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Welcome to northeast Indiana

Northeast Indiana's landscape is characterized by a wide variety of lakes and rivers and by the effects of both agricultural clearing and the sprawl of the burgeoning city, Fort Wayne. The second largest city in the state, Fort Wayne was established as a military fort in the late 1700s by Col. Anthony Wayne. It grew rapidly in the 1830s, from 300 to 1,500 residents. By 1850, more than 4,000 people lived there.

This region was home—in several locations—to author Gene Stratton-Porter. Born and raised in Wabash County, Stratton-Porter put the Limberlost on the map during the time that she and her husband lived in Geneva, in the southeast corner of the region. When destruction of the swamp began, they moved to Rome City, a small town on Sylvan Lake much farther north.

Before white settlements appeared here, the region was divided almost equally among two landscapes: in one half, wetlands of endless variety in combination with forest, prairie, and oak savanna; in the other half, till plain that spilled over from the middle third of the state. (Till is a mixture of sand, gravel, and clay left over from glaciers.) One other small pocket, on the eastern border, was originally part of the Great Black Swamp that covered much of northwest Ohio.

 

Pertinent ecosystems
Forest
Lakes

Rivers
Tall grass prairies
Wetlands

Relevant environmental terms/issues
Agriculture
Urban sprawl
Wetland destruction

Related authors
Philip Appleman
Dwight Le Roy Armstrong
Theodore Dreiser
Darlene Mathis Eddy
Michael P. Kube-McDowell
Michael Martone
Gene Stratton-Porter