Rev. Harmon made note of LaPorte's lakes, including Pine and Stone. This is an early postcard showing a horse and buggy crossing the Pine-Stone Lake channel. CLICK TO ENLARGE.
Rev. J.N. Harmon, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was stationed in the LaPorte circuit from 1894 to 1897. Upon his retirement, he and his wife, Elizabeth, lived in LaPorte until his death in 1910. (Elizabeth remained here until 1921.) Following are excerpts from an article Rev. Harmon wrote about LaPorte and LaPorte County in 1902:
“LaPorte is one of the most interesting and important counties in Indiana … . Two miles northwest of the city of LaPorte, where the Pere Marquette Railroad crosses the Lake Erie and Western, is the highest spot of land in the county. At this particular place the land is 870 feet above the level of the sea, and 260 feet higher than Lake Michigan and Michigan City. Three miles west of this elevation is a place called Summit. This is on the Yellow River wagon road which runs from Plymouth through LaPorte to Michigan City. Summit commands a fine view of the country around, and a brick M.E. church and a district school are located here. Eight miles to the northwest is Michigan City. On a clear day the church spires, the smoke of the factories, Hoosier Slide, and the ice or water on Lake Michigan can be clearly seen. This view in summer is very fine.
“The county contains about 31 lakes, most of which are abundant supplies of fish. Fish, Stone and Pine lakes are the largest. (Pine) has become quite a summer resort in the past ten years. The State Baptist Chautauqua assembly grounds (editor’s note: off Holton Road on North Pine) is located on its border.
“A large portion of the county is righ prairie and timber land, which produces the finest quality and yield of corn, wheat and oats. The northern portion is chiefly sandy and clay soil, and furnishes large crops of apples, peaches and pears nearly every year. The southern portion along the Kankakee River is noted as a region for hay and pasturage … .
Rev. Harmon praised LaPorte's Ruth Sabin Home, built in 1888 and still thriving. This is an early photo of the home that appears on the Michigan City Library website. CLICK TO ENLARGE.
“Twelve railroads cross the county, nine of which extend to Chicago. The Michigan Central and the Lake Shore are the only railroads in the state that have double tracks. The Grand Trunk is being made a double track, and the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne & Chicago company are planning to do the same. The Lake Shore carries the heaviest mail of any railroad in the United States. Tons of mail are being carried over this road every day, between New York and Chicago.
“LaPorte and Michigan City are well supplied with a fine system of schools, good church buildings and numerous factories. The chief factories in (LaPorte) are the Rumely Threshing Machine Works and the LaPorte Carriage Factory. (Michigan City) is noted as the location of the Barker & Haskell car factory, the state prison, the high mountain of brown sand near Lake Michigan called Hoosier Slide, soldiers monument, U.S. Saving station, and the lighthouse.
“The lighthouse is located near the mouth of the harbor, and the building is fully fifty feet high. The lamp is five feet in diameter, and is made of the best quality of French glass. The lamp is supplied with the finest grade of kerosene oil. The light of the lamp can be seen for about 14 miles on the lake chiefly to the north … Misses Harriet E. Colfax and Anna C. Hartwell have had charge of the lighthouse ever since 1861. The former is a cousin of the late Vice President Schuyler Colfax, and was appointed to her position by President Lincoln. These New York school teachers have been faithful servants of the government.
“My article would be incomplete without some reference to the Ruth Sabin Home in LaPorte. The lady who founded this retreat for ladies over sixty years of age had this large and well arranged brick structure erected in 1888. Two of the trustees are women, and the home is well managed. Any old woman of the county by paying the sum of five or seven hundred dollars to the board of trustees can become an inmate of this home the remainder of her life. This sum pays for board, clothing, a physician, nurse, burial expenses and a monument after death. Twenty-one women now occupy this lovely habitation, and more are seeking admission. Few aged women are so free from care and enjoy so many comforts of life as these happy inmates. After paying all current expenses, the trustees have over $50,000 lent out, and bearing interest, to keep up the expenses of the home. This institution is one of the pleasant and helpful things of the Maple City and LaPorte County. What a blessing it would be to multitudes of aged women if similar homes were located in other cities.”
FERN EDDY SCHULTZ is LaPorte County’s official Historian. Visit the LaPorte County Historical Society Museum, 2405 Indiana Ave., and its website, www.laportecountyhistory.org, to learn much more about LaPorte County’s history.
