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Photograph of Nappanee West Park and Pavilion
Photograph by Nyttend, Public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Nappanee West Park and Pavilion

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

From the record

“Nappanee West Park and Pavilion, also known as the Community Park of Nappanee, Nappanee Westside Park and Pavilion, and Nappanee West Park Chautauqua Pavilion, is a historic public park located at Nappanee, Indiana. The Bungalow style pavilion was built in 1923 to house a local Chautauqua.”

Wikipedia article Nappanee West Park and Pavilion, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 39 National Register listings published here for Elkhart County · listed in 1994 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • Address. Jct. of Nappanee and Van Buren Sts., Nappanee, 46550
  • When was it listed? March 1994
  • Category. building
  • Township. Locke township
  • National Register reference number. 94000231 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

The ground it stands on

25,549 words

The chapter on Locke Township in History of Elkhart County, Indiana : Together with Sketches of Its Cities ... and Biographies of Representative Citizens : History of Indiana, Embracing Accounts of the Pre-historic Races .., published 1881 names Nappanee. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

And now, having noticed almost everything in connection with the township except its towns and business interests, we will proceed to devote a few pages in that direction. The town of Locke was laid out in 1867 by George W. Eby, M. II. Morlan and L. B. Winder. It is situated on section 21 of Locke township, two and one-half miles northwest of Nappanee. The first house built in the town was erected on the half-section line, in the center of what is now Main street. The first store in the town was opened by John "Wolfe in 1867; the first saw-mill was built in 1865. The first mail was carried to the town of Locke by Mr. L. B. Winder on April 1, 1869; the first postmaster was J. D. Lake, he having succeeded Solomon Berlin, who was formerl}' postmaster, the postoffice then being located on section 13. Mr. Lake was succeeded by Jacob Heraminger; the next postmaster was Jesse Truex; and after him came S. Lightner,

Passage source: History of Elkhart County, Indiana : Together with Sketches of Its Cities ... and Biographies of Representative Citizens : History of Indiana, Embracing Accounts of the Pre-historic Races .., published 1881.

But in lSTo-'6, after the town of jSTappanee was laid out, the eyes of a great many of the citizens of Locke were turned toward this new town to watch its probable growth. The town of Nappanee soon began to increase in population and business, and it being a railroad town, seemed likely to become a better business point than Locke; accordingly a great many of the citizens of Locke moved to Nappanee, some of them, indeed, moving their old houses with them. To-day, however, there is considerable business done in Locke, since it is surrounded on all sides by an excellent tract of country) peopled by an industrious class of citizens.

Passage source: History of Elkhart County, Indiana : Together with Sketches of Its Cities ... and Biographies of Representative Citizens : History of Indiana, Embracing Accounts of the Pre-historic Races .., published 1881.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Locke Township - 25,549 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Storms near this property

18 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Nappanee, the town this property stands in, in 18 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 12 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 2 tornado. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
November 1998Thunderstorm WindNappanee1 hurt, $5,000ONE MAN WHILE DRIVING ALONG U.S. HIGHWAY 6 WAS SLIGHTLY INJURED WHEN A LARGE TREE LIMB FELL ONTO HIS CAR. THE VEHICLE SUSTAINED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE.
October 2007Tornado (EF3)Nappanee$11,000,000The tornado continued northeast out of Kosciusko County into the southeast side of Nappanee where the most extensive damage occurred. The width of the tornado decreased to one quarter mile and intensified just south of US-6 and County Road 7 as wind speeds increased to around 165 mph, in the upper range of the EF3 rating. The tornado went through an area populated by homes, restaurants, convenience stores and 3 RV plants, all of which sustained varying degrees of damage. Local officials reported that 459 buildings were damaged. Of these, 352 were homes with 52 of those being destroyed or uninhabitable. 81 businesses were damaged and 26 destroyed. A few minor injuries were also reported, mainly from people trapped in some of the houses and a few businesses. The tornado continued into the Blackstone subdivision where numerous homes were damaged or destroyed. The tornado continued to west of New Paris near the intersection of County Roads 46 and 17 where it lifted. Numerous vehicles of all varieties sustained severe damage. Damage is estimated around $11 million.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindNappanee$25,000Large tree down onto a home in Nappanee.
September 2011Tornado (EF0)Nappanee$10,000A NWS survey of damage and eyewitness reports of a possible tornado was performed near Nappanee. Four different eyewitnesses reported a tornado touch down at a business on the south side of US 6 and quickly track north across US 6, ending near County Road 54. Minor shingle and soffit damage was observed to 2 businesses. Small branches were also broken in the area. Eyewitnesses reported that branches and leaves were being bent upwards into the circulation but remained generally intact. Wind speed are estimated in the 70 to 75 mph range.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindNappanee$5,000Several tree limbs were blown down that caused some damage to the side of a residence. Also tree damage at the McCormick Creek Golf Course.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindNappanee$5,000Power lines were downed.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindNappanee-Widespread wind damage across Nappanee.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindNappanee-The public reported several large trees were blown down in Nappanee.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindNappanee-Local media reported a barn suffered mainly roof damage.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindNappanee-The public estimated wind gusts to 60 mph.
July 2014HailNappanee-The public posted pictures of hail slightly larger than the size of quarters on the office Facebook page.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindNappanee-A trained spotter reported a large tree down across the road, with power lines down in the area.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindNappanee-Pictures submitted to a South Bend television station indicated several large tree limbs being blown down in Nappanee.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindNappanee-Trees and tree limbs were blown down in and around Nappanee.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindNappanee-Large trees down.
June 2006HailNappanee-no account filed
June 1997HailNappanee-no account filed
April 1996HailNappanee-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Elkhart County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Downtown Nappanee Historic District0.4 miles1990
Arthur Miller House0.4 miles1992
Nappaness Eastside Historic District0.4 miles2003
Frank and Katharine Coppes House0.4 miles1990
Richard and Susan Pletcher House0.5 miles2020
Stahly-Nissley-Kuhns Farm0.6 miles1990

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 94000231 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Elkhart CountyAll 39 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.