Porter County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2020, the population was 173,215, making it the 10th most populous county in Indiana. The county seat is Valparaiso. The county is part of Northwest Indiana, as well as the Chicago metropolitan area. Porter County is the site of much of the Indiana Dunes, an area of ecological significance. The Hour Glass Museum in Ogden Dunes documents the region's ecological significance.
Chesterton is a town in Westchester, Jackson and Liberty townships in Porter County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 14,241 at the 2020 Census. The three towns of Chesterton, Burns Harbor, and Porter are known as the Duneland area.
Porter is a town in Westchester Township, Porter County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 4,858 at the 2010 census. Porter is in the Indiana Dunes ecosystem, which played a role in the creation of The Nature Conservancy, and inspired conservation efforts.
Indiana Dunes National Park is a United States national park located in northwestern Indiana managed by the National Park Service. It was authorized by Congress in 1966 as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and was redesignated as the nation's 61st national park on February 15, 2019. The park runs for about 20 miles (32 km) along the southern shore of Lake Michigan and covers 15,349 acres (6,212 ha). Along the lakefront, the eastern area is roughly the lake shore south to U.S. 12 or U.S. 20 between Michigan City, Indiana, on the east and the Cleveland-Cliffs steel plant on the west. This area's conservation scheme is enhanced by the older Indiana Dunes State Park. To the west of the steel plant lies West Beach and a small extension south of the steel mill continues west along Salt Creek to Indiana 249. The western area is roughly the shoreline south to U.S. 12 between the Burns Ditch west to Broadway in downtown Gary, Indiana. In addition, there are several outlying areas, including Pinhook Bog, in LaPorte County to the east; the Heron Rookery in Porter County, the center of the park; and the Calumet Prairie State Nature Preserve and the Hobart Prairie Grove, both in Lake County, the western end of the park.
The Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site is an 86-acre (0.3 km2) history park located eight miles (13 km) south of Charleston, Illinois, U.S., near the town of Lerna. The centerpiece is a replica of the log cabin built and occupied by Thomas Lincoln, father of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln never lived here and only occasionally visited, but he provided financial help to the household and, after Thomas died in 1851, Abraham owned and maintained the farm for his stepmother, Sarah Bush Lincoln. The farmstead is operated by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.
Liberty Township is one of twelve townships in Porter County, Indiana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 9,319.
Westchester Township is one of twelve townships in Porter County, Indiana. It is included in the Calumet, Northwest Indiana, and Great Lakes regions. It is located on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Chicago. It stretches from the famous Indiana Dunes on its northern border, south to the Valparaiso Moraine, a ridge of rolling hills left by the last glacier to pass through the area. As of the 2010 census, its population was 19,396.
Chellberg Farm is a historic farmstead which in 1972 became part of Indiana Dunes National Park. Chellberg Farm is significant as it represents the ethnic heritage of a nearly forgotten Swedish-American settlement. The farm includes a family home, water house with windmill, chicken coop/bunkhouse, and the original barn. Other nearby Swedish landmarks have been restored or preserved, including the Burstrom Chapel and the Burstrom Cemetery.
Bailly Cemetery is a cemetery located at Indiana Dunes National Park in Porter, Indiana, US. The cemetery is three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) north of the Joseph Bailly Homestead on the edge of a sand ridge. The first recorded burial was Robert, the son of Joseph Bailly, in about 1827. Subsequently, the site has been considered a family graveyard. Burials of those outside the Bailly family are numerous. Today, they are all unmarked, including Swedish residents of the area. Outside the cemetery platform to the north there are eight recorded tombstones, four of which are older than 1827: Isaac Schellinger, 1811; Peter Carlbon, 1814; Rhoda Schellinger, 1816; and Thomas B. Speer, 1817.
Baillytown is a former community in northern Porter County, Indiana, near the present-day communities of Porter and Burns Harbor. Although the town platted as the Town of Bailly was never built, the Baillytown name was used for many years to refer to the area around the original Joseph Bailly trading post. The name continues today as the name of a subdivision, constructed in the 1990s, in the town of Porter.
The George Brown Mansion is an example of the Queen Anne's Style of architecture. It was a dominant style during the 1880s and 1890s, the time when Chesterton was a growing city in northern Indiana. George Brown arrived in the United States in 1852. In 1855, he married Charity Carter, daughter of a local family. He became a successful farmer in the township. The farm was located on what is 950 North, west of 400 East. By the year 1882 he was operating a farm of 900 acres (360 ha). He had expanded into supplying cordwood to the Porter brickyards after 1870. George and Charity had ten children. In 1884 George Brown bought 120 acres (0.49 km2) in the town of Chesterton from the John Thomas family. His plans called for a retirement home on this site. He engaged Chicago architect Cicero Hine to design the house. In 1891 the family sold all but 10 acres (40,000 m2). It was the same year, that he built a brick store downtown at Calumet and Broadway. During the 1902 fire, it was the only store to survive. Charity Brown died in 1895 at 56. George died in 1899 at the age of 71. After a probate fight, his son John Franklin (Frank) moved into the house with his family.
Located in Chesterton, Indiana, the Chesterton Residential Historic District is located a block south of the business district, along Second Street from Indiana Ave. to Lincoln Ave. and on Indiana Ave. from Second to Third Streets. The area began with the Martin Young House construction about 1870. The Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana describes as one of the best Italianate structures remaining in northwest Indiana. Most of the structures date from the early twentieth century. St. Patrick's Catholic Church, built in 1876, and burned ca. 2000.
The Saxon Lutheran Memorial in Frohna, Missouri, commemorates the German Lutheran migration of 1838–1839, and features a number of log cabins and artifacts from that era. The memorial opened in 1962 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Charles Johnson purchased 6.78 acres (2.74 ha) from a Charles Anderson, who was living in a log cabin on the site since about 1880. When Johnson purchased the property in 1904, that cabin was the only structure, along with an orchard to the southwest of the main house. One of the Johnsons' daughters regularly went to this farm to purchase apples. When Mr. Anderson suggested that he give her the tree, she became adamant that her parents move it. Since that was not possible, Mr. Johnson asked if he could purchase the property, to which Mr. Anderson replied that he would sell, if the Johnsons built him a place back in the woods to live out his life.
The Pete Larsen Farm is an historic site in Porter County, Indiana.
The Lindstrom/Wahl farm is an historic farmstead located to the south of the former community of Baillytown in Porter County, Indiana.
The Jan F. and Antonie Janko Farmstead District is an agricultural historic district located west of Ely, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. At the time of its nomination it consisted of seven resources, which included five contributing buildings, one contributing structure, and one non-contributing structure. The historic buildings include a two-story, wood frame, side gable house (1887); a gabled basement barn ; a gabled barn (1893); chicken house, and a single-stall garage (1910s-1930s). The corncrib is the historic structure. A three-stall garage (1972) is the non-contributing structure. The farmstead is located on a hilltop and sideslope. The house sits on the highest elevation, with the outbuildings located down the slope to the west and southwest.
Groves Farm is a farmstead located at 6015 Sutton Road in Northfield Township, Michigan, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.
