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present. Farmhouses with elements from the Federal, Italianate, Stick, and Queen Anne styles exist in the
<br />area. Bungalows and newer housing stock are also present in this area. The early farmers and inhabitants
<br />used local materials to erect their homes and barns including: wood, fieldstone for foundations, and bricks
<br />made near Sumption Pond by the Sumption family. Several farmers in the area built their homes with
<br />these red -orange bricks.
<br />George Sumption (Federal) Farmhouse, 60413 Sumption Trail, 1832, 0/13 L, [09064 L].
<br />Italianate Residence, 60559 Sumption Trail, c. 1875, C/10, [09065].
<br />Sumption Prairie Cemetery, 23999 Kern Road, c. 1830, S/11, [09002].
<br />Stick Vernacular Farmhouse, 61074 Oak Road, c. 1890, S/11, [09029].
<br />Thomas Holloway (Italianate period revival) Farmhouse & Barn, 61229 Oak Road, c. 1860, S/1114
<br />John McCullough (Greek Revival) Farmhouse & Barn, 61383 Oak Road, S/12, c. 1837, [09031].
<br />Greek Revival Farmhouse, 61622 Oak Road, c. 1840, C/10, [09032].
<br />Seth Hammond (Stick) Farmhouse & Barn, 61723 Oak Road, 1885, 0/13 L, [09033 L].
<br />Vernacular Farmhouse, 61767 Oak Road, c. 1890, C/10, [09034].
<br />Hoosier (Greek Revival) School, 62012 Oak Road, 1837, S/11 L, [09035 L].
<br />Italianate Residence, 62129 Oak Road, c. 1875, C/10, [09036].
<br />Vernacular Farmhouse and Barn, 62950 Oak Road, c. 1880, S/12, [09037].
<br />Jacob Rupe (Stick Vernacular) Farmhouse, 62011 Orange Road, 0/13, c. 1880, [09038].
<br />Greene Township School, 24702 Roosevelt Road, S/11,1929, [09052].
<br />Bungalow Residence, 24136 Layton Road, 1915, C/10, [09007].
<br />Queen Anne Farmhouse, 62555 Orange Road, c. 1905, C/10, [09039].
<br />As shown in the tables above, Alternative A would lie quite close to three concentration of historic
<br />farmhouses, farms, early townships schools, community churches, and graveyards. All these areas
<br />provide physical remnants of those people who settled and lived in the county in the years of its early
<br />development. They are reminders of the early success of the county as an agricultural and commercial
<br />center for Indiana.
<br />Alternative A may also expand and pave over portions, if not all, of the New Jersey, Illinois, and Indiana
<br />railroad corridor. This action would remove the relationship of the railway to the rural landscape and a
<br />significant piece of physical history of the county. Alternative A would also remove many of the reuse
<br />options for the New Jersey, Illinois, and Indiana railroad line such as Rails to Trails. This alternative will
<br />also destroy the New Jersey, Illinois, and Indiana rail line's historic relationship to the landscape and any
<br />possibility for the reuse of the RR corridor with minimal changes done to it. Alternative A would thus
<br />remove a remnant of St. Joseph County's ties to the railroad as the main passenger and freight transporter
<br />from the mid to late 1800s.
<br />Furthermore, this route will also impact Potato Creek State Park, due to the proximity of the road to the
<br />park. Though the road could provide more access to Potato Creek Park for recreational purposes, this
<br />benefit is canceled by the possible decrease in park health due to added traffic. It may also affect the
<br />historic Huggart settlement, an area in Union township where African Americans owned land, farmed,
<br />and played active roles in the community. Members of the settlement are buried in the Portage Cemetery
<br />in Potato Creek Park.
<br />The new road construction and other possible future developments will cause undue destruction and loss
<br />of the rural character of this area and to the concentrations of historic sites and structures nearby. The
<br />American rural landscape type is quickly being over run by strip centers, fast food restaurants, cell phone
<br />towers, highways, and subdivisions all in the name of tax dollars and economic benefits.
<br />14
<br />Old Survey, 09030.
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