• Winona Lake was originally part of Elkhart County and was part of a township called Kosciusko (named after, General George Washington's aide-de-camp and Polish national hero, Thaddeus Kosciusko). Kosciusko became a county and the capital was named Warsaw. The settlement of Warsaw, Indiana was originally known as Red Brush
• [1832] The United States government purchased Kosciusko from the Potawatomi Indians (principal chiefs were Flatbelly, Wawasee and his brother Musquabuck). Kosciusko county has over one-hundred lakes. Many Native Americans (several tribes of the Miami and Pottawatomi nations) were residents of the county durring early settlements.
• [1854] Warsaw had a residency of 752 inhabitants when it was incorporated.
• [1885] The orthopedic industry was pioneered by Revra DePuy. He hired Justin Zimmer in 1905, which started his own company in 1927. Warsaw, Indiana is regarded as the "Orthopedic Capitol of the World".
• [1895] Winona Bible Conference and Summer School purchased the land and started the Winona Movement, a chautauqua that was a combination of religion and entertainment. The town was gated. Turnstile at the entrance collected enterance fees. Seasonal passes for over six weeks, were $6 and $3 (ministers, students and cottage owners). "Five schools were offered: Normal School, held in the building which is now the Free Methodist Headquarters; Agriculture School, in the Westminister Hotel; Girl's School, in the Winona Hotel; Boy's School in the Daguerre (Photography) School building; and the Music School, located in a building that later burned at 7th Street and Kings Highway. Some of the famous directors of the Winona Bible Conference and Summer School included H. J. Heinz, the canned food magnate; John M. Studebaker, maker of wagons and later automobiles; and Alexander MacDonald, president of Standard Oil of Ohio." [read more: Winona Lake]


• [1903] Little Crow Foods, Warsaw, Indiana (maker of Coco Wheats) was passed down to the 4th generation from Wilbur E. Maish.
• [early 1900s] Ice business was one of the largest industries in Winona Lake and Warsaw.
• [1910] An electronic trolley car system ran between Winona Lake and Warsaw, Indiana and eventually down to Peru and up to Goshen. Winona Lake and Warsaw, Indiana were popular tourist destinations.
• [1930] The Winona Lake gates were dismanteled.
• [1945] Theodore Dreiser, author of An American Tragedy, attended Warsaw High School. He died in 1945, seven years before A Place in the Sun, based on the novel, won an Academy Award.
• [1948] Hal Kratzsch, organized the musical group "The Four Freshmen" in Warsaw, Indiana.
• America's first coast-to-coast roadway (3,300 miles) ran through Funk Park on North Lake Street in Warsaw.
• [1954] Three Menonites from Warsaw and northern Indiana received two-year prison sentences for refusing to serve in the armed forces.
• [1955] Dr. Homer Alvin Rodeheaver, of Winona Lake, died. He was president of the world's largest publishing house of gospel music.
• [1955] Some talk took place between Winona Lake and Warsaw officials of merging the two towns.
• [1959]The last Prohibition Party candidates elected in the 20th Century were two members of the Winona Lake, Indiana town council. Prohibition Party History
• [1956] The Wagon Wheel Playhouse, a professional theater, opened in Warsaw
• [1960] Max Truex was one of this nation's greatest distance runner. Max (b. Warsaw, Indiana) was five'-six". "He set the record in the Indiana State Mile championship with a 4:20.4. As a sophomore at University of Southern California, he won the 10,000-meter Olympic trials for the l956 Melbourne games but was injured several weeks before the race and did not finish. Max had an outstanding running career at USC including several NCAA championships and records. He broke the NCAA cross-country record when the race was held each year at Michigan State by 20 seconds. The sports writers especially in the LA area loved writing about " the mighty mite from Warsaw, In". In 1960, Max won the 10,000 Olympic trials and was the first person again to make the track team, as it was the first final held. In Rome, he ran an outstanding race at 28:50, which was the eighth fastest in the world at that time, but unfortunately it was 6th place in a very fast race."
• [1961] The movie The Family That Changed The World was produced by Ken Anderson.
• [1964] Wagon Wheel sold out every performance for it's two week run of Sound of Music, and scheduled three extra performances.
• [1965] All but a few acres of Camp Kosciusko, Winona Lake (former summer conference center of the United Presbyterian Synod of Indiana) was sold to Chicago Boys Club Inc. Approximately $75,000 were paid for 14.4 acres.

Kosciusko County Historical Newspaper

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