Winona Lake Historic District | |
Location | Roughly bounded by Kings Hwy., Chestnut Ave., Twelfth St. and Park Ave., Winona Lake, Indiana |
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Coordinates | 41°13′39″N85°49′13″W / 41.22750°N 85.82028°W |
Area | 48 acres (19 ha) |
Built | 1887 |
Architectural style | Multiple |
NRHP reference No. | 93001411 [1] |
Added to NRHP | December 10, 1993 |
The Winona Lake Historic District is located along the Eastern shore of Winona Lake in Kosciusko County, Indiana. Historically, it is perhaps best known as a major center within the evangelical Bible Conference Movement during the first half of the twentieth century, though these gatherings were just one part of the larger history of the town of Winona Lake, an area which has been a Chautauqua site, resort spot, and conference center. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Kosciusko County, Indiana, since 1993.
In 1888, J. F. Beyer purchased the area that surrounded the eastern side of what was then known as Eagle Lake. Beyer, along with his brothers, owned a wholesale dairy business in nearby Warsaw, Indiana, and were attracted to the 160-acre tract because of the many artesian springs that could provide a means of natural refrigeration. [2] [3]
The Beyer Brothers had additional plans for their property, however, and they founded Spring Fountain Park as a summer resort and Chautauqua site. The Park included such attractions as a race track, a modest roller coaster and cyclorama. A hotel was built, as well as an auditorium, which was used for programs and lectures. The first program included a keynote lecture from John Heyl Vincent, a co-founder of the original Chautauqua Institution in western New York. [2]
The grounds changed ownership in 1894 when The Presbyterian Church of Indiana purchased the land, a transaction that was negotiated by Solomon C. Dickey. Dickey was then serving as the superintendent of Home Missions for the Indiana synod and would become an honored figure in Winona Lake. [4] Dickey changed the name of the lake and established the Winona Assembly and Summer School in 1895. Although Chautauqua sites often included religious elements, Dickey was intent on bringing a stronger religious feel to the Winona programs and Bible conferences were begun immediately in 1896. Several notable persons held the position of president of the "Assembly," including H. J. Heinz and John Studebaker. Well known evangelists including J. Wilbur Chapman and William Biederwolf served as heads of the Bible conferences. Many performers and lecturers included Winona Lake in their Chautauqua "circuits," including Benjamin Harrison, William Jennings Bryan, Admiral Richard Byrd, Glenn Curtiss, Helen Keller, Will Rogers, James Whitcomb Riley, and Jane Addams among others. In 1911, the sensational evangelist Billy Sunday moved his family to Winona Lake, building an Arts and Crafts bungalow that has been preserved as the Billy Sunday Home Museum. Sunday's song leader, Homer Rodeheaver, soon relocated to Winona Lake as well. Numerous small summer schools were also established. [5]
During its Chautauqua height around 1910, crowds averaged 250,000 annually but by 1915, attendance was in decline. As the fuller Chautauqua-type programming declined, the Bible and prophecy conferences remained strong and became the hall-mark of Winona Lake. These gatherings also reflected a turn toward fundamentalism and dispensational premillennialism, though Winona Lake remained a central hub for a wide variety of evangelical leaders and activities. [6] Youth for Christ, for example, was founded in Winona Lake in 1944 and Billy Graham spoke in the Billy Sunday Tabernacle in 1949. Graham and other Youth for Christ leaders held an all-night prayer vigil in the Westminster Hotel shortly before Graham's Los Angeles crusade and this is remembered by Winona Lake locals as something that helped launch Graham's career. [5] By the 1960s, the "Assembly" had had several rounds of financial pressures and even the Bible Conferences were dwindling. In 1968, the grounds were purchased by Grace College and Theological Seminary and the school also assumed the assembly's heavy debts.
During the 1980s, as the older buildings and facilities continued to decline, the historic district became known for its dilapidated condition. The town experienced a renaissance in 2000, however, when local business leaders invested the heavy resources needed to create The Village at Winona and other recreational and local initiatives. The effort included the restoration of historic buildings, the creation of small shops along the canal, cultural events, formation of the Reneker Museum of Winona History (Now The Winona History Center [usurped] ) and the promotion of outdoor leisure and recreation. Although these efforts took place between 1998 and 2000, members of the Winona Historical Society had been raising awareness and taking small steps since at least 1990. [5]
Kosciusko County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. At the 2020 United States Census, its population was 80,240. The county seat is Warsaw. The county was organized in 1836. It was named for the Polish general Tadeusz Kościuszko who served in the American Revolutionary War and then returned to Poland. The county seat is named for Warsaw, the capital of Poland.
