♪
>> ELKINSVILLE, IT'S KNOWN AS
THE TOWN THAT ONCE WAS.
FOUNDED IN 1817 BY PIONEER
WILLIAM ELKINS, THE HISTORIC
VILLAGE SET NESTLED IN THE HILLS
AND THE VALLEY OF THE SALT CREEK
WATER SHED, A FERTILE BOTTOM
LAND PERFECT FOR INDIANA'S FIRST
FARMING FAMILIES.
BY 1950s IT WAS SMALL BUT A
BURGEONING COMMUNITY.
WITHIN THE DECADE, HOWEVER, ONLY
TRACES OF ELKINSVILLE WOULD
REMAIN.
AN OLD CEMETERY AND A HANDFUL OF
ABANDONED HOUSES.
AS THE NEIGHBORING CITY OF
BLOOMINGTON CONTINUED TO EXPAND
IN POPULATION, SO TOO DID THE
NEED FOR SUITABLE WATER SOURCES
IN ADDITION, THE VAST FLOODS
PROMPTED RENEWED DEMAND FOR
FLOOD CONTROL.
THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
ANNOUNCED A NEW PROJECT, A DAM
TO BE BILL ON SALT CREEK AND A
RESULTING RESERVOIR, LAKE
MONROE.
LAKE MONROE WOULD BE THE LARGEST
LAKE ENTIRELY SITUATED IN
INDIANA.
WITH ALMOST 11,000 ACRES OF
WATER SURFACE AREA, ENOUGH TO
SATISFY THE NEEDS OF MONROE
COUNTY'S GROWING POPULATION.
IT WOULD SAVE 430,000 ACRES OF
LAND FROM THE THREAT OF FLOODING
BUT ITS CREATION WOULD COME AT
MORE THAN JUST A MONETARY PRICE.
SEVERAL COMMUNITIES, INCLUDING
ELKINSVILLE WOULD NEED TO BE
RELOCATED.
IN 1959, THE ARMY CORPS OF
ENGINEERS WITH THE HELP OF LOCAL
GOVERNMENT WOULD BEGIN THE
PROCESS OF REMOVING THE
RESIDENTS.
>> THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT FLOOD
CONTROL AS WELL AS WATER
RESOURCE.
EARLY PEOPLE THAT CAME THROUGH
THE BIG CORPORATIONS CAME
THROUGH AND TOOK ALL THE TREES.
AND SO WHENEVER THEY TOOK THE
TREES AWAY, IT CAUSED FLOODING.
WHEN THAT FLOODING GOT REALLY
BAD, IT WOULD TAKE AND FLOOD
PART OF THE TOWN AND THAT WAS
THEIR JUSTIFICATION FOR USING
EMINENT DOMAIN.
OF COURSE, THERE WAS A LOT OF
POLITICS INVOLVED, AS WELL,
BECAUSE THAT AS WE KNOW,
PEOPLE'S LAND DOWN NEAR MONROE
COUNTY AND BLOOMINGTON, PEOPLE
WERE ALLOWED TO KEEP THEIR LAND.
UP HERE IN ELKINSVILLE, THE
PEOPLE'S LAND WAS TAKEN AWAY
FROM THEM, WITH THE THREAT OF
EMINENT DOMAIN AND YET PEOPLE
WITHIN 300 METERS OF THE LAKE
STILL HAVE HOUSES.
ALL OF THE PLACES WHERE THEY
CAME THROUGH, THEY ALL GOT THE
SHORT END OF THE STICK.
THEY PURCHASED THE LAND FOR LESS
THAN $100 AN ACRE AND SAID,
YOU'VE GOT TO MOVE ALONG.
AFTER THEY WERE CHASED OUT TO
LAKE MONROE, IN THE EARLY
'60s, IT LEFT A BITTER TASTE
IN MANY PEOPLE'S MOUTHS AND
THEIR MIND AND THEIR HEART AND
IT TOOK THEM A WHILE TO GET OVER
THAT.
>> BY THE RESERVOIR'S COMPLETION
IN 1964, MORE THAN 300 HOMES
ALONG WITH THREE SCHOOLS AND TEN
CHURCHES AND EIGHT CEMETERIES
WERE EITHER RELOCATED OR SIMPLY
WASHED AWAY.
