The remains of a vehicle, possibly a Cadillac, sit in the marshlands surrounding the Beyer Farm Trail boardwalk. InkFreeNews photo by Patrick Webb.

By Patrick Webb
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — If you walk along the Beyer Farm Trail boardwalk, near Lutheran Kosciusko Hospital in Warsaw, you may see the remains of a vehicle, which may originate from the Beyer family.

According to Kosciusko Historical Society Co-Director Greg Steffe, the marshlands surrounding the boardwalk were once a part of the Beyer Family farm. The Beyers were German immigrants who moved from Goshen.

Steffe said the Beyer family purchased land in Winona Lake, then known as Spring Fountain Park, to build a spring house.

“Back in those days prior to any form of commercial refrigeration, there were only two ways that you could cool produce,” Steffe said. The options were to use harvested ice from lakes, which would melt faster depending on the weather, or to build a spring house.

A spring house was made by building a manmade cave, line with stone, and “the cool water emanating out of the ground would create a form of natural refrigeration,” Steffe said.

Steffe said the Beyers realized the beauty of the land while clearing it and decided to create a summer resort. Steffe said the model was based on ones used by the Moody Bible Institute in New York and Minnesota. Events included a hybrid of a religious camp meeting and camp resort, Steffe said.

“They didn’t want to make it exactly a camp meeting, but at the same time it wasn’t going to be Coney Island either,” Steffe said. Entertainment included prominent speakers and authors, music and religious programs.

Steffe said the Beyer family became quite wealthy and owned land ranging from Center Street to around the Courts of Colfax on North Colfax Street. Steffe recalled seeing a barn in the 1970s on an uncle’s property that was built as part of the Beyer’s farm, before it was torn down. The Beyers also owned the marshland that now surrounds the Beyer Farm Boardwalk and Trail.

The vehicle, Steffe theorized, may have been a part of a farm junk pile, which were common at the time. Steffe said a Beyer family member may have wanted to dispose of the vehicle and left it. It was not uncommon for vehicles to end up in farm junk piles.

According to Warsaw Parks and Recreation Administrative Assistant Suzanne Stokes, it its unknown how the vehicle ended up in the marshlands. She said the parks department, which maintains the boardwalk and surrounding land for the city, has no plans to remove the vehicle.

A Cadillac dealership, Fred McKown, was based in downtown Warsaw, where the Kosciusko Justice Building now stands.

Fred McKown’s Cadillac dealership, circa 1955, where the vehicle, if it is a Cadillac, may have been purchased from. The Kosciusko County Justice Building now occupies the land the dealership was built on. Photo provided by The Indiana Album: Johnson Brothers Sign Company Collection. www.indianaalbum.com