Lighthouse in Vandalia Park 

A pretty severe wind storm occurred early in the summer of 1908 and blew down the large ice houses on the west side of the lake. The appears to have been an unusually strong wind; none of the dwelling houses in the immediate vicinity, however, was injured and the destruction of the ice houses was due to their being empty at the time and offering much surface and little resistance to the wind.

On July 8, 1913 there was a very severe storm soon after noon from the northwest, a small tornado, lasting 30 minutes. It began as a severe windstorm, the wind being full of cutting sand...

Master Sunday of 1913 Tragic Day in History of Calamities; Tornado Starts in Mexico; Ends in Record Breaking Floods in Middle States; Nation Great in Power to Help; Military and Naval Forces as Life Savers.

Spring came to the earth in 1913 and the northern half of the United States was in the grip of a snow storm. In some portions a blizzard wailed through the towns and cities and the hope of an early spring was blasted. But nature had still greater surprises for the people of the United States and a few days after spring officially was present the greatest tornado and rain and the greatest inland flood in the history of the country fell upon the people.

.....On Easter of 1913 the rains fell and weather wise persons looked at the skies.

All day the elements acted strangely. Late in the afternoon the tornado which gathered in the southwest, probably starting in Mexico, raced north and east. It struck smaller villages and towns in Colorado and Nebraska. It now is known that the wind played a queer trick. It appeared to hit the earth at one spot, bound into the clouds and pass over miles of territory, leaving buildings and crops and people unharmed.

What forces decided that the tornado should hit the earth at Omaha, one of the proudest cities of the nation, cannot be known by men, but just at the city’s borders the winds came down and ripped a path through the thickly inhabited portion, taking rich and poor before its relentless fury.

In the states farther east the storm manifested itself in rain. Never was the earth so drenched. The ground was frozen and the waters rushed into the streams.

Telegraph lines were broken, railway trains stopped, bridges washed out and millions of people unaccustomed to seas or lakes found their homes in the midst of raging waters.
...Later, Peru, Ind. was reported under water and currents relentless in their force swept through the streets. Columbus, Ohio, Logansport, Ind., Terre Haute, Ind., which also was hit by the tornado, West Indianapolis, Marion, Ind., and a score of other communities were reported wholly or partly submerged.

All the customary activities of the people of Indiana and Ohio were abandoned. Railway service was abolished and trains with relief parties wandered about from one division to another seeking an approach to the stricken cities.

Now and then the train would reach the limit and then the rescuers would unload the cars and take to wagons and automobiles, to rafts or boats. These attempts to push on to the thousands marooned on roof tops and in trees were sometimes successful but more often a failure.

Not until Wednesday was the relief begun in a way that promised success. Life saving crews from the Ohio and Great Lakes were dispatched to the scene, their boats, cutters and power vessels of light craft being hastily loaded upon flat cars. The naval reserves of lake and river towns were ordered into the field and found service in the prairies and hill country far from the seas. The Culver Military academy on Lake Maxinkuckee, Ind., where sons of wealthy men are educated and taught military and naval practices, turned out its sturdy young men.

Boats housed for the winter were hauled to the railways and the boys with their military instructors left their studies to engage in the battle with the flood. In the swift currents and dangers of floating debris the training of the lads was shown to be of great service. They handled their cutters on the Wabash river and the Eel river in such a way that hundreds of men, women and children were soon taken from the tops of their houses, from top floors of office buildings and cared for in camps and other refuges. The Great Lakes Naval training station maintained at Lake Bluff, Ill., near Chicago by the federal government was directed to send a crew and cutters to the flood district and the boys and their experienced officers were taken in all haste by railway trains to the dreadful scene.

Nature on the night of Sunday, March 23, 1913 and the week following proved to modern men that they still are pigmies. Thousands of lives were taken and millions of property destroyed in a few short hours and for days, homes were beneath the muddy waters from deforested hills.

Never before was the United States so smitten by a calamity, nor one so wide spread as that which began on Monday of the fatal week. Omaha was the first large city to suffer. A tornado swept through the great metropolis wiping huts and mansions, factory buildings and other business structures from the face of the earth, leaving only a mass of debris and thousands of homeless people wandering about the hills, half clothed and suffering in the pitiless weather of that fatal night.

