The Winona History Center

The Winona History Center The Winona History Center and Billy Sunday Home
105 9th St (Westminster Hall)

The Winona History Center is located in historic Westminster Hall (105 9th Street) on the campus of Grace College in Winona Lake, IN.

04/18/2026

The Winona History Center will be closed today. We will be back to our regular hours on Monday, April 20th!

February of 1877 marks the date that J. F. Beyer came to Warsaw. He and his brothers (C.C., and J. E. Beyer) were wholes...
02/11/2026

February of 1877 marks the date that J. F. Beyer came to Warsaw. He and his brothers (C.C., and J. E. Beyer) were wholesale dealers in dairy products, and in 1881 purchased a large tract of land east of Eagle Lake—now called Winona Lake.

Modern refrigeration systems had not yet been invented, and they needed a place where they could cool and store their milk products. They had been attracted to this lake because of the large number of springs along the east side. Immediately, they constructed several spring houses which served as a successful and profitable cooling system. It was not long, however, until the Beyer brothers began to recognize the possibilities their farm afforded for something better—a summer resort. Soon they began to clear out the underbrush, prepared fish ponds, built fountains, and made numerous other improvements. Because the eastern shore of the lake was so generously supplied with springs and flowing wells, it was called Spring Fountain Park.

Historian Daniel Coplen said that after the park opened in 1884, “Visitors to Spring Fountain Park usually arrived on a Pennsylvania train, which had a depot near what became the Argonne Road viaduct. From