Insull launched an aggressive marketing campaign producing booklets, movies, and in particular a set of colorful, artistic posters, which attracted many from Illinois to the sand dunes and steel mills of Northwest Indiana.
The towering sand dunes along Lake Michigan, not far from Chicago, are one of the most unexpected natural features of Indiana. The second edition of Dreams of Duneland beautifully illustrates the dunes region, from the past to the present. Since the first edition, the Indiana Dunes area has become an official national park. With more than 400 stunning images, many of them new, Dreams of Duneland showcases the breathtaking sand dunes, as well as the rest of this newly minted park, which includes savanna, wetland, prairie, and forest and is home to a wide variety of plant and animal species. Kenneth J. Schoon reveals how the preserved area of the Indiana Dunes National Park—which sits by residential communities, businesses, and cultural attractions—has a long history of competition among farmers, fur traders, industrialists, and conservationists. Featuring a new foreword and afterword and many updates throughout, this gorgeous new edition will have you planning a trip to the extraordinary Indiana Dunes.
Trains Across the Continent North American Railroad History Second Edition Rudolph Daniels A wonderfully readable, illustrated guide to the history of railroads in America. "Trains Across the Continent is everything you need to know about railroad history—both educational and enjoyable reading." —Dean Bruce, President, Railroad Education Training Association "Trains Across the Continent should be in every public school library in the country. Quickly and concisely Dr. Daniels leads you through the maze of building, merging, and a myriad of other details necessary to understand modern railroading. Steam, diesel, passenger, and freight are all carefully explained on a national scale rather than railroad specific, making this book even more of a useful tool for the student." —Donald D. Snoddy, Historian, Union Pacific Railroad "Trains Across the Continent" is a truly comprehensive account of how railroads helped shape, and are continuing to shape, the history of North America." —Jonathan B. Hanna, Historian, Canadian Pacific Railway "Nothing but positive comments about it from faculty and students alike. . . . The industry bible in this area." —Phillip B. Cypret, Sacramento City College "Professor Daniels displays both passion and scholarship in this nicely arranged buffet of subjects both large and minute, important and interesting, serious and fun, to present a delicious overview of railroad history." —James D. Porterfield, author of Dining by Rail "Daniels manages to make brief mention of all major points of North American railroad history . . . from the workings of a steam locomotive to the dawn of the railroad mega-merger, nearly every conceivable aspect of railroading receives attention. . . . This volume is a must for those wishing to broaden or hone their knowledge of the birth and evolution of the railroad industry in North America." —Rail News Updated maps, new appendices, a greatly expanded bibliography, detailed discussions of the recent attempted mergers of the CN and BNSF, of the diesel locomotive, and of railroad electrification further round out the usefulness of Trains Across the Continent as the complete and concise introduction to North American railroads. Rudolph Daniels is Chair of the Behavioral Sciences Department at Western Iowa Tech Community College, where he teaches history and Railroad Operations Technology.
Miller Beach became a popular tourist destination in the early 1900s thanks to its windswept sand dunes and Lake Michigan shoreline. Early aviator and Chicagoan Octave Chanute glided his aircraft over the dunes; botanist Henry Chandler Cowles studied plant succession in Miller Woods. Miller Beach's architecture is diverse, with historic park buildings designed by George W. Maher: the Marquette Park Pavilion and the Gary Bathing Beach Bathhouse. Miller Beach is now a part of Gary, Indiana, and the draw of the beach remains a timeless part of its past, present, and future.
The landscape of the Calumet, an area that sits astride the Indiana-Illinois state line at the southern end of Lake Michigan was shaped by the glaciers that withdrew toward the end of the last ice age--about 45,000 years ago. In the years since, many natural forces, including wind, running water, and the waves of Lake Michigan, have continued to shape the land. The lake's modern and ancient shorelines have served as Indian trails, stagecoach routes, highways, and sites that have evolved into many of the cities, towns, and villages of the Calumet area. People have also left their mark on the landscape: Indians built mounds; farmers filled in wetlands; governments commissioned ditches and canals to drain marshes and change the direction of rivers; sand was hauled from where it was plentiful to where it was needed for urban and industrial growth. These thousands of years of weather and movements of peoples have given the Calumet region its distinct climate and appeal.