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Huntington County has an abundance of natural and man-made waterways and spaces. Canals, creeks, rivers, lakes, and dams have all played an important roll in Huntington's history. Explore some of the more interesting and/or existing places with this biking tour.

Huntington County has had libraries almost since its founding. One of the earliest was established by the “Working Men’s Institute” and founded in 1855. The HCTPL traces its roots to this library which, in turn, provided the foundational materials to a subscription library founded in 1874 called the Public School Library. In 1889 the library was reorganized under state law to become a “free” library supported by a tax levy. The new name was “City Free Library.” From 1889 until a building completed with funds from Andrew Carnegie opened in 1903, the library was housed in the city high school.The library changed names in 1971 to the Huntington Public Library when it separated from the school library. It changed again in 1975 when the service area was expanded to include Huntington Township. Since then, it has been the Huntington City-Township Public Library even though in 2003 the service area expanded with the merger of the Markle Library.The 1903 Carnegie Library building still stands at 44 E. Park and is now the location of TCB Games. The current building opened in 1987 and was expanded twice: in 1996 and 2010. A major remodeling was completed in 2019. The main length of the building was designed to resemble a canal boat with the prow rising above the entrance. The entrance even sits on top of the former route of the Wabash &amp; Erie Canal.

The Huntington City-Township Public Library (HCTPL) serves the people of both the city and township of Huntington as well as the town of Markle. Teachers and students in the county schools, another primary/secondary school with a presence in the service area, or Huntington University are also eligible for library cards. It has a large room dedicated as the B. Joan Keefer Genealogy and Local History Center in the main branch, and a small History Room in the Markle branch.

Huntington City-Township Public Library

From the 1879 Combined Atlas: “July 3, 1835, the water of the St. Joseph River Reached Huntington in the canal, and, on the evening of the same day, the canal-boat “Indiana,” Capt. Fairfield, an “old salt” in command, arrived from Fort Wayne and landed at the upper lock, then known as “Burk’s Lock,” bringing a large and very enthusiastic party of gentlemen from Fort Wayne, who, on their arrival, were greeted with loud cheers by and equally enthusiastic assemblage of people of Huntington , and repeated salutes with the cannon which Dr. George A. Fate had brought from Dayton, Ohio, expressly for the occasion of celebrating the opening of the canal to Huntington. After the interchange of enthusiastic greetings and partaking of the hospitalities prepared by the citizens of Huntington, the party returned to Fort Wayne early in the morning of the “Glorious Fourth,” with a large number of people of Huntington, including Dr. Fate with the cannon, the booming of which announced their arrival, to the delight of the boys and the great sacrifice of glass on Columbia Street of that City.”Locks are one of the features of a canal which allows the passage of canal boats to travel on uneven terrain. One of the pictures shows the basics of how locks work. Just 8 years after the first landing at Huntington, the canal was open to the navigable section of the Wabash at Lafayette. The canal’s heyday was short-lived. Twenty years after the Huntington to Fort Wayne section of the canal opened, the first rail line connected the same two cities.

At the southeast corner of the intersection.Inscription: 1835-1873    The canal boat "Indiana" docked here on the evening of July 3, 1835, opening the Wabash and Erie Canal to traffic from Fort Wayne to Huntington. This was the first section of the canal opened in Indiana. John Burk, for whom the lock was named, was a member of the first Board of Commissioners of Huntington County.

Burkes Landing Marker

The Wabash &amp; Erie Canal was 4 feet deep and 100 feet wide at the Huntington Landing. Other locks were at First St. and Byron St. The Canal was completed from Fort Wayne to Huntington on July 4, 1835, and from Toledo to Evansville, 459 miles, in 1854. The Canal preceded the railroad to Huntington by 20 years, spurring early settlement. The Canal was abandoned in 1873.The 1866 map of downtown Huntington shows where the Wabash and Erie canal crossed Jefferson Street just above Washington Street, about where Nick’s Kitchen is today (FYI they have really good pie). As you stand near the marker, make sure to look up and see the dates on tops of the buildings, especially those on the corner of Jefferson and Park, near the Rotary Centennial Park.Jefferson Street was the Huntington segment of a pioneer route - the Fort Recovery to Goshen Road - travelled by settlers from Ohio to Lake Michigan and northwest areas in the 1830's. Jefferson Park Mall was a result of volunteer efforts in 1969 to create a non-drive through area for shopping and dining. There was a play area, benches and a fountain. The area was reopened to one-way traffic in 1991.