Warsaw is a city in and the county seat of Kosciusko County, Indiana, United States. Warsaw has a population of 15,804 as of the 2020 U.S. Census. Warsaw also borders a smaller town, Winona Lake.
Winona Lake is a town in Wayne Township, Kosciusko County, in the U.S. state of Indiana, and the major suburb of Warsaw. The population was 4,908 at the 2010 census.
Charis Alliance is a Christian denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition. The word charis is Greek in origin, meaning "grace."
The Bible Presbyterian Church is an American Protestant denomination in the Calvinist tradition. It was founded by members of the Presbyterian Church of America over differences on Eschatology and Abstinence, after having left the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America over the rise of Modernism.
Harold John Ockenga was a leading figure of mid-20th-century American Evangelicalism, part of the reform movement known as "Neo-Evangelicalism". A Congregational minister, Ockenga served for many years as pastor of Park Street Church in Boston, Massachusetts. He was also a prolific author on biblical, theological, and devotional topics. Ockenga helped to found the Fuller Theological Seminary and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, as well as the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE).
Hobart Freeman was a charismatic preacher and author, who ministered in northern Indiana and actively promoted faith healing.
John Wilbur Chapman was a Presbyterian evangelist in the late 19th century who traveled with gospel singer Charles Alexander. His parents were Alexander H. and Lorinda (McWhinney) Chapman.
Homer Alvan Rodeheaver was an American evangelist, music director, music publisher, composer of gospel songs, and pioneer in the recording of sacred music.
Virginia Healey Asher was a gospel singer and evangelist to women.
The Evangelical Presbyterian Church is a Calvinist, Christian evangelical denomination that is found only in Northern Ireland, where it is the smallest of the Presbyterian churches. It was formed on 15 October 1927 by Rev. James Hunter (1863–1942), former minister of Knock Presbyterian Church (Belfast), and James (W.J.) Grier, a former student at the Assembly's College. They were joined by others who seceded from the Irish Presbyterian Church.
The Warsaw Courthouse Square Historic District is a historic district in Warsaw, Indiana that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Its boundaries were increased in 1993.
Since 1895, Fountain Park has hosted an annual Chatauqua to promote religious, social and educational activities. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 7, 2001.
The Stony Brook Assembly was an evangelical organization that held a series of annual summer Bible Conferences and camp meetings in Stony Brook, NY on Long Island from 1909 to 1958. Nationally and internationally known speakers led conferences covering topics on religious, educational, and social reform. The assembly was also the parent organization which founded The Stony Brook School to use its grounds outside of the summer months. Though the assembly dissolved, the school still remains today.
William Edward Biederwolf was an American Presbyterian evangelist.
Grace College & Grace Theological Seminary is a private evangelical Christian college in Winona Lake, Indiana. It has seven schools: The School of Ministry Studies, The School of Arts and Humanities, The School of Science and Engineering, The School of Behavioral Sciences, The School of Business, The School of Education, and The School of Professional & Online Education (SPOE). Grace Theological Seminary, which began as the parent institution, now exists as part of the School of Ministry Studies and is also located on the Winona Lake campus. Since 2011, several commuter campuses have also started. While the college and seminary are historically affiliated with the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, known as Charis Fellowship since 2018, the student body and faculty of both institutions have diverse denominational backgrounds.
The first Kosciusko County Jail was built in 1837 of 14 inches (36 cm) square logs. It was two stories tall with a trap door from the second story floor to access the ground floor. The next jail was made of brick. Like the first jail, it was located on Courthouse Square. By 1869 this second structure was in serious need of repair. Frequent jail breaks from the second jail, led the county to hire George Garnsey of Chicago to design a new jail. The most notable jailbreak resulted when prisoners pushed bricks out of the wall.
The Billy Sunday Home was the residence of William A (Billy) Sunday, Helen (Ma) Sunday, their four children, and the family's live-in housekeeper and nanny. Located in the Winona Lake Historic District in Kosciusko County, Indiana, it is a prime example of a bungalow built in the Arts and Crafts architectural style.
The Bible Conference Movement was an interdenominational network of Protestant gatherings that began in the last decades of the nineteenth century and played an integral role in the rise of fundamentalism and the success of evangelicalism in the twentieth century. Audiences flocked to hear well known religious personalities and Bible teachers speak on popular theological currents, missionary themes, end-times speculation, and renewal. Bible conferences combined elements of earlier Christian revivalism, efforts for social reform, and recreation.
John James Davis is an American theologian, archaeologist, and Christian educator. He was the President and Professor Emeritus at Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana.