Lusk Home and Mill Site

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Lusk Home and Mill Site
Locator map of Parke County, Indiana.svg
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Location Marshall, Indiana
Coordinates 39°53′29.35″N87°11′8.23″W / 39.8914861°N 87.1856194°W / 39.8914861; -87.1856194 Coordinates: 39°53′29.35″N87°11′8.23″W / 39.8914861°N 87.1856194°W / 39.8914861; -87.1856194
ArchitectBritton, J.A.
Architectural styleGreek Revival, Federal
NRHP reference No. 74000017 [1]
Added to NRHPOctober 29, 1974

The Lusk Home and Mill Site was the first development in present Turkey Run State Park, Indiana's second oldest state park.

The Lusk Home Luskhome.jpg
The Lusk Home

Vermonter Salmon Lusk was awarded this land for serving in the Battle of Tippecanoe under William Henry Harrison. The Lusks were largely self-sufficient. Captain Lusk built a log cabin in 1822 and lived there with his spouse and eight children until 1841. Then he and his sons made bricks, carved walnut woodwork, and built the brick house. He dug a coal mine to heat his house. Lusk built a gristmill in 1826 with a foundation of stone-cut stone. A horizontal waterwheel was powered by water diverted by a dam down a race. A settlement grew around Lusk's house and mill, until a Sugar Creek flood on New Year's Day, 1847, washed away every building except Lusk's brick house. Salmon Lusk's wife lived there until 1880, when John Lusk inherited the property. He was inactive managing the site except for preventing woodcutting.

After John Lusk died in 1915, the property was put up for sale. A logging company, Hoosier Veneer, paid US$30,200.00 for the site. Richard Lieber and the State Parks Commission raised $40,000.00 to buy the land from the lumber company after last minute support from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on November 11, 1916. The Lusk parcel was the first land obtained for Turkey Run State Park.

The Lusk Coal Mine Luskcoalmine.jpg
The Lusk Coal Mine

The Lusk Home is open for tours during the summer. [2] There is a fee for parking vehicles within the state park. Visitors pay an entrance fee at the main gate of the park, then hike or drive to the Lusk Home. The coal mine is a bat habitat today. [3]

See also

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The Lusk Covered Bridge was once located north of Marshall, Indiana, United States. Two single-span dual lane Lattice Truss covered bridges were located at the site, one of which replaced the other. Salmon Lusk constructed the first bridge in 1840, and after its destruction by flood in 1847, Lusk constructed the second. Both bridges were located on private land; the only other such covered bridges in Parke County were the State Sanitorium Covered Bridge, the JH Russell Covered Bridge, and the Clinton Toll Bridge.

Richard Lieber Log Cabin Historic house in Indiana, United States

Richard Lieber Log Cabin, also known as the Old Log Cabin, is a historic log cabin located at Turkey Run State Park in Sugar Creek Township, Parke County, Indiana. It was built in 1848, and completely rebuilt in 1918. It is a one-story, hewn poplar log structure with a side-gable roof. It has a frame ell. The original log structure measures 30 feet wide and 20 feet deep and features a cat and clay chimney.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. Captain Salmon Lusk Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Division of Reclamation - Protect Resources, Bats and Mines Archived 2007-04-17 at the Wayback Machine