Misplaced Pages

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62-581: The Grand Kankakee Marsh is the result of the last glacial age. The Wisconsin Glacial Episode began 70,000 years ago and removed all traces of the previous glacial topography. It wasn't until the last 3,000 years that the glaciers left the topography we know today. Beginning around 15,000 years ago, the Michigan lobe to the north and the Huron-Saginaw lobe to the east retreated back, leaving

124-410: A County Assessor to handle the remaining townships. Elkhart County is part of Indiana's 2nd congressional district ; Indiana Senate districts 9, 11, and 12; and Indiana House of Representatives districts 21, 22, 48, 49, and 82. Elkhart County has consistently been a Republican Party stronghold in presidential elections. In only three elections since 1888 has a Republican candidate failed to win

186-646: A channel through the limestone ridge in Momence, the Kankakee Lake became 500,000 acres (200,000 ha) of marshland. The outer margin of the Valparaiso Moraine extends from Porter County east into Michigan . It consists of an extensive outwash apron. It slopes to the southeast over an 8 miles (13 km) to 10 miles (16 km) distance, dropping from 775 feet (236 m) or 800 feet (240 m) to 700 feet (210 m) above sea level. It

248-502: A high school; all named Concord. Finally, the Goshen Community Schools serve the central part of Elkhart County. This system is made up of seven elementary schools (Chamberlain, Chandler, Model, Parkside, Prairieview, Waterford, and West Goshen), a middle and a high school all named Goshen . In addition to the public schools, there are nine private schools in the county. Kessington Christian School (grades PK-12)

310-409: A lower portion of the moraine. Multiple outlets could form through low spots too until one would become dominant after erosion lowered both the outlet and lake surface. Ice melt and rainfall carried large quantities of clay , sand , and gravel from the ice mass. Clays could be moved long distances by moving water, while sand and gravel could not. Thus, sand and gravel landforms developed along

372-518: A regular surface highway. County Road 17 is known as the "Michiana Parkway" and provides a connection between Goshen , U.S. 20, S.R. 120 , the Elkhart East interchange (Exit 96) on the Toll Road, and US 12 in Michigan via M-217 . U.S. Highways 6 , 33 , and 131 also run through the county along with Indiana State Highways 4 , 13 , 15 , 19 , 119 , and 120 . U.S. 33 was once part of

434-541: A role in developing the lay of the land. At Momence, Illinois , a ridge of limestone was exposed at the surface. Here, all the water flowing off the front of the glacier had to pass westward, for south of glacial Lake Kankakee , the Iroquois Moraine blocked all drainage. Slight though it might be, it was higher than the limestone ridge. Between the Iroquois Moraine and the Momence Ridge, the waters from

496-507: A singular Elkhart High School, one alternative school (Tipton Street Center), and the Elkhart Area Career Center. The Middlebury Community Schools serve the northeast side of the county. This system includes four elementary schools (Jefferson, Middlebury, Orchard View, and York), one intermediate school (Heritage), one middle school, and one high school both named Northridge . The Fairfield Community Schools serve

558-486: A small operation on Middlebury Street, Indiana University South Bend has its "Elkhart Center" downtown, and Ivy Tech Community College has a campus as well. Bonneyville Mill Park consists of 223 acres (0.90 km ) of rolling hills, marshes, and woodlands on the Little Elkhart River east of Bristol. The park offers hiking trails, fishing spots, shelters, and guided tours of Bonneyville Mill. The mill

620-665: A suture zone between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets formed the Cypress Hills , North America's northernmost point that remained south of the continental ice sheets. During much of the glaciation, sea level was low enough to permit land animals, including humans , to occupy Beringia (the Bering Land Bridge ) and move between North America and Siberia . As the glaciers retreated, glacial lakes were breached in great glacial lake outburst floods such as

