Adams Landing or CCC?

Along South Birch Road in Tippecanoe Township is a hillside retreat along the Tippecanoe River. Generations have grown up with the stone steps and walled embankment referring to it as "the wall" or the swimming hole.

The area has all of the trademarks of a New Deal project, either by the Civilian Conservation Corps or the Works Progress Administration, but a few facts make it hard to pinpoint if indeed it actually is a New Deal project. First, the property was privately owned. New Deal work was never undertaken on private property, or even non-profit property. In the case of the Izaak Walton League building, the League had to turn the property over to the US Bureau of Fish Hatcheries to have the clubhouse constructed. The second item is that it cannot be found in the listing of Federal Relief work in Marshall County.

Recently research was undertaken on the history of the Argos Izaak Walton League which may shed some light on "the wall". The league was established in 1926. They held fish fries along the Tippecanoe River at a place called "Adams Landing". The league constructed ovens at Adams Landing and it was there that a benefit supper was held to raise funds to purchase the property the League now uses as its home. In the Argos Izaak Walton League Building is a photograph of "the wall", but without a caption. Could the stonework have been created by the League given the popularity of the site as a fishing hole? No one in the area has ever heard of Adams Landing.

Creighton Bros. of Warsaw were the owners of the property until recently when Wythougan Valley Preservation acted as a liaison in the transfer of the property to Pottawatomie Wildlife Park. The stonework is in rough condition, however, the park has already made some stabilization to the wall. We anticipate working with the park in restoring this site because whether or not it is a CCC work, or the work of the Izaak Walton League, it is still an important piece of heritage to the residents of Tippecanoe Twp.