A report by Kenneth J. Schoon
Large-scale mining of Northwest Indiana sand began as railroad lines were first built across the region in 1850-51, but as we look at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore landscape today, how can we tell which areas were sand mined in the past? Historical materials were found through a search of published professional literature as well as newspaper articles and archival notes of geologists. Old topographic maps and photographs were compared with recent ones, people familiar with the sand mining business were interviewed, photographs were collected, and current conditions were confirmed on site. This work by Kenneth J. Schoon resulted in the following report, included here in different sections to facilitate faster download.
Table of Contents - Acknowledgements
Chapter 1 Sand and Gravel Deposits
Chapter 3 Sand and Gravel Mining
Chapter 4 Companies and Customers
Part Two (Chapters 5 - 9) Introduction
Chapter 6 Porter County A : Portage Township
Chapter 7 Porter County B: Westchester Township
Last updated: January 17, 2018