Avoca Park

Last updated
Avoca Park and Recreation
Previously known as Avoca State Fish Hatchery
Avoca park 1828 house.jpg
1823 house
USA Indiana location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Map of the U.S. state of Indiana showing the location of Avoca Park
Location3178 Avoca-Eureka Road Avoca, Indiana 47420
Nearest town Avoca, Indiana
Coordinates 38°54′25.79″N86°32′31.19″W / 38.9071639°N 86.5419972°W / 38.9071639; -86.5419972 Coordinates: 38°54′25.79″N86°32′31.19″W / 38.9071639°N 86.5419972°W / 38.9071639; -86.5419972
Area43 acres (17 ha)
Established2020
Operated byAvoca Park and Recreation of Marshall Township

Avoca Park and Recreation of Marshall Township, is a recreation area in Lawrence County, Indiana that includes walking, hiking trails and picnic areas. Open year-round, dawn until dusk.

Contents

The park consists of approximately 43 acres (17 ha) of land including forests, 13 ponds, three buildings and a cemetery dating back to the Civil War.

The property has 13 earthen ponds fed by a natural spring. Grass levees circle each of the ponds providing a winding path around all the ponds. Wooded hiking paths allow access to the Civil War Cemetery and a WPA stone overlook. A gravel path along a Works Progress Administration(WPA) built stone wall will take you to the shelter house that overlooks the ponds.

A two-story colonial-style house built in 1823 sits near the spring. Stone structures, walls and a stone overlook, built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), give hikers a view of the old hatchery grounds.

History

A grist mill was constructed by a man named Fitzpatrick in 1819 and was later purchased by the Hamer brothers, two of the first settlers in Avoca, Indiana. Thomas Hamer. [1] and his 4 sons were pioneer settlers in the area including, Spring Mill State Park, [2] located 30 miles south of Avoca, where they lived and operated a still working grist mill. The mill was made possible by a spring-fed turbine water-wheel fitted with three sets of buhr stones to grind wheat, corn, and chop feed. In 1823, they built a two-story house on the property. The house later became an inn, stagecoach way station, post office, grocery store and finally the DNR property manager's residence. It was last renovated in 1923.

The property was purchased by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) from Hayden Bridwell in 1919 and construction of fish hatchery ponds began in 1923. A service building was built in 1924.

The National Youth Administration was stationed at Avoca Fish Hatchery from 1935 to 1942 . During that period the improvements to Avoca Fish Hatchery was one of the longest National Youth Administration projects. [3] The National Youth Administration built the shelter house with limestone walls and a limestone fireplace.

The hatchery stocked Indiana's waters with largemouth bass, bluegill, red-eared sunfish and black crappie for years until Indiana DNR began the process of decommissioning in 2013 and it fell into disrepair. [4] During operation, the hatchery produced 500,000 to 1 million fish. [5]

In 2014, when the state and county had no interest in maintaining the property, [6] Bedford, Indiana Mayor Shawna Girgis tasked Bedford Parks and Recreation Director, Barry Jeskewich, [7] to develop a strategy to preserve this historic property for public use. Barry Jeskewich partnered with Dr. James Farmer and select students of Indiana University to conduct a feasibility study of the property. [8] The project was a collaboration between the IU students in SPH-0305: Integrated Resource Management and Avoca State Fish Hatchery as part of the 2017-2018 Indiana University Sustaining Hoosier Communities initiative within the IU Center for Rural Engagement. [9]

In 2019, Girgis and Jeskewich partnered with local forester, Sam Bond to establish the Lawrence County Park Foundation. Later that year, the group was awarded a $125,000 grant from the Regional Opportunity Initiative Inc, to preserve this beloved green space for the surrounding Town of Avoca and the Lawrence County community. Marshal Township has approved a tax levy that will help generate some revenue to help maintain park grounds. [10]

With the stewardship of Sam Bond and the Marshall Township Trustees, the citizens approved the establishment of the Marshall Township Park Board, thus allowing governance to receive the property from the State of Indiana in 2020. Avoca Park became Lawrence County's first public park, featuring a 1.5 mile loop trail, picnic tables, green spaces, a rentable shelter and event spaces.