LOGANSPORT, IND. Two-thirds of the city of Logansport was under water, some places to a depth of fifteen feet. There was only the death reported, but the property loss was great.

Business was at a standstill and the attention of the people was turned to the work of relief and rescue. Four government life-saving boats, each manned by ten cadets from the Culver Military Academy, were sent to Logansport by special train to aid in the rescue work. Naval boats from the United States training station at Chicago also assisted in the work.

Three thousand people were rendered homeless by the flood, which followed a rapid rise in the St. Joseph River on the night of March 25.

A pretty severe wind storm occurred early in the summer of 1908 and blew down the large ice houses on the west side of the lake. The appears to have been an unusually strong wind; none of the dwelling houses in the immediate vicinity, however, was injured and the destruction of the ice houses was due to their being empty at the time and offering much surface and little resistance to the wind.

On July 8, 1913 there was a very severe storm soon after noon from the northwest, a small tornado, lasting 30 minutes. It began as a severe windstorm, the wind being full of cutting sand..

I have not read this foregoing book completely through - but nothing is mentioned of the light house at this point in it.

It stood on a 4 to 5 foot base of stone and was 8 to 10 feet in height. It is said that in some of the historical postcards you could see a flowing water well around its base.

Here is two views of the gazebo or round stand and lighthouse and depot pier the first being a 1904 view.





This picture of the old lighthouse best depicts its location - which looks to be one of the semi-oval areas - that is east and west of the beach lodge where the present stone wall curves in; a cement drinking fountain stood in the area when I was a kid and in the late 1970's and 1980's I am not sure if it is still there or not. The side walk runs in front of it by this picture - and the very last one seems to depict it to the east more - tho old photographs can be deceiving.


Here is another version of this postcard:




Below is the area in 1913 - and the Light house is hide by the tree on the left.





This shows the lighthouse area - after the lighthouse had been taken down. And at a much later date possibly is another of the footbridge that was at the base of the lighthouse.



ALso found has been a souviner spoon depicting the lighthouse - this could of been sold by the P. A. Wickizer store in downtown Culver back then.


It has been noted on Lighthouse Explorer



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When the Antiquarian and Historical Society of Culver and the Culver Park Board started talking about replacing the lighthouse that once stood on the north shore of Lake Maxinkuckee, they weren't quite sure what the original was like.

A search of old records and looking at old photographs revealed the lighthouse that was erected early in the 20th century was only about 10 feet tall and was built out of concrete blocks.

A new one was installed in October of 2005 by the Antiquarian society and other residents of Culver. Dick Brantingham was the project manager.

A version of the Lighthouse returns to the shores of Lake Maxinkuckee. Purchased by the Antiquarian and Historical Society - the replacement lighthouse is not an exact replica of the original but is actually about twice its height. It is basically the Port Hatteruas design. It is fiberglass [polyester plastic]; it is grayish weathered textured, has a 360-degree beacon with electrical wiring that runs through the core and stands 20 feet high. It is located near the site of the original lighthouse and topped by a flashing light that can be seen around the lake.

The lighthouse cost is estimated at around $5,000, including the many volunteers who spent time and energy getting the project finished. It was worked on by the Antiquarian Society and the park board and a lot of volunteers.

There is a refection pool nearby but sperate from the lighthouse itself.


Soon after erected it became a constant victim to vandals being constantly abused. Till on 23 January 2005 vandals succeeded in destroying it beyond repair. They tried to saw it in half, and then loosened the bolts at the base. Then they managed to tip the lighthouse over smashing it into the ground.



Enraged over it community members set about finding a means to replace it -

In April 2006 the Town Board and Park Board members heard proposals of types of replacement. Paul Bickel made one proposal and Rick Gimbel made another. Jim Peterson, President Emeritus of the Antiquarian & Historical society met with Paul Bickel, Rick Gimbel and Leon Bennett to finalize the plans of the replacement of the lighthouse.

The new light house is a combination of the two proposals it will be: eight sided, and will stand 18 to 20 feet high and be beige in color. It will have a green beacon light within a copper hood enclosed by lexicon glass.

