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Indiana Dunes
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The battle to save Indiana 's Dunes... on this Moment of Indiana History.
A “place for the millions of pent-up city folk to seek refuge, quiet and renewal.” That was the way US Senator Paul H. Douglas envisioned the dunes on the south shore of Lake Michigan. Douglas 's efforts to protect the Indiana dunes were not the first attempts to halt the encroachment of development and industry in this ecologically unique area.
Henry Cowles of the University of Chicago had conducted extensive studies in the Dunes, determining that the geological and botanical diversity of the area represented the changes wrought by the Ice Age. At the turn of the century, groups calling themselves “Friends of the Native Landscape” and “the Prairie Club” were motivated by the expansion of the Chicago-based steel industry eastward into Indiana. Though many welcomed this prospect for economic growth, environmental groups bemoaned the destruction of dunes.
The groups ultimately obtained authorization for a 2,182-acre Indiana Dunes State Park, which opened its gates in 1926. The Save the Dunes Council was born of the concern over the residential sprawl and industrial development that continued over the next few decades, intensified by the 1959 opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, connecting the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. With the help of Senator Douglas the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore was authorized in 1966.
This Moment of Indiana History is a production of the Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations in association with the Indiana Historical Society. More information is available at “Moment of Indiana history dot org."
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