The Huntington Landing started 120 feet west on Washington St. and continued to the lock at Cherry St.Jefferson Street was closed to motor traffic and transformed into a landscaped and lighted walkway by private financial contributors in 1969.

Canal Landing/ Indiana's First Tax Free Mall

A pair of covered bridges replaced the ford (a shallow place in the river that allows one to cross on foot or drive across) at Jefferson Street to the Island and then to Drover Town. These bridges appear to have had Multiple Kingpost Trusses and may have been Burr Arches. “In the construction of the bridge originally very little metal was used. The arches and the square timbers were fastened together with wooded pins fashioned by hand as was nearly all parts of the bridges.”In 1891, the wooden structure was replaced with steel spans connecting Jefferson Street across the Island and from the Island to land on the other shore. The wood from the bridge structure was used in the construction of some of the homes in the area as flooring or studding.In 1892, only two businesses were located on the Island in the middle of the Little River. After a court decision indicating that Mr. Johnson was not disrupting the flow of the river with his cement abutments even during flood, construction began in earnest. By 1907, seven buildings spanned the south side of the bridge. Rods and truss braces were placed under the buildings due to the settling of the structure. By 1919, both north and south of the island had buildings on the bridge (along with a full set of buildings on the island). While an interesting idea, there was no sewer system and sewage would go right into the river. The buildings fell into disrepair and were condemned in 1966. In September of 1975, the State of Indiana stepped in and ordered the buildings demolished. In July 1977, the buildings were finally torn down. Today there is a large walkway on the bridge to a pavilion.

Between 1900 and 1977, this bridge was home to several buildings. Prior to the bridge, Native Americans and early settlers forded Little River from Charles Street diagonally across just below the Island to the Court House. A dugout canoe, when hailed, carried pedestrians across for 50 cents. The first truss bridge over the Little River was built here at the ford in 1843. A steel twin bridge was built in 1891 and around 1900, A.J. Johnson erected two-story buildings beside the south span of the bridge. Shops, offices, and dwellings were housed here until the structures were condemned. The Southside Businessmen's Association spruced up the fronts, and the Art Guild donated colorful murals to cover 18 upper windows. Following years of controversy, the buildings were razed in 1977 by order of the state.

Buildings on the Bridge

In 1906 the approximately 60 foot Lady Washington took passengers from the mill dam at the foot of Whitelock Street to the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Bridge, a distance of just over a quarter mile. A few weeks after starting its runs, this route was extended another few hundred feet northeast to the fairgrounds (between the railroad bridge and the Schacht Piano Company). It is believed that this boat was built on the shores of Little River. While traveling, the passengers were treated to piano playing for them to dance. The maximum capacity was said to be 250 passengers.It appears that the concept behind the boat run was to be a sort-of early town bus, taking people from downtown at the mill dam to a landing at the foot of the fairgrounds. It took a minimum of four people to operate the boat: the captain, a pilot, an engineer, and a machinist. Because it was a paddle boat, it needed to turn around at each end of its route before it could make the return trip. Originally trips took about 45 minutes one way, but that time was decreased somewhat as the captain and pilot gained experience with the boat and the river. Still, a person could have walked the same distance in 10 to 15 minutes, even if they were walking at a leisurely rate. Additionally, weather (which affected the depth of water in the river, both high and low) and mechanical difficulties could cause delays or cancellations of the day’s runs. Finally, the flour mill for which the dam was built was sometimes affected by the need to operate the Lady Washington. If the water was too low for the boat, the mill would sometimes shut down, closing its mill race and raising the river level somewhat. Or, the mill would operate and the boat wouldn’t.After the initial enthusiasm wore off, the number of passengers greatly decreased. As fares were only five cents, the venture did not turn a profit even though the tickets had to be bought in pairs of trips (good for a round trip or two one-way trips). It was decided to abandon this concept after a single season. Initially, a proposal was made to move the Lady Washington downriver a little and make runs between the LaFountaine Street Bridge and Brebaugh’s Island (near the Forks of the Wabash) where another park was to be developed. However, in order to enable this trip, another dam would have been required to ensure adequate water levels. So, the idea quickly foundered. Finally, it was decided to send the boat to Logansport to attempt to turn a profit at that location. Due to flooding, a sinking probably caused by flood-driven timber, and frequent beaching on shallow bars, it took over two years to get the craft to Logansport. A December 1909 article in The Wabash Plain Dealer, mentions plans between the captain of the boat and the owner Dr. McLin after the boat sank after a storm and lightening hit the prow of the boat. After much decay and inspection the boat was ordered destroyed. The engine was eventually sold to a company in Northern Michigan where it was used to saw wood. While you cannot view Lady Washington, you can walk along the Little River via the Little River Trail, which is part of the Huntington Area Recreation and Trails (HART) system.

