Tag: travel

Road Trip Indiana Series, Sample Chapter

Sample Chapter – West Central Indiana Day Trips – Jimmy Hoffa

The son of John and Viola Riddle Hoffa, James was native to Brazil, Indiana. His father, a coal miner, died of lung disease when Jimmy was seven years old. His early education was sporadic, due the the necessity of his having to work to help support the family. His mother went to work upon the death of her husband and eventually moved the family to Detroit. Continue reading Sample Chapter – West Central Indiana Day Trips – Jimmy Hoffa

Indiana Photo Gallery

McCormick’s Creek Falls

McCormick’s Creek Falls drops ten feet, climaxing the 150 foot total drop of McCormick’s Creek during its passage through the mile long canyon. The falls is just a short distance from the main park road and is also accessible from Trail 3. An easy to get to overlook allows visitors a good look at this pretty waterfall. Hikers traveling along Trail 3, which follows the McCormick’s Creek rocky stream bed, also have grand views of the falls and the canyon. Continue reading McCormick’s Creek Falls

Indiana State Park Travel Guide Series, Sample Chapter

Sample Chapter – Shakamak Indiana State Park – Indiana’s Coal

300 million years ago Portions of the region we know as Indiana was covered at one time by huge swamps. Indiana was much warmer at this time, an environment that was ideal for plants to grow. Vast quantities of dead vegetation accumulated over the centuries to form a layer of brown, spongy peat at the bottom. Geologic and climatic changes over the centuries allowed soil and rock to form over this layer of peat. As time passed the heat and pressure of this buildup converted the peat, hardening it into the substance we know as coal. Each ten-foot layer of peat will generate about one foot of coal from this pressure and heat buildup. The coal in Indiana is of a type called bituminous coal which is very low in moisture and is an ideal fuel for using in electricity generating plants and to make coke for the steel industry. The earliest records of commercial mining in Indiana date from the mid-Nineteenth Century. Most of the coal in Indiana is found in the southwestern part of the state. Continue reading Sample Chapter – Shakamak Indiana State Park – Indiana’s Coal

Indiana Photo Gallery, Road Trip Indiana Series

Photo Gallery – Clark State Forest

At the time of settlement, vast forests covered Indiana. These forests spawned many industries dependent on the high quality hardwoods found in these forests. Many furniture makers located in the state and the ship builders along the Ohio River needed the lumber for shipbuilding. In addition, much of the valuable timber was exported. The State appointed Charles Deam to oversee the operation of the Forest. Continue reading Photo Gallery – Clark State Forest

Road Trip Indiana Series, Sample Chapter

Sample Chapter – First Indiana Gas Well

Natural Gas
Drillers searching for coal usually found natural gas in the process. This gas was highly flammable, hard to handle and considered a nuisance gas. Steel maker Andrew Carnegie pioneered using natural gas in his foundries in the 1880’s and proved that using natural gas was feasible. In 1885, he claimed that using natural gas saved 10,000 tons of coal a day in his huge blast furnaces. On January 20, 1886, drillers discovered a huge gas well in Findlay, Ohio that drillers could not control, so great was its gas flow. The flame plume from the well burned for four months. Continue reading Sample Chapter – First Indiana Gas Well