The area around the lighthouse has been landscaped and includes some stone work. A plaque inscribed with a discretion of the original lighthouse will be added in the future.

and: Volunteers work to rebuild lighthouse destroyed by vandals

By Lindahl Wiegand - Staff Writer

CULVER - The Culver community has taken a stand. Storms and vandals may come and go, but a lighthouse will always shine at the Culver Town Park.

In just seven months, a lighthouse has been erected, destroyed, redesigned and constructed again at the park. Originally, a lighthouse was constructed in the park as early as 1895. It stood 8 to 10 feet and sat on a 4 or 5-foot base.

The lighthouse was not used as a navigational tool, but to signal to fishermen and lake residents that the evening trains and travelers arrived from the Vandalia Railroad. In 1913 it was destroyed by a severe storm, and was never rebuilt.

Until October of 2005, when the Antiquarian and Historical Society donated a 20-foot replica of the lighthouse at the foot of the VFW pier in the park. The project was a combined effort with the Culver Park Board, according to Dick Brantingham, project manager.

Local businessman Leon Bennett with Bennett's Plumbing and Heating donated time and labor to the original project, while the Antiquarians provided the materials. “The outside we wanted to look like stone like the old one, and it's sort of grayish to look weathered. It ought to wear and weather well, for sure,” said Brantingham in October, when the lighthouse was erected.

But it wasn't the weather that brought down the historical landmark this time around. On January 23, police were notified that vandals had damaged the lighthouse.

Culver Police Chief Wayne Bean said the suspect(s) tried to saw the lighthouse in half, and then loosened the bolts at the base. They tipped the lighthouse over and it smashed to the ground.

The lighthouse cost was estimated to cost around $5,000, not to mention countless hours donated by local volunteers. Bean and other local officials were disappointed and disgusted by the act.

After the incident, town Manager Jon Guenin said he was sickened, “that someone would think this was appropriate. This lighthouse was meant to beautify our community. And we plan to do everything we can to find the people responsible for the damage.”

Currently, the local law enforcement has not tracked down the vandals responsible. Anyone with information should contact the Culver Police Department at 842-2525.

The structure was damaged beyond repair, according to Culver Park Superintendent Kelly Young. “It's not going to stop us, we'll erect something else, another lighthouse. We'll erect another one, because it has such historic value to our park and we'll continue on,” she said in October.

Young meant what she said. Reconstruction on the lighthouse began in early May and should be complete this month.

“Just because you vandalize something doesn't mean it's not going to be there. It's a part of our town, it's a part of our history, it's important to move forward,” she said.

The new lighthouse has eight sides and will stand 18 to 20 feet high when the copper top and light is constructed. It will be a beige color and have a green beacon light, which signals a safe harbor. “It depicts as closely as we can tell to the original lighthouse in the park,” said Young.

The final design was a compromise between several local residents who volunteered their design expertise. Paul Bickel proposed that the structure stand 12 feet from the base, have a copper hood and a beacon enclosed in lexicon glass. The new design should be sturdier and more historically accurate than the previous lighthouse, said Jim Peterson, president Emeritus of the Antiquarian & Historical Society.

Richard Gimbel also offered his opinion about the design, that it should be at least 20 feet tall, and have a green beacon modeled on the original, he said. All three men met with Bennett to ultimately finalize the plans.

Without the outpouring of help from local volunteers, the project would have been impossible to complete, said Young. Bennett has been especially instrumental in the process, she added. “I'm just so appreciative of all their hard work, their ideas and their willingness.”

The lighthouse is estimated to cost $5,500 - $4,000 of which is covered by a grant from the Marshall County Community Foundation. In March, the foundation awarded the Culver Park Board a one-time special grant for repair or replacement of the lighthouse.

The grant definitely moved the process along, said Young. “Without the grant? Volunteers would have hopefully come forth, or we would have just tried to repair the old one,” she said.

The area around the lighthouse has been landscaped and includes some stone work. In the future, a plaque inscribed with a description of the original lighthouse will be added.

A dedication ceremony will be held at the park to commemorate the new structure sometime this summer, said Young. Hopefully, thanks to the hard work and perseverance of the community, the third time will be the charm for the most famous light in Culver.

2 Jun 2006 - Pilot News

and today it now stands again - better than ever!