682-473: A whole. The striations made by the ice field in moving over the bedrock show that it moved principally to the west through the passes of the coast range. Whenever the ice sheet melted from the north at a moraine , water would begin to pond in the divide between a moraine and the ice front. The ice would act as a dam as water could not drain through the ice sheet, which in the Wisconsin period covered most of

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744-490: Is 20 miles (32 km) east of South Bend, Indiana , 110 miles (180 km) east of Chicago , Illinois , and 150 miles (240 km) north of Indianapolis, Indiana . The area is referred to by locals as the recreation vehicle (RV) capital of the world and is known for its sizable Amish and Old Order Mennonite population. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the area now within Elkhart County boundaries

806-569: Is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana . As of 2020 , the county's population was 207,047. The county seat is Goshen . Elkhart County is part of the Elkhart - Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawaka Combined Statistical Area . It is also considered part of the broader region of Northern Indiana known as Michiana , and

868-558: Is a gravel plain, which is dissected by Crooked Creek and Mill Creek. The Kankakee Outwash Plain is located on the southern side of the Valparaiso Moraine . It stretches from just west of the Illinois and Indiana border near Momence, Illinois , along the Kankakee River valley eastward in a northeast arc towards South Bend . In Porter County, Indiana , the plain begins to widen out. It stretches south from Valparaiso to below

930-619: Is gravel plain, which is dissected by Crooked Creek and Mill Creek. Recent research on the "Sand Islands" of the Kankakee reveal that the sand is the same type and age as the sands deep in the dunes along Lake Michigan . According to Valparaiso University professor Ron Janke, this would mean that the dunes south of the Kankakee River were formed before the Valparaiso Moraine and at a time when current theories posit that

992-801: Is in Bristol; Elkhart Christian Academy (grades K-12), Trinity Lutheran School (grades K-8), St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School (grades PK-8), and St. Thomas the Apostle School (grades K-8) are in Elkhart; while Bethany Christian (grades 4–12), Bashor Alternative School (grades 4–10), St. John the Evangelist Catholic School (grades PK-6), and Clinton Christian School (grades K-12) are in Goshen. Elkhart County has six institutions for higher learning, two of which are solely located in

1054-842: Is known as "The RV Capital of the World" because of its substantial recreational vehicle -based economy. Farming also plays a big role in the local economy. Tourism boosts the county's economy. Destinations such as Das Dutchman Essenhaus in Middlebury and Amish Acres in Nappanee along with annual events such as the Elkhart Jazz Festival, the Amish Acres Arts & Crafts Festival , and the Elkhart County 4-H Fair draw thousands of tourists annually. The Fair

1116-521: Is land and 4.80 square miles (12.4 km ) (or 1.03%) is water. The county sits in mostly rural farmland with rolling hills in its northeast corner. Those hills were formed by glaciers and are part of the St. Lawrence Seaway Continental Divide. The St. Joseph River , which flows from Michigan, across the Michigan border north of Bristol, is the main waterway in Elkhart County. The Elkhart River enters

1178-510: Is led by a board of three elected commissioners that serve as the executive branch of county government. The board also serves as the legislative branch in that it is responsible for ordinances. The county council is made of seven elected members - one from each of the four council districts and three at large. The council is in charge of all monetary issues including appropriations and taxes. There are Township Assessors for Baugo, Cleveland, Concord, Elkhart, Middlebury, and Osolo townships and

1240-604: Is still used to produce flour. Ox Bow Park sits on 113 acres (0.46 km ) overlooking the Elkhart River midway between Elkhart and Goshen. The park offers hiking trails, shelters, disc golf, and an archery range. River Preserve Park is 1,050 acres (4.2 km ) located between Benton and the Goshen Dam also on the Elkhart River. The park also offers several trails and shelters and provides insight into

1302-773: Is the second largest county fair in the United States. In recent years, average temperatures in Goshen have ranged from a low of 17 °F (−8 °C) in January to a high of 85 °F (29 °C) in July, although a record low of −24 °F (−31 °C) was recorded in January 1984 and a record high of 102 °F (39 °C) was recorded in June 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.77 inches (45 mm) in February to 4.05 inches (103 mm) in June. The county

