McCullough Park Lodge, Broadway Avenue & Martin Luther King Drive, Muncie, Delaware County, IN

Significance: McCulloch Park is the oldest established park in Muncie, purchased and deeded from the Miami Indians in 1901 by George McCulloch, Muncie's "first citizen." The 1902 plan for the park included tennis courts, fish hatcheries, a zoo, a soap box derby track, scenic area, a playground, and picnic area. The Lodge was built by the park board and the National Park Service as a result of the efforts of Mrs. Rollin H. Bunch, wife of Mayor Bunch, as a recreation center in 1937. Additionally, the Lodge was a very important feature in Muncie for the African American population during the 1930s as it provided a place to hold social gatherings. Architecturally significant, the Lodge is referred to as "rustic," a popular style in national parks across the country between 1916 and 1942. The style was meant to blend well with the National Park Service's emphasis on scenic preservation and stress unobtrusiveness on the natural scene. Typical features of the rustic style, like those that are throughout the Lodge, include massive stone chimneys, rough-cut log construction, and the use of exterior such as brown and gray.
Survey number: HABS IN-308
Building/structure dates: 1937 Initial Construction