Our County History
by County Historian Marion W. Coplen

In 1914 a Chicago Printing and Engraving Company came to Kosciusko county, and after several months of painstaking work produced an Atlas of Kosciusko county which is an extremely valuable book. As far as we know there have been only two atlases of our county ever produced--one in 1879 by Kingman Brothers and this one by George A. Ogle and company.

This atlas gives the plats of all the areas in the county which had been platted up to 1914. Included are many areas which we seldom hear or read about today. For instance, there are plats of Belleview, Crowdale, Fair Oaks, Forest Glen, Highlands, Kinsey, Lake View, Mineral Beach, Mount Ruska, Shakespeare, Willow Grove, Pleasant View, and many others. The locations of some of these places would only be known to some of our older residents, because in many cases they now go by another name. In some cases the plats have never been developed. Many are located in the north-eastern lake region and were filed during the period that Kosciusko county was emerging as a summer resort center.

Detailed maps of each of our seventeen townships are included in the contests of this atlas. Each school, church, cemetery, and farm building is shown. The roads, lakes, rivers, and man-made ditches are indicted. From these maps one can pretty well visualize the county as it was in 1914.

Besides the maps there is a Patron's Reference Directory, an advertising Section, and six pages of illustrations. The Directory lists most of the businessmen and many of the farmers of the county, telling where they lived, what business they were in, and how long each had been a resident of the county. The Greyhound Garage Co. at 113 Indiana Street, distributor for the Auburn and Detroiter cars, was one of the many advertisers. Illustrations include street scenes, public buildings, churches, schools, and farm and city residences.

We would like to remind our readers that we would like to have the privilege of examining any histories or records of our county which you have in your possession.

Warsaw Times-Union Sat. Sept. 5, 1953