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Western Acres, Indiana

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1934 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Westchester Township. It lies in ZIP code area 46304. It stands on Peterson Ditch. The Survey maps it on the Chesterton quadrangle.

Western Acres within Porter County

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 17 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

In the county-history sources

16,139 words on this township

Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana : Historical and Biographical, published 1882; History of Porter County, Indiana : a Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its People and Its Principal Interests, published 1912 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for smaller places. Its township is covered in full.

The chapter on Westchester Township covers the township.

Read the chapter on Westchester Township - 16,139 words.

Fires near this place

163 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 163 fires within 5 miles of Western Acres between 1992 and 2020, burning about 213 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 13 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined45
Debris and open burning26
Railroad operations and maintenance23
Arson/incendiarism13
Power generation/transmission/distribution10
Fireworks9
Misuse of fire by a minor9
Recreation and ceremony8
Equipment and vehicle use7
Natural5
Other causes4
Smoking4

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
6 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreTREMONT STUMP
4 September 2018Railroad operations and maintenance1.0 acresIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreMILL
30 September 2000Railroad operations and maintenance5.0 acresIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreSTEEL FIRE
27 September 2002Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIndiana State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
20 September 2020Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreCHESTERON ASSIST
17 September 1998Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreSPARKLER
1 September 1994Fireworks5.3 acresIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreBIRTHDAY 2
9 August 2004Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.2 acresIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreMIDWEST

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Porter County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Western Acres: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Lorenz Brothers Pit Number 1ClayPast Producer
Zehner PitClayPast Producer

Every working recorded in Porter County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Porter1.2 miles17
Chesterton1.3 miles17
Haglund1.9 miles17
Morgan Park2.1 miles17
Babcock2.2 miles17
Crocker2.2 miles17
Meadowbrook2.3 miles17
Forest Oaks2.4 miles17

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 445830. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.