Potato Creek State Park: The Power of a Place
Potato Creek is a park full of powerful history, all centered on an important place. To Native Americans, the creek was a source of food, and it's where we got the name of the park. To free African-Americans before the Civil War, the land brought safety, community, and acceptance. To their neighboring white settlers, it was a way to subvert the system, celebrating our shared humanity by disregarding, even rebelling against the racist systems around them, to worship and socialize together. For later settlers, the creek and land were a place to put down roots, figuratively and literally, through farming.
Today, Potato Creek State Park is still a place where wildlife and natural resources flourish, and where people find community and make memories together. I’m grateful I was able to explore the question, “What is the creek?” and learn what people have loved about this place for hundreds of years.
IN the Podcast Episode
In the episode, I share several interviews with staff members to learn the park’s history and the future plans for the upcoming lodge. While hiking at the park, I ran into Mary Shupert, whose family was the last to leave the land before the state bought the park under eminent domain. Her honest conversation with me was really moving, and I was able to share it in the episode. I also interviewed Clark Richardes from NIMBA, the local mountain biking group, about their considerable contributions to the park.
Park Features
Potato Creek is another park full of year-round activities. First, Worster Lake, which is 327 acres, has a great beach area and several fishing areas surrounding it. There are also canoe and kayak rentals, and there's a boat ramp for trolling motors only. There are 70 campsites in the horseman's campground which offers several trails for riding. The traditional campgrounds have 287 electric sites, and there are 17 cabins that hold eight people. They're fully furnished and have heat, so are still a great option in the winter.
A paved bike path provides amazing views of the woods. The park also has over seven miles of mountain biking trails along with traditional hiking paths. The nature center is a spacious two-story building with the second floor set aside for kids to learn and play. The park is also home to the historic Porter Rae Cemetery, where free African-Americans were buried next to their white neighbors, all before the Civil War.
In the next year or two, Potato Creek will have a completed lodge. It will include a water park, small library, nature center, conference rooms, and dining, along with over 100 rooms for guests. The lodge will look out over the lake with amazing views of the water and ospreys hunting for fish.
The Huggart Settlement and Porter Rea Cemetery
One aspect of Potato Creek I was really interested in was the Porter Rae Cemetery and its connection to the Huggart settlement. Marie Laudeman Eriks, the park’s interpretive naturalist, explained more of the cemetery’s significance. She said, “It was a sacred burial ground for all the communities that were in the area. And to think about that, it also was an integrated community, whites being buried next to African Americans, and sharing that community of the sacred burial ground is pretty significant pre-Civil War.” The cemetery is named for the first person buried there: nine-year-old Emma Porter, a white girl who died of a rattlesnake bite, but the story is much bigger.
It was in 1834 that Samuel Huggart, a free African-American from Virginia, moved to St. Joseph County and purchased 80 acres of land in what I think would have been the far east side of the park. He and his family were joined by his brother Andrew in the 1840s. Andrew became a leading figure in the community: the first Black man to seek public office, a successful farmer and shoemaker, and the first African-American in the county to serve on a jury.
The racial harmony was revolutionary, and the Huggarts were welcomed by white Quaker families in the area like the Lamb family who worked alongside the Huggarts, using their home as a stop on the Underground Railroad. In the community, Black and white settlers realized their children needed a formal education, so in 1849, they started the Olive Branch School for Black and white students. At this point, it was technically illegal for Black and white children to attend school together, but the community didn’t care. They also worshipped at church together and were buried together.
Other Black families joined Samuel and Andrew Huggart, whose farm had doubled to 160 acres by this point. However, by the turn of the century, people died off or moved away, so the community gradually transitioned to new farmers in the area. Today, the Olive Branch Church still stands, and the Porter Rae Cemetery remains active, where Black and white men, women, and children are still buried side by side. I was so encouraged to see that there was a thriving integrated community in Indiana almost 200 years ago. To them, Potato Creek represented hope, safety, and freedom.
Darcey Worster’s Bugs
Decades after the Huggart settlement, a man named Darcey Worster had a vision for the area. He was part of a conservation group petitioning the state for the area to become the next state park. While his plan was waylaid during World War II, after the war, he took up his cause again.
He was very creative and persistent with the state legislators. Marie said, “He would create little insects out of maple seeds, little walnuts, and little acorns, you know, any kind of natural material… and he would send them down to state legislators in Indianapolis to ‘bug’ them not to forget that Potato Creek should become a state park someday.” After all that “bugging,” the state set aside land for a park.
The area appealed to the state park leaders because of its location near South Bend. There weren’t any parks close, so Worster was insistent that this become one. Unfortunately, land was taken from a lot of families who had farmed the land for years. While many felt they were compensated fairly and were able to move on, even today, there are some who still carry some hurt.
The park was initially created as a recreation area. With so much farmland, it took a while for the dam to be completed, the lake to fill with water, and the trees to fill in the surrounding land. Finally, it became a park and was dedicated in 1977. In the decades since, it has become well-loved by the community and has had a positive impact on the environment.
The Return of the Ospreys
A major benefit of converting farmland to parkland is the return of ospreys. In 2018, ospreys were officially removed from the Indiana Endangered Species List. Marie told me when she grew up in the area, the use of DDT had nearly wiped out ospreys. She explained that DDT affected their eggshell development. The pesticide “depleted the calcium, so when mothers sat on their nests, they would break the eggs. So we started not seeing the continuation of raptor species. Once we learned that that was probably from that pesticide, DDT, we removed that.” Once the cause was discovered, “Then we started thinking conservation and reintroduction of the osprey, and Potato Creek was one of those first reintroductions to bring osprey back to the state.” The osprey population has grown tremendously. At Potato Creek, there’s an osprey platform next to the dam which is close enough to the road and water to watch them hunt and fly. The Friends of Potato Creek volunteer group has been a huge supporter of the ospreys and continues to ensure they flourish.
Planning Your Visit
Potato Creek will keep you busy all year long. Every Easter, their Friends group puts on a massive egg hunt at the beach. During the summer, you can spend time on the water and watch ospreys as you kayak around the lake. Any time of the year, you can learn about the rich history of the park. Be on the lookout for spring and summer wildflowers blooming, and be sure to visit the campground at Halloween.
After spending my time immersed in all things Potato Creek State Park, it’s clear that for hundreds of years, this land has been a life source for people. It provided acceptance and community for free African-Americans years ago and still offers connections for families today. Now it’s your turn: go make some of your own memories, and I hope to see you in the parks!