By Alex Weidman, Park Naturalist
Have you ever been wandering the trails of McCloud and noticed remnants of the past: limestone pillars, stone steps that lead to nowhere, and old watch towers over the creek?
Before it became a public Hendricks County park in 2003, the history of McCloud Nature Park had faded into the past for most of its visitors. Let’ s take a look way back, more than 200 years ago.
In this area of the Eel River Township, the territory was once occupied by the Wea tribe, which is one of the six tribes of the Miami Nation of the Northwest Territory. In 1818, a treaty was signed that ceded all Native American territory south of the Wabash River in Indiana to settlers.
Settlers began arriving in Eel River Township in 1824, and multiple lineages of the McCloud family hailing from the Appalachian Mountain region were believed to have arrived around 1830. The land was primarily wilderness, unlike the agricultural landscape we see today in the area.
Many of the land parcels that the McCloud family owned are now part of our park property today, though many of the remnants of those properties have been lost to time. One of these was the cabin of Kate“ Granny” McCloud, who was one of the last known members of the McCloud family to live on the current park property. Her cabin is believed to have been located on the north side of the park in an area referred to as“ Bristle Ridge.”
About a century later, an attorney from North Salem named Robert Franklin“ Frank” Davidson purchased roughly 800 acres of property with a dream. His intention was to turn the property into a park by selling it to the State of Indiana. Unfortunately, at this time in the 1930s the Great Depression was in full swing, and the State of Indiana did not have the means to purchase the property.
While things didn’ t go exactly as planned, Davidson was still able to create a resort park with many amenities including tennis courts, a swimming pool, picnic areas, gazebos, and more! Some of these remnants remain on park property today, such as the lifeguard tower overlooking a small ravine. Many people around the area have fond memories of class reunions, family get-togethers, Boy Scouts hikes, fishing and other activities at the original McCloud Nature Park.
In 2000, the Hendricks County Council created Hendricks County Parks & Recreation by establishing a Park Board. Soon after, the Park Board purchased properties from the Koch-Molloy and Harlos families to create a 232-acre public park. The new McCloud Nature Park opened in May of 2003 and has celebrated more than 22 years of operation, providing special events and programming all year round.
Interested in learning the history of McCloud Nature Park and practices of the past? We have programs this fall that will be celebrating just that! Visit our Fall Colors Festival where we will dive into life of the past, as well as our October Homestead History Homeschool Ecology program. Campfire cooking, butter-making, fiber arts and more will be on display at these special events!
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