Shakamak State Park

Shakamak State Park
Shakamak State Park
	The Nature Center on the west side of the lake
Location	Clay, Greene, and Sullivan counties, Indiana, United States
Nearest city	Jasonville, Indiana
Area	1,766 acres (7.15 km2)
Established	1929
Visitors	232,660 (in 2018–2019)
Governing body	Indiana Department of Natural Resources
	http://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/2969.htm
	Shakamak State Park Historic District
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	U.S. Historic district
Nearest city	Jasonville, Indiana
Coordinates	39°10′12″N 87°14′24″W / 39.17000°N 87.24000°W
Area	685 acres (277 ha)
Built by	CCC; WPA
Architectural style	Park Rustic
MPS	New Deal Resources on Indiana State Lands MPS
NRHP reference No.	00000199
Added to NRHP	March 15, 2000

Shakamak State Park is a state park in Indiana, United States. It is located 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Terre Haute, Indiana.

Shakamak's main attraction is its fishing. Shakamak has several outdoor recreational activities such as swimming, hiking, paddle boating, row boating, camping, fishing. The park offers rentals for cabins and campsites and is located just 3 miles (4.8 km) from Jasonville, Indiana. The park receives about 230,000 visitors annually.^[1]

History

Shakamak State Park was dedicated on September 3, 1928. The land was donated for a state park from the counties of Clay, Greene and Sullivan. The name "Shakamak" was chosen by the park's founders. The word is said to mean "river of the long fish" in the language of either the Delaware (Lenape) or Kickapoo Indians, and was said to be used by them to describe the nearby Eel River. The park founders simply adopted the name for the park long after any Delaware departed the area—well over 100 years before in 1819.^[3]

The first lake of Shakamak Park was created by the stopping up of a 5-foot (1.5 m) sewer and additional lakes were added in following years (30 years later in the case of Lake Kickapoo). There were no lakes in the area prior to that time. It was purposely stocked with bass by Richard Lieber in May 1930, starting the park's fame for fishing in July 1932 after sufficient time had passed for the original bass to reproduce enough to populate the lake.^[4] Further development of the park also occurred with the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). CCC Company 522 was located in the park from 1933 until 1942.^[5]

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000 as a national historic district.^[2]

Mess Hall
Barracks

Shakamak hosted many Mid-States AAU Championship Swim Meets, drawing a huge attendance. A platform and a 5 and 10 meter diving platform (called the "16" and "32" by local swimmers preferring to measure the heights approximately in feet) was created for the meets and remained open and in use by the general swimming public until the 1990s when Shakamak Lake was closed to swimming and a swimming pool was constructed.

The park is located approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) from Jasonville, Indiana, a town with the motto of "The Gateway to Shakamak".

References

^ ^a ^b "2018 / 2019 Estimated Fiscal Year Visits for Indiana State Parks ~ Alphabetical" (PDF). Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ "DNR: DNR History". Archived from the original on April 18, 2010. Retrieved April 20, 2010. Official (Indiana) DNR Historical Timeline
^ Shakamak State Park Indiana Swimming Pier History Archived 2013-01-24 at archive.today
^ "Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD)" (Searchable database). Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. Retrieved August 1, 2015. Note: This includes Glory-June Grieff (March 1999). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Shakamak State Park Historic District" (PDF). Retrieved August 1, 2015. and Accompanying photographs.

External links

Media related to Shakamak State Park at Wikimedia Commons
Indiana Department of Natural Resources' official Web page
Shakamak, In. Resources

[Fiscal_Year_Visits-1] "2018 / 2019 Estimated Fiscal Year Visits for Indiana State Parks ~ Alphabetical" (PDF). Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved November 2, 2021.

[nris-2] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.

[3] "DNR: DNR History". Archived from the original on April 18, 2010. Retrieved April 20, 2010. Official (Indiana) DNR Historical Timeline

[4] Shakamak State Park Indiana Swimming Pier History Archived 2013-01-24 at archive.today

[SHAARD-5] "Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD)" (Searchable database). Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. Retrieved August 1, 2015. Note: This includes Glory-June Grieff (March 1999). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Shakamak State Park Historic District" (PDF). Retrieved August 1, 2015. and Accompanying photographs.

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