last updated 22.11.2009

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