Versailles State Park

Versailles State Park
Versailles State Park
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
Location	Indiana, United States
Nearest city	Versailles, Indiana
Coordinates	39°05′N 85°14′W / 39.08°N 85.23°W
Area	5,988 acres (24 km2)
Established	1943
Visitors	224,526 (in 2018–2019)
Governing body	Indiana Department of Natural Resources
	Official website

Versailles State Park (pronounced locally as ver-SAYLES) is an Indiana state park, near the town of Versailles, Indiana in Ripley County. The land was given by the National Park Service for use as a state park to Indiana's Department of Conservation in 1943.^[2] The park draws about 225,000 visitors annually.^[1]

In the early 20th century, the area was farmland. In the 1930s, the National Park Service acquired the land and hired the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to improve the land into a Recreational Demonstration Area. The 230-acre (0.93 km²) Versailles Lake was formed in 1954 when a dam was built across Laughery Creek.

Near the park's entrance is a statue commemorating the work done by the CCC to improve the land. Efforts to build the statue were led by two local women, Ruth Swinney and her daughter Lisa Ebinger, as well as the Ripley County Historical Society. Two grants--one from the Rising Sun Regional Foundation and another from the Ripley County Community Foundation--provided the funds necessary to construct the statue. The statue was dedicated on May 21, 2010. Similar statues exist across the United States, but the only other such statue in Indiana is located in Ouabache State Park in Wells County.^[3]

It is a recreation area, with fishing and boating on Versailles Lake and Laughery Creek. A covered bridge, the Busching Bridge, crosses the creek. This Howe truss bridge was constructed in 1885, is 176 feet (54 m) long, and although within the state park, Ripley County owns it. The bridge was documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in 1973.^[4]

A group camp, originally constructed by the CCC, is available for use as well. Swimming is not allowed in Versailles Lake, but a 25-meter pool is available.

The park is 1 of 14 Indiana State Parks that are in the path of totality for the 2024 solar eclipse, with the park experiencing 1 minute and 55 seconds of totality.^[5]

Notes

^ ^a ^b "2018 / 2019 Estimated Fiscal Year Visits for Indiana State Parks ~ Alphabetical" (PDF). Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
^ http://www.in.gov/dnr/3245.htm Official (Indiana) DNR Historical Timeline
^ "CCC Statue List". Civilian Conservation Corps Legacy. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
^ Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. IN-33, "Busching Covered Bridge, Spanning Laughery Creek at Covered Bridge Road, Versailles, Ripley County, IN"
^ R, Mike (July 14, 2021). "Indiana 2024 Eclipse State Park Resources". CosmosPNW. Retrieved October 3, 2022.

References

Conn, Earl L. (2006). My Indiana: 101 Places to See. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Press. pp. 168–9. ISBN 978-0-87195-195-3.

External links

Official website

This Ripley County, Indiana location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

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[Fiscal_Year_Visits-1] "2018 / 2019 Estimated Fiscal Year Visits for Indiana State Parks ~ Alphabetical" (PDF). Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved November 2, 2021.

[2] ttp://www.in.gov/dnr/3245.htm Official (Indiana) DNR Historical Timeline

[3] "CCC Statue List". Civilian Conservation Corps Legacy. Retrieved January 20, 2022.

[4] Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. IN-33, "Busching Covered Bridge, Spanning Laughery Creek at Covered Bridge Road, Versailles, Ripley County, IN"

[5] R, Mike (July 14, 2021). "Indiana 2024 Eclipse State Park Resources". CosmosPNW. Retrieved October 3, 2022.

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v t e Protected areas of Indiana
National Park Service	George Rogers Clark National Historical Park Indiana Dunes National Park Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial
National Forest	Hoosier
National Wildlife Refuges	Big Oaks Muscatatuck Patoka River
National Natural Landmarks	Big Walnut Creek Cabin Creek Raised Bog Calvert and Porter Woods Nature Preserve Cowles Bog Donaldson Cave System and Woods Dunes Nature Preserve Fern Cliff Nature Preserve Hanging Rock and Wabash Reef Harrison Spring Hoosier Prairie Marengo Cave Meltzer Woods Ohio Coral Reef (Falls of the Ohio) Pine Hills Natural Area Pinhook Bog Pioneer Mothers Memorial Forest Portland Arch Nature Preserve Rise at Orangeville Rocky Hollow-Falls Canyon Nature Preserve Tamarack Bog Nature Preserve Wesley Chapel Gulf Wesselman Park Woods Wyandotte Cave
State Parks	Brown County Chain O'Lakes Charlestown Clifty Falls Deam Lake Falls of the Ohio Fort Harrison Harmonie Indiana Dunes Lincoln McCormick's Creek Mounds O'Bannon Woods Ouabache Pokagon Potato Creek Prophetstown Shades Shakamak Spring Mill Starve Hollow Summit Lake Tippecanoe River Turkey Run Versailles White River Whitewater Memorial
State Forests	Clark Ferdinand Frances Slocum Greene–Sullivan Harrison–Crawford Jackson–Washington Martin Morgan–Monroe Owen–Putnam Pike Ravinia Salamonie River Selmier Yellowwood
State Fish and Wildlife Areas	Hovey Lake Jasper–Pulaski Kankakee Kingsbury LaSalle Pigeon River J. E. Roush Tri-County Willow Slough Winamac
Category Indianapolis Indiana Department of Natural Resources Commons