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1364-777: The American Revolutionary War . New Englanders and New England transplants from upstate New York were the vast majority of Elkhart County's inhabitants during the first several decades of its history. These settlers were primarily members of the Congregational Church though due to the Second Great Awakening many of them had converted to Methodism and some had become Baptists before moving west. The Congregational Church subsequently has gone through many divisions, and some factions, including those in Elkhart County, are now known as

1426-576: The Bering Strait is believed to have allowed human occupation of this area which provided potential access for some of the first humans to move between North America and Siberia in Asia (see Settlement of the Americas ). Other human migration routes also opened during interglacial periods in both Europe and Asia. North American flora and fauna species were distributed quite differently during

1488-665: The Church of Christ and the United Church of Christ . As a result of this heritage, most of Elkhart County supported the abolitionist movement before the American Civil War . Elkhart County provided substantial recruits for the Union Army . During the end of the nineteenth century, Irish and German migrants came to Elkhart County, although most did not come directly from Europe, but had stopped in other areas in

1550-670: The Cordilleran Ice Sheet , which nucleated in the northern North American Cordillera ; the Innuitian ice sheet , which extended across the Canadian Arctic Archipelago ; the Greenland ice sheet ; and the massive Laurentide Ice Sheet , which covered the high latitudes of central and eastern North America. This advance was synchronous with global glaciation during the last glacial period, including

1612-521: The Illinoian glacial topography that its glaciers extended over. The Late Wisconsin ice sheet extended more towards the west than the earlier movements. This may have been due to changes in the accumulation center of the ice sheet, topographic changes introduced by the Early phase or by pressure changes in the ice mass in the north. The Labrador Ice Sheet centered east of Hudson Bay. Expanding towards

1674-577: The Kankakee Torrent , which reshaped the landscape south of modern Chicago as far as the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Two related movements have been termed Wisconsin: Early Wisconsin and Late Wisconsin. The Early Wisconsin was the bigger of the two and extended farther west and south. It retreated an unknown distance before halting. During this period of quiet, the glacial deposits were eroded and weathered. This first Wisconsin period erased all

1736-591: The Midwest , such as Ohio . The name Elkhart is a euphemization of "Elks-heart", which refers to the now extinct Eastern elk . The name has been attached to the Elkhart River and surrounding area since at least 1749, when it was recorded in French as Coeur de cerf ("elk's heart") as the name of a Miami village there. The place name in Miami-Illinois is mihšiiwiateehi ("elk's heart"). Later in

1798-585: The Waterman Hills researchers found that Juniperus osteosperma and Pinus monophylla were early to mid-Holocene dominant trees, while Monardella arizonica has been a continuously present understory plant. Celtis reticulata is an example of a plant present in the early Holocene following Wisconsin glacial retreat, a species no longer present at the Waterman Mountains site. Elkhart County, Indiana Elkhart County

1860-609: The 18th century the area was inhabited by the Potawatomi ; in the Potawatomi language , the place is likewise known as mzewəodeʔig , "at the elk heart". The name may reflect a prehistoric association of the Elkhart area with the Kaskaskia people , whom the Miami called "elk hearts". Other explanations have been suggested. According to an account by two Miami leaders ( Jean Baptiste Richardville and Le Gros ) recorded in 1824,

1922-731: The English Puritans who settled New England in the 1600s. The completion of the Erie Canal in 1821 sparked a surge in immigration from New England to northern Indiana, which had become a state five years earlier. The end of the Black Hawk War in 1832 increased the immigration surge of immigration, again coming from New England as a result of overpopulation combined with land shortages in that region. Some of these later settlers were from upstate New York , whose relatives had moved to that region from New England shortly after

