Speedway Founders, Turkey Run State Park

By Sigur Whitaker
As part of Indiana’s Centennial celebration in 1916, the state decided to set aside some land for state parks. Three areas in Indiana were identified as good places to start a state park system. The first was the dune region on Lake Michigan in northern Indiana, certain parts of Brown County in south central Indiana and the Turkey Run in Parke County. At the time, the US Congress was considering establishing the National Park Service.
 
Leading the charge was Richard Lieber, an Indianapolis resident who emigrated from Germany and had visited Yosemite. By February, he was urging the state to protect the scenic beauties of Indiana and in March 1916, he was selected chairman of the State Park Memorial Committee. Lieber announced that the committee planned to acquire three scenic tracts of land during the year. The Turkey Run tract in Parke County had already been selected. It was due to be sold on May 18 as part of the settlement of the John Lusk estate. The Turkey Run property was highly desired by lumber companies, who were going to cut down the old growth black walnut, oak, poplar and other trees. Since the state did not provide funding for the state parks, funds would be raised through donations.
 
The Lusk estate included 1400 acres which had been divided into 3 parcels. One elongated strip of 288 acres including Sugar Creek, rocky gorges and cliffs. The Turkey Run portion was operated as a recreational park by William Luke, who had a lease on the tract.
 
Indiana Governor Samuel Ralston urged the public to contribute to the state park fund during the week of April 24, 1916.  Arthur Newby was the largest subscriber from Marion County (Indianapolis) with an initial gift of $1000.
 
Two parcels of the Lusk property consisting of 1,320 acres was sold to the Hoosier Veneer Company for $37,706. By the time of the auction of Turkey Run, the committee had raised $22,000 to buy the tract. After the bidding got to $30,000, Lieber urged committee member and attorney Leo Rappaport to increase the bid by $100. Rappaport did so, but Hoosier Veneer raised their bid by an additional $100 and purchased the land for $30,200. Despite the frustration of not being the successful bidder, the committee purchased McCormick’s Creek Canyon , “the Grand Canyon of Indiana.” The 347-acre tract in Owen County was purchased for $5,250.
 
Within a week of the purchase of the Turkey Run tract, Hoosier Veneer president H. E. Daugherty explained that they bought the Turkey Run track as a business proposition, but that did not mean they were not interested in the preservation of the property. Daugherty proposed three options for the transfer of the tract to the State Park committee. The first was that within six months the committee would have subscriptions sufficient to procure three additional park sites with a value similar to the value of Turkey Run and within a year, the State of Indiana would provide funding for an additional four state parks. Hoosier Veneer promised to donate $10,000 to the fund. The second option was that the Hoosier Veneer Company would remove the saw timber from the 288-track acre track within two years and deed the property free of cost to the State Park board. The final proposal was that they would remove 100 choice trees from the tract and then deed the property free of cost to the State Park board, provided additional funds were acquired and expended as outlined in the first proposal. Unfortunately, none of the three options appeared viable. While foresters had deemed that perhaps 50 of the trees could be removed, the removal of more would take away one of the main reasons for the park’s appeal.
 
Carl Fisher, at the urging of the committee, spent a whole day in Turkey Run and proposed that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway donate ten percent of the net earnings of the next Decoration Day race.The Speedway contributed $5,065 to the state park fund.
 
Fundraising, including a $5,000 donation by IMS co-founder Arthur Newby, continued as did negotiations with the Hoosier Veneer Company. On November 10, 1916, the State Park committee agreed to pay $40,200 for the property. They needed to raise about $15,000 to consummate the purchase. The sale was consummated and Turkey Run became the second park in the Indiana State Park system.
 
In 1921, the state wished to buy an additional 181 acres of land adjacent to Turkey Run State Park. The seller, Hoosier Veneer, believed that the property was worth significantly more than the $30 per acre the state was willing to pay. Eventually, they agreed that the land would be appraised by three men. The property had been divided into two tracts, one of 51.8 acres and the other of 129.9 acres. The appraisal reflected a value of $50 an acre for the smaller tract and $55 an acre for the larger tract. This made the 181 acres worth $9,733.40. The property was acquired on August 8, 1921 thanks to $10,000 given by Arthur Newby with the proviso that the money be refunded if timber or gravel were sold. In November 1921, the state conservation commission named the deep ravine on the 181 acre track the “Newby Gulch.” Today, Turkey Run State Park has 2382 acres.
 
Indiana now has twenty-four state parks. Indiana Dunes on the shores of Lake Michigan was acquired in 1925 while Brown County State Park in south central Indiana was acquired in 1929.

 
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