Early History

Samuel  H. (January 1867 – September 1951) and Anna Nelson Reck (1871 – May 5, 1941) By Dick Meister (August 31, 2010) Without the family of Samuel Henry and Anna Nelson Reck, Ogden Dunes, as we know it, would not exist.  Samuel and his oldest son, Nelson, took the lead in making the town a reality.  Their physical presence in the dunes ended with the retirement and move of Nelson and his wife, Helen, in 1971 to California.   Yet, their commitment and many contributions have allowed the community to continue to flourish. Recently, the Historical [...]

By Dick Meister By federal law the individual census records are not open to the public until seventy years after the census was taken.  Thus, on April 2, 2012 the United States Census Bureau was able to release the 1940 Census.  This manuscript census contains the census interviewer’s handwritten responses to a set of standardized questions.  The 1940 Census is more extensive than earlier censuses.  It not only lists the name, age, sex, marital status and relationship to the head of the household, but also the value of the home, if owned, or the monthly [...]

Old Trails of Ogden Dunes and Vicinity By Peter Youngman [This exposition appeared in the October, 1997, Hour Glass, vol. 5, #10. © 1997 Historical Society of Ogden Dunes, Indiana, Inc.] There were undoubtedly trails traversing Ogden Dunes before Mackenzie laid out our roads but they were obliterated long ago and, if there are any records of where they ran, I am unaware of them. George Dalby recalls an old hunters' trail from his childhood. It is still visible cut into the side of the hill west of and parallel to Cedar Trail 1/3 of [...]

There were undoubtedly trails traversing Ogden Dunes before Mackenzie laid out our roads but they were obliterated long ago and, if there are any records of where they ran, I am unaware of them. George Dalby recalls an old hunters' trail from his childhood. It is still visible cut into the side of the hill west of and parallel to Cedar Trail 1/3 of the way from Ogden Road to the Ledge. I do not understand why it is where it is, as it does not seem to follow the rules of path creation. When [...]