HOWEVER, AFTER THE LAKE WAS
FILLED AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC,
IT WAS DISCOVERED BY FORMER
RESIDENTS THAT THE MAJORITY OF
ELKINSVILLE REMAINED UNTOUCHED
BY THE WATERS OF LAKE MONROE.
WITHIN A FEW YEARS A HANDFUL OF
DEZ INDICATED RESIDENTS RETURNED
TO THE AREA ONCE MORE.
ONE SUCH PERSON WAS BILL MILLER.
HE WAS DRAWN TO THE ELKINSVILLE
AREA FOR THE WILD LANDSCAPES AND
THE PREVAILING SOLITUDE.
SOON, HOWEVER, THE HISTORY OF
THE TOWN BECAME JUST AS
ALLURING.
>> I PURCHASED IT PROPERTY DOWN
HERE IN 1967.
SO I WILL HAVE HAD PROPERTY HERE
50 YEARS THIS YEAR.
I KEPT LOOKING AROUND AFTER WE
GOT THE PROPERTY.
WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT USED
TO LIVE HERE?
AND I KEPT WANTING TO MEET THEM
SO I COULD LEARN ABOUT THE
HISTORY.
AND YEARS PASSED AND I DIDN'T
MEET ANY OF THEM OR VERY FEW.
AND THEN FINALLY, ONE DAY, THE
LOCAL PEOPLE THAT USED TO LIVE
HERE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A PLACE
FOR A REUNION, CAN YOU SUGGEST
ANY PLACE THEY COULD HAVE IT?
AND I SAID, SURE.
THEY CAN HAVE IT HERE AT MY
PROPERTY.
BECAUSE I'M REALLY INTERESTED IN
THE HISTORY.
IT GOT THE PEOPLE TO COME BACK
AND NOT FOCUS ON WHAT HAPPENED
TO THEM, BUT TO FOCUS ON THE
GOOD COMMUNITY THAT THEY HAD AND
THE FUN AND THEY FOCUSED ON THE
POSITIVE.
SO INSTEAD OF LEAVING A BITTER
TASTE IN THEIR MIND, IT ERASED
THAT TO A LARGE DEGREE AND
HELPED MAKE GOOD MEMORIES OF
ELKINSVILLE, BUT THE REUNION HAS
STARTED OUT ABOUT 250 TO 300
PEOPLE IN 1987.
AND SO OVER THE YEARS NOW, IT'S
DWINDLED DOWN AS THOSE PEOPLE
AGED AND PASSED ON, BUT WE STILL
HAVE AROUND 80 TO 100 PEOPLE.
SO THIS YEAR WILL BE THE
30th REUNION.
>> BUT THE STORY OF ELKINSVILLE
IS NOT JUST FOR RETURNING
LOCALS.
THE MAJORITY OF WHAT REMAINS OF
ELKINSVILLE IS IN STATE AND
FEDERAL LAND.
IT'S A HOT SPOT FOR OUTDOOR
RECREATION, SUCH AS HIKING AND
CANOEING.
SO VISITORS CAN TRAVERSE THE
REMNANTS OF ELKINSVILLE AND
EXPERIENCE THE HISTORY FOR
THEMSELVES.
>> THERE'S ABOUT 50,000 ACRES
CONTIGUOUS WITH ELKINSVILLE.
SO THERE'S ABOUT THREE OR FOUR
DIFFERENT ENTITIES OF PUBLIC
LANDS THAT COME TOGETHER HERE.
I THINK THE STORY OF ELKINSVILLE
IS ONE THAT PEOPLE CAN USE TO
SAY THAT PEOPLE TOOK A BAD
SITUATION AND MOVED ON.
WE ALL HAVE TO DEAL WITH
ADVERSITY IN OUR LIVES.
THE IDEA OF PRESERVATION AND
KEEPING THINGS GOING, IT'S
IMPORTANT BECAUSE THE
ELKINSVILLE COMMUNITY IS ONE
THAT SHOULD BE PRESERVED FOR THE
FUTURE GENERATIONS.
>> WHILE ELKINSVILLE MAY BE
KNOWN AS THE TOWN THAT WAS, IT'S
EVIDENT THAT THE SPIRIT OF THE
TOWN STILL CONTINUES AS A
VIBRANT REMINDER OF THOSE WHO
FIND SOLACE ON THE LAKE MONROE
SHORES AND RESPITE AMONG THE
HILLS OF THIS ONE HISTORIC TOWN.