The Lady Washington was a sternwheeler (type of boat with the paddle wheel in the back) that took passengers up and down the Little River. It would moor at Riverside Park.

Riverside Park Landing with Lady Washington

Lady Washington Sternwheeler

The Erie Stone Company was organized in February 27, 1906. At the location that is now Lake Clare, stone was quarried by hand and only two sizes were made, railroad ballast (the support base for railroad tracks and ties and crusher run (blended mix of course and fine aggregate used frequently in cement and for gravel roads). Operations at this site were discontinued in 1934 and the area was allowed to fill with water. A 1935 newspaper article speaks of the lake reading 40 feet deep in some spots and the conservation department was going to stock fish (Black bass, bluegill, rock bass and some sorts of trout) in the lake.C. H.W. (Clare Hobart Williams) Bangs (1890-1973) was a mayor of Huntington, president of Huntington College, lawyer and editor of Huntington News. In 1933, he was charged with criminal libel and continued to run the paper from jail. In 1934, he was elected mayor of Huntington, Indiana, but he continued to serve jail time sporadically before being released in December 1940. Lake Clare was named after the mayor.The Works Project Administration (WPA) began improvements to the land surrounding the abandoned quarry in 1937-38, while Mayor Bangs was still in office. Among the first enhancements added after basic grading and landscaping were the entrance pillars, a children’s wading pool, and an artificial beach. Later the beach became the basis for a larger swimming area. The park became extremely popular with residents and remained so for over 30 years. A change in management and land ownership/rental issues caused the park to close in the fall of 1968 except for special events until the park was purchased by Huntington Township in 1979.Besides fishing, which continues to be popular in the stocked lake, Lake Clare has hosted motor boat races on and off since 1937. The latest series of races began in 2010 and are held annually. They are sponsored by the Indiana Outboard Association and named in honor of Harry Brinkman, a long-time racer. Starting in 1957 and running until 1986, Lake Clare hosted annual distance swimming races for the Amateur Athletic Union. Known as the “Huntington Mile Swim,” these races brought the best swimmers from around the country. Periodic attempts to revive the meets have been made since 2010.In 2017, a fitness park was installed on the lake’s north side with 20 obstacles of varying difficulties. The inability to maintain this area because of vandalism caused it to be shuttered after only a couple of years. However in July of 2021 it was revitalized, reopened and can be used.

Sometimes spelled “Lake Claire.”A flooded stone quarry named for former Mayor Bangs that has a fitness park, picnic tables and fishing. It occasionally hosts motor boat and swimming races.

Erie Stone Company - The Makings of Lake Clare

Lake Clare

Flint Creek was submerged and an aqueduct built just north of the corner of First and Tipton. This vital creek provided the fresh water needed by the Huntington Brewery and flows past the Court House, under the City Building and exits into the Little River behind the Duke Energy Building. Today, stonework that might date back to the time of the canal can still be seen if one looks closely.“‘How did the canal cross Clear Creek?’ Mr. Crandal was asked. ‘They build aqueducts over the creeks,’ he explained. ‘There was one at Clear Creek and one at Silver Creek. There was one at the place where Flint creek enters the sewer and another at Roanoke. The aqueducts were water-tight and worked all right.’” Canal aqueducts can bend your mind a bit since they represent a water “road” going over a natural water way. They are also sometimes called water bridges.

Flint Creek Aqueduct was the fourth aqueduct built on the canal starting at Fort Wayne and moving southwest. It allowed Flint Creek to flow into Huntington city unhindered by the canal. The original aqueduct had a total length of 28 feet.We don't know how much of the current entrance to the underground is from the canal and how much is modifications made when Flint Creek was covered over in the late 1800s, but the construction of the arch and the materials on top of the arch are believed to be in the original style at least.

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Huntington County Water-Related History (Biking)

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