Avoca State Fish Hatchery was renamed Avoca Park and Recreation and is now in the hands of the Avoca Park and Recreation of Marshall Township [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drayton Plains, Michigan</span> Unincorporated community in Michigan, United States

Drayton Plains is an unincorporated community in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The community is located within Waterford Township. As an unincorporated community, Drayton Plains has no legally defined area or population statistics of its own. It once had its own post office with the 48020 ZIP Code but now uses the 48329 Waterford ZIP Code. It is located on Dixie Highway near the west end of Loon Lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papago Park</span> Municipal park in Maricopa County, Arizona

Papago Park is a municipal park of the cities of Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona, United States. It has been designated as a Phoenix Point of Pride. It includes Hunt's Tomb, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Shetek State Park</span> United States historic place

Lake Shetek State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, on Lake Shetek, which is the largest lake in southwestern Minnesota and the headwaters of the Des Moines River. It is most popular for water recreation and camping. However the park also contains historical resources related to the Dakota War of 1862, including an original log cabin and a monument to 15 white settlers killed there and at nearby Slaughter Slough on August 20, 1862.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montauk State Park</span> State park in Missouri, United States

Montauk State Park is a public recreation area occupying nearly 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) at the headwaters of the Current River, fifteen miles (24 km) southwest of Salem, Missouri. The state park contains a fish hatchery and is noted for its rainbow and brown trout angling. It was acquired in 1926. The park has several natural springs including Montauk Spring with a daily average flow of 53 million gallons of water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michigan Department of Natural Resources</span>

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the agency of the state of Michigan charged with maintaining natural resources such as state parks, state forests, and recreation areas. It is governed by a director appointed by the Governor and accepted by the Natural Resources Commission. Currently the Director is Daniel Eichinger. The DNR has about 1,400 permanent employees, and over 1,600 seasonal employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bennett Spring State Park</span> State park of Missouri

Bennett Spring State Park is a public recreation area located in Bennett Springs, Missouri, twelve miles (19 km) west of Lebanon on Highway 64 in Dallas and Laclede counties. It is centered on the spring that flows into the Niangua River and gives the park its name. The spring averages 100 million gallons of daily flow. The park offers fly fishing, camping, canoeing, hiking, and other activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall Township, Lawrence County, Indiana</span> Township in Indiana, United States

Marshall Township is one of nine townships in Lawrence County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 4,660 and it contained 2,038 housing units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avoca, Indiana</span> Census-designated place in Indiana, United States

Avoca is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Marshall Township, Lawrence County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 583.

Muscatatuck County Park, formerly known as Vinegar Mills State Park and Muscatatuck State Park, is a recreational park located by the town of Vernon, Indiana in Jennings County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waterloo State Recreation Area</span> State recreation area in Michigan, United States

Waterloo State Recreation Area is the third-largest park in Michigan, encompassing over 21,000 acres (85 km2) of forest, lakes and wetlands. Located in northeast Jackson County and parts of Washtenaw County, the park is the largest in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and features 4 campgrounds, 11 lakes, a nature center, and over 50 miles (80 km) of trails - some for horses, bicycles, hiking and cross-country skiing. Waterloo SRA includes the Black Spruce Bog Natural Area, a National Natural Landmark and borders the 11,000-acre (45 km2) Pinckney Recreation Area on the east and the 950-acre (3.8 km2) Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Audubon Sanctuary to the west. The land preserved by the park is not all contiguous and numerous private landholdings and roads run through the park area. The area is characterized by moraines, kettle lakes, swamps and bogs left by retreating glaciers after the last ice age. The park was created by the federal government during the Great Depression and is long-term leased to the state.

Roaring River State Park is a public recreation area covering of 4,294 acres (1,738 ha) eight miles (13 km) south of Cassville in Barry County, Missouri. The state park offers trout fishing on the Roaring River, hiking on seven different trails, and the seasonally open Ozark Chinquapin Nature Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharpe's Trout Hatchery Site</span> Archaeological site in Connecticut, United States

Sharpe's Trout Hatchery Site is a 1-acre (0.40 ha) site of a former fish hatchery in Vernon, Connecticut. The hatchery was established in 1871 by Christian Sharps, and was abandoned after his death in 1874. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. Its surviving remnants are located in Vernon's Valley Falls Park, about one mile south of the mill pond.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hopeville Pond State Park</span> Park in Griswold, Connecticut, US

