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Some La Porte County Historical Sites
Plum Grove, on the old Sauk Trail east of the previous location of Bob's Barbeque, was the place where the Indians were assembled to be taken to Kansas in 1838--the March of Death. Miriam Benedict came to La Porte County in 1829. Her's was the first white family to settle in what is now La Porte County. She bought the land in 1831, at Logansport, and, because she was a widow, she paid $1.25 an acre for it. There is a marker on her grave in what was Union Chapel Cemetery and is now Miriam Benedict Cemetery. Her house was located near Westville on what is now SR #421. The DAR Chapter of La Porte carries her name.
Another site is the old Lighthouse at the harbor in Michigan City.
The site of the Old Fort at Door Village which was built in 1832 and a marker designates the site. A young man rode his Indian pony from Fort Dearborn to this part of the country to warn the settlers that Black Hawk and his Indians were coming on the warpath. The opening between the great forests which came down from the north and up from the south, was designated by the French voyageurs as "La Porte" or the door, from which La Porte County derived its name.
The Michigan Road ran across the northern part of the county.
There were Indian Mounds along the Kankakee River.
The Kankakee River itself, along which La Salle and his men traveled in 1679, also plays an important part in La Porte County history.
The Lemon Bridge, built in 1840, was the first real bridge on the Kankakee River and was located on what is now SR #4.
The Yellow River Road, later the Plank Road, was the first road built in Indiana by a county. There were three Civil War Camps-Camp Anderson at Michigan City, Camp Colfax near SR#2 West and Camp Jackson in La Porte. Cold Springs, south of Sauktown, was an Indian Meeting ground. Black Hawk and Tecumseh used to meet there on their way to Canada to get supplies from the British to use against us in the War of 1812.
The Carey Mission was built at Hudson in 1826. This was a school for the Indians run by Isaac McCoy.
written by F. E. Schultz
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