From the Files of the Kosciusko County Historical Society

Editor’s note: This is a retrospective article that runs a few times a month on InkFreeNews.  

Information for this retrospective series is courtesy of the Kosciusko County Historical Society. For more history of Kosciusko County in the news visit yesteryear.clunette.com

Aug. 3, 1973 — A world’s record was established today in Warsaw by two 17-year-old high school seniors. Dan Robinson and Dan Yoder completed their marathon 25-day ride on a hand-made teeter-totter, located in front of the Penguin Point Drive-In on East Center Street. The record now stands at 600 hours.

Aug. 4, 1972 — “So long truckers … happy driving on new bypass,” proclaimed a sign in downtown Warsaw today and it pretty well expressed the sentiments of all residents following formal opening of the new U.S. 30 bypass.

Governor Edgar D. Whitcomb and other state and local dignitaries were on hand for the formal ribbon-cutting ceremonies at 11 a.m. opening a 10.38-mile stretch of the new highway — the final segment of four-lane pavement linking two of the state’s larger cities — Fort Wayne and Gary.

The program was held on top of the new overpass above Ind. 15, 2-1/2 miles north of the city.

Aug. 9, 1971 — The last of the old lake hotels on Lake Wawasee, depicting an era rich in local color, will soon be replaced by a third condominium to complete the Bay Point complex.

The old Johnson Hotel and all remaining contents will be sold at a public auction, which will get under way at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 14. Successful bidder on the hotel building will have nearly one year to remove it from its present site on the southeastern tip of Lake Wawasee, according to auctioneer Leonard Greer of the Star Sales Co., Greer Auction Division.

Aug. 1, 1947 — An original idea conceived by a native Chicagoan, Donald J. Dalton, who came to Warsaw in 1910, was developed, and as a result, he headed for many years one of the city’s most successful industries, Dalton Foundries Inc.

Dalton was president of the company at the time of his death Aug. 1, 1947. He established his first foundry in an empty building on West Market Street in 1910. The then-abandoned building had been a foundry edifice and was adjacent to the Pennsylvania Railroad main lines. The late founder of Dalton Foundries Inc. was 66 years old at his death.

– Compiled by InkFreeNews reporter Lasca Randels