Hopeville Pond State Park is a public recreation area located on Hopeville Pond, an impoundment of the Pachaug River, in the town of Griswold, Connecticut. A portion of the 554-acre (224 ha) state park occupies the site of the lost village of Hopeville. The park manager's house occupies Avery House, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The park offers fishing, swimming, camping, and trails for hiking and biking. It is managed by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

The Drayton Plains State Fish Hatchery was the second fish hatchery opened by the State of Michigan Department of Natural Resources. It was established in 1903 and originally named Drayton Plains Station. The name was officially changed to Drayton Plains State Fish Hatchery in 1934.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grassyfork Fisheries Farm No. 1</span> United States historic place

Grassyfork Fisheries Farm No. 1, also known as Ozark Fisheries Shireman Farm, is a historic goldfish hatchery and national historic district located in Washington Township, Morgan County, Indiana. The Grassyfork Office and Display Room building was built in 1936, and is a one-story, rectangular, brick building with a hipped roof. It measures 36 feet by 100 feet. The property includes a variety of buildings, structures, and sites associated with the fish hatchery. Among them are a barn, six wells, two dams, remains of formal landscaping and rock garden, and all goldfish ponds, levees, and associated dirt roads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fawn River State Fish Hatchery</span> United States historic place

Fawn River State Fish Hatchery, also known as the Orland Fish Hatchery, is a historic hatchery located at Orland and Millgrove Township, Steuben County, Indiana. It was developed between 1935 and 1937 by the Works Progress Administration, and dedicated in 1942. Contributing resources include the entrance arch, fieldstone bridge, eight rearing ponds, the property manager's residence, the Colonial Revival style hatchery building, a dam impounding the supply pond, four small pools, and six large rearing ponds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guttenberg National Fish Hatchery and Aquarium Historic District</span> Historic district in Iowa, United States

The Guttenberg National Fish Hatchery and Aquarium Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Guttenberg, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. At the time of its nomination the district consisted of four resources, all of which are contributing buildings. This district also contributes to the Front Street Historic District. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had a long history of involvement with wildlife conservation in Iowa, especially fisheries. They established fish rescue program along the Mississippi River in 1903 and a research station at Fairport in 1910. The development of the lock and dam system in the 1930s brought the fish rescue operations to an end because they eliminated of the backwaters that trapped them. The fish hatchery was developed at that time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maricao Fish Hatchery</span> United States historic place

The Maricao Fish Hatchery, also known as the Insular Fish Hatchery, is a historic 3.32 acre fish hatchery located in the Maricao Afuera district (barrio) of the Puerto Rican municipality of Maricao, within the Maricao State Forest jurisdiction. The hatchery is located at approximately 1,500 feet above sea level, 1.2 kilometers from downtown Maricao.

References

  1. ↑ "Collection: Spring Mill State Park collection | ArchivesSpace Public Interface". archives.isl.lib.in.us. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  2. ↑ Parks, State (2021-01-29). "Spring Mill State Park". State Parks. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  3. ↑ "Avoca State Fish Hatchery Shelter House and Stone Works - Avoca IN". Living New Deal. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  4. ↑ "Avoca Fish Hatchery to close". The Times-Mail. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  5. ↑ Tribune-Star, Howard Greninger /. "State brings thousands of Indiana-raised fish to Maple Ave. park". Terre Haute Tribune-Star. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  6. ↑ Staff, Indiana Public Media News. "DNR Phasing Out Avoca Fish Hatchery". news-2013 - Indiana Public Media. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  7. ↑ Raines, Bill (2019-07-11). "Acquistion [sic] of Avoca Fish Hatchery Still in Progress | WBIW" . Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  8. ↑ Indiana University (January 1, 2018). "IU 2017-2018 Report" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-12-14. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Lawrence County". Center for Rural Engagement. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  10. ↑ "Avoca Park and Recreation of Marshall Township take delivery of lawn mowers | WBIW". 12 April 2021.
  11. ↑ Raines, Bill (2020-11-09). "Ham & Bean Supper Raised Funds To Support Marshall Township Park & Picnic Area | WBIW" . Retrieved 2021-09-27.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.