Kosciusko County information

[boone]

I grew up in the North Webster area and have heard of rumors about the mafia. One story interests me and I would like to know if anybody else has heard the same. Lake wawasee, way back in its hey day, the rail road had passanger trains that stopped on the north side of the lake. A hugh hotel, some call it the sphinx condos and its also called the seminary. regardless, it was the destination for many summer vactions. The rumor has it that, illegal gambling took place in the hotel. Slot machines were one of the devices used in the hotel. Rumors of a law enforcement raid on the hotel prompted the gathering of the slots onto a boat and were dumped into the lake. oddly enough, there is a deep hole located west of the hotel out in the lake. It is refered to as the dillinger hole. Sounds like a good place to start looking if you own scuba gear and a metal detector. I own scuba gear and will purchase a detector in the spring. If anybody is certified and wants too tag along please reply.
Second, Back in the early 1900's the warsaw court house had marble statues imported from Italy. The statues were placed in the court yard in all their naked beauty. The bible bangers of Winona were outraged by naked statues and on sundays they would dress the statues. Some morons thought, the best way to deal with the statues would be to steal them and load them on a boat and deep six them in winona lake.
What would be the best way to verify these stories? I am new at this game and would appreciate a little guideance.

 

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[coolbeans]

i know of the dillenger hole, great fishing but not to deep. i have heard stories of guys sinking junk boats at night down at buttermilk bay in the 70 foot deep water just before the sandbar. the guy that had the boat junkyard (beside the fish of stroh) used to dump a lot of junk there in the 70s .
a hundred years ago the lake was 6 feet shallower than it is today. coins from the 1700s have been found on morrison island, if i remember right they were found in the 20s. capone and his crew used to hang out in north webster too and in rome city over in noble county. i hope this can help, i cant wait to get back up there!

 

[shanko]

I've been going to a little lake located just south of North Webster in Kosciusko County for the past 10 years. Its called Ridinger Lake. I'll try to look into these stories and see if I can come up w/anything. Maybe ask some of the old timers up there if they have any insight. If I come up w/anything I'l let you know.

Later!

Shanko

 

[keysync]

I'm in Kosciusko County. The north shore where I believe you are calling the seminary is now and has been for many years owned by Ely Lilly. Which is the Lilly pharmaceutical owner.
My grandparents used to go there on weekends to spend the day on the lake with them.

The Spinx was completely rebuilt wasn't it. I can't recall....

The Al Capone deal was near Barbee Lake at the Barbee Hotel.
He may have spent time on Wawasee and possibly Winona since it was supposedly a gambling hot spot also.

I haven't heard of the Italian statues. I will look into that.
I have a friend that works at the court house.

 

[Dan Hurd]

I grew up in the North Webster area and have heard of rumors about the mafia. One story interests me and I would like to know if anybody else has heard the same. Lake wawasee, way back in its hey day, the rail road had passanger trains that stopped on the north side of the lake. A hugh hotel, some call it the sphinx condos and its also called the seminary. regardless, it was the destination for many summer vactions. The rumor has it that, illegal gambling took place in the hotel. Slot machines were one of the devices used in the hotel. Rumors of a law enforcement raid on the hotel prompted the gathering of the slots onto a boat and were dumped into the lake. oddly enough, there is a deep hole located west of the hotel out in the lake. It is refered to as the dillinger hole. Sounds like a good place to start looking if you own scuba gear and a metal detector. I own scuba gear and will purchase a detector in the spring. If anybody is certified and wants too tag along please reply.
Second, Back in the early 1900's the warsaw court house had marble statues imported from Italy. The statues were placed in the court yard in all their naked beauty. The bible bangers of Winona were outraged by naked statues and on sundays they would dress the statues. Some morons thought, the best way to deal with the statues would be to steal them and load them on a boat and deep six them in winona lake.
What would be the best way to verify these stories? I am new at this game and would appreciate a little guideance.

I also live here in North Webster and have heard all the stories. I wish I'd seen this post when you first submitted your questions. I could have put you in contact with a person that had first hand knowledge about the slot machines, mafia, and much more. The man's name was Jack Mason. His father ran the sphinx hotel/gambling. Well let's just say he was just in charge of overseeing the gambling end of it. There are many rumors of Jack and his father had ties with the mafia. Jack would strongly deny any ties with the mafia, all the while, with a shit eating grin on his face. The Sphinx was raided several times and per Jack's testimony. The slots were never dumped in the lake. There was too much money invested and made in those machines. The machines were just cleverly moved and hidden. I have a few stories that Jack confided to me about Wawasee. Email me if interested. I also Scuba dive and have dove the Dillinger hole. Jack also showed me old maps of Wawasee and several swimming areas of the old and many resorts that were once on the lake.
I've also heard of the marble statues and the same story. There is a restaurant on the lake. The point in front of it has a rock shoreline. I have found several broken chunks of marble among the rocks. I've always wondered if the statues were destroyed and those chunks were remnants.