Kankakee Outwash Plain - Misplaced Pages Continue

1984-611: The Kankakee River, nearly 15 miles (24 km) wide. Moving eastward, the outwash plain in LaPorte County stretches from I-80/90 to the Kankakee River along the Starke County line. As the plain nears South Bend, it compresses between the Valparaiso Moraine, which forms a line from south of Michigan City toward Grand Rapids, Michigan , and the till plain from the Saginaw ice lobe. Along the Michigan and Indiana border,

2046-782: The North American alpine glacier advance, known as the Pinedale glaciation . The Wisconsin glaciation extended from about 75,000 to 11,000 years ago, between the Sangamonian Stage and the current interglacial, the Holocene . The maximum ice extent occurred about 25,000–21,000 years ago during the last glacial maximum , also known as the Late Wisconsin in North America. This glaciation radically altered

2108-483: The Wisconsin era, due to altered temperatures, surface water distribution, and in some cases coverage of earth surface by glaciers. A number of scientific studies have been conducted to determine species distribution, particularly during the Late Wisconsin and early to mid-Holocene. An example of findings is from the investigation of flora species using pollen core samples in present-day northern Arizona. Here in

2170-410: The area that was to become the Kankakee's valley clear of ice. Beginning 14,000 years ago, the head of the glacier stood along a line across the middle of Lake , Porter , and LaPorte counties. Melting ceased to outpace the arrival of new ice from the north. Over thousands of years, the glacier moved ground rock and soil southward, only to release along this edge of ice, building up a ridge that matched

2232-477: The city of Elkhart . The Elkhart Community Schools , the largest district, serves the populated northwest side of the county. The system includes fourteen elementary schools (Beardsley, Bristol, Cleveland, Eastwood, Hawthorne, Mary Beck, Mary Daly, Mary Feeser, Monger, Osolo, Pinewood, Riverview, Roosevelt STEAM Academy, and Woodland), three middle schools (North Side, Pierre Moran, and West Side), two high schools ( Central and Memorial ), which in 2020 merged into

2294-502: The county east of Millersburg and winds its way through Goshen and Dunlap to Island Park in Elkhart where it meets the St. Joseph. The Little Elkhart River flows into the county southeast of Middlebury and creates some scenic views in Bonneyville Mills County Park before emptying into the St. Joseph near Bristol. Numerous creeks wind their way through the countryside and several lakes, including Simonton Lake, dot

2356-422: The county's southeast corner. This system includes three elementary schools (Benton, Millersburg, and New Paris) and a junior-senior high school named Fairfield . The Wa-Nee Community Schools serve the southwest portion of the county. This system consists of three elementary schools (Nappanee, Wakarusa, and Woodview), a middle school, and a high school both named NorthWood . The Baugo Community Schools serve

2418-570: The county, most recently in 1964. As of the 2010 United States Census , there were 197,559 people, 70,244 households, and 50,542 families residing in the county. The population density was 426.5 inhabitants per square mile (164.7/km ). There were 77,767 housing units at an average density of 167.9 per square mile (64.8/km ). The racial makeup of the county was 82.9% white, 5.7% black or African American, 1.0% Asian, 0.4% American Indian, 7.5% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 14.1% of

2480-494: The county: Goshen College , a small Mennonite liberal arts college of 1000 students in Goshen; and the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary , which has been operating on Elkhart's south side since 1958. The city of Elkhart has four satellite campuses within its city limits. Bethel College of Mishawaka has a small satellite campus on the south side, Indiana Institute of Technology has

2542-404: The front of the glacier. This formed the Valparaiso Moraine . As soil built up along this front, the spring and summer melt was releasing large volumes of water, which moved and sorted the soils. South of the glacial front, water accumulated faster than it could drain, forming a glacial lake Kankakee. Today, the bedrock is hidden deep beneath the sediments left by the glaciers, but it still played

Kankakee Outwash Plain - Misplaced Pages Continue

2604-850: The geography north of the Ohio River , creating the Great Lakes . At the height of the Wisconsin Episode glaciation, the ice sheet covered most of Canada , the Upper Midwest , and New England , as well as parts of Idaho , Montana , and Washington . On Kelleys Island in Lake Erie , northern New Jersey and in New York City 's Central Park , the grooves left in rock by these glaciers can be easily observed. In southwestern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta

2666-431: The glacier collected. Lacustrine deposits are those deposited in lake water, and only when the lake drains or the land rises does it become dry land. Most of the soils throughout the counties surrounding the Kankakee are loamy (up to a quarter clay, quarter to half silt, with less than half being sand). The outwash plain is underlain by sand, with gravel inter-bedded throughout. The prevailing westerly winds began to treat

2728-427: The glacier when it melts back is called the ground moraine or till plain . Till is highly permeable and creates a large ground reserve for water. This formation is highly desirable for human economic development as a source of water. Prehistoric human migration was likely greatly influenced by this last glacial period, as during much of the Wisconsin era, the formation of a land bridge known as Beringia across

2790-465: The history of Indiana's waterways. Treasure Island Park offers fishing and canoe access to the St. Joseph River west of Elkhart while the Turkey Creek (two miles south of Goshen) and Wolf Lake (two miles north of Goshen) sites have no public access but are described as "future parks." The cities and towns of Elkhart County also have numerous parks and greenways. Elkhart's North Side Gymnasium

2852-552: The landscape. Fifteen unincorporated communities also exist in the county. They are Benton , Bonneyville Mills , Dunlap , Foraker , Garden Village, Jimtown , Locke , Midway , New Paris , Nibbyville, Simonton Lake , Southwest , Vistula , and Waterford Mills . Elkhart County is one of the few counties in the US to border two counties of the same name in different states (St. Joseph County in Indiana and Michigan). Elkhart County

2914-444: The name arose from two women fighting over an elk's heart that had been hung up to dry. Alternatively, some historians including Jacob Piatt Dunn have associated the name with the shape of an island in the Elkhart River that is stated to resemble an elk's heart. This theory has been carried on the city's website. A popular but non-historical account claims that the county was named after a Shawnee Indian chief named "Elkhart", who

2976-501: The northern stretches of Indiana were still under the glacial ice. Geologic features, north to south: 41°5′N 87°30′W  /  41.083°N 87.500°W  / 41.083; -87.500 Wisconsin glaciation The Wisconsin glaciation , also called the Wisconsin glacial episode , was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex, peaking more than 20,000 years ago. This advance included

3038-777: The original Lincoln Highway . A bus system known as the Interurban Trolley serves several municipalities throughout Elkhart County, connecting Elkhart and Goshen , as well as Osceola , Dunlap and Mishawaka , using buses that look like trolley cars. These buses are manufactured at government expense in RV facilities of Elkhart County. The county's only Amtrak and Greyhound bus stations are in Elkhart. Elkhart, Nappanee, and Goshen all have municipal airports. Amtrak makes four daily stops in Elkhart. The county has seven public school districts, seven private schools, and one college. Several other colleges have satellite campuses in

3100-652: The outwash plain forms a 10-to-15-mile-wide (16 to 24 km) band along the St. Joseph River . The outwash plain comes to an end in LaGrange County, Indiana , east of the border with Elkhart County . The outer margin of the Valparaiso Moraine from Porter County extends east into Michigan . It consists of an extensive outwash apron. Slopes to the southeast over an 8 miles (13 km) to 10 miles (16 km) distance, dropping from 775 feet (236 m) or 800 feet (240 m) to 700 feet (210 m) above sea level. It

3162-415: The population. In terms of ancestry, 28.4% were German , 10.2% were Irish , 7.6% were English , and 7.6% were American . Of the 70,244 households, 38.1% had children under 18 living with them, 53.9% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 28.0% were non-families, and 22.7% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size

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3224-423: The proglacial river valleys. Numerous small, isolated water bodies formed between the moraine and the ice front. As the ice sheet would continue to melt and recede northward, these ponds combined into proglacial lakes . In areas without an available outlet, the water levels would either continue to rise until reaching one or more low spots along the rim of a moraine, or the ice sheet would retreat, opening access to

3286-448: The shores of "Lake Kankakee" like the shores of Lake Michigan. Dunes began to form along the southern and eastern shoreline. Where ice blocks had been left behind, sand filled the depressions. Runoff from the Valparaiso Moraine built outwash ridges of sand leading into the lake. On the south, the winds built dunes. As the volume of water decreased from the glacier melting northward, the lake slowly drained and filled. Not being able to cut

3348-409: The sides and front of the ice sheet; elongated accumulations of this material are known as kames . Mounds along the frontal edge of the ice are called moraines . Wherever a subglacial tunnel began infilling, long winding formations known as eskers would form. The sweeping plain of sand and gravel beyond the ice margin and a terminal moraine is called an outwash plain . The materials left under

3410-443: The southwest, it reached into the eastern edge of Manitoba and across the Great Lakes to the Ohio River , upwards of 1,600 miles (2,600 km) from its source. Its eastern lobes covered New England and reached south to Cape Cod and Long Island, New York . The Keewatin Ice Sheet began west of Hudson Bay in the Canadian Territory of Keewatin . The ice moved south some 1,500 miles (2,400 km) into Kansas and Missouri. To

3472-413: The west, it reached 1,000 miles (1,600 km) to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains . The Cordilleran Ice Sheet has left remnants throughout the Northern Rocky Mountains . Unlike the other two ice sheets, this one is mountain based covering British Columbia and reaching into northern Washington State and Montana . The Cordilleran Ice Sheet has more of an Alpine style of many glaciers merged into

3534-399: The west-central part of the county. This system is made up of an elementary, an intermediate, a junior high, and a high school each named Jimtown . The Concord Community Schools serve the southeast side of the city of Elkhart and northwest Goshen. This system consists of four elementary schools (East Side, Ox Bow, South Side, and West Side), an intermediate school, a junior high school, and

3596-438: Was 11,006 or 5.3% of the total population. The Indiana Toll Road (Interstates 80 / 90 ) runs through the northern fringes of the county. Elkhart has two interchanges (exits 92 & 96) while Bristol (exit 101) and Middlebury (exit 107) have one apiece. U.S. Route 20 skirts the southern edges of Elkhart as the St. Joseph Valley Parkway until the freeway ends at the County Road 17 interchange. U.S. 20 continues eastward as

3658-506: Was 2.76, and the average family size was 3.23. The median age was 34.9 years. The median income for a household in the county was $ 47,697, and the median income for a family was $ 53,742. Males had a median income of $ 41,891 versus $ 29,496 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 22,187. About 10.2% of families and 13.7% of the population were below the poverty line , including 21.5% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over. In 2020,the Amish and Mennonite population

3720-409: Was home to the Elkhart Express International Basketball League team. However, after (2) winning seasons, the Express ceased to exist in 2009. All of these events draw in many people every year, but the biggest event, by far, in the county is the Elkhart County 4-H Fair . This nine-day event is one of the largest county fairs in the United States. The Elkhart Truth and The Goshen News are

3782-436: Was mainly inhabited by the Potawatomi tribe. Pioneers began settling in the Elkhart Prairie in 1829 and in April 1830, Elkhart County was officially established with its original county seat in Dunlap . After reorganizing the county borders, the seat was moved to Goshen near the county's geographical center. Elkhart County was founded by immigrants from New England . These were old-stock " Yankee " immigrants, descended from

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3844-487: Was ostensibly a cousin of the famous Chief Tecumseh , and father of "princess Mishawaka" (for whom, according to the story, neighboring Mishawaka is named). This story originated in Legends of Michigan and the Old North West , an 1875 collection of historical fiction by Michigan politician Flavius J. Littlejohn . According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of 467.97 square miles (1,212.0 km ), of which 463.17 square miles (1,199.6 km ) (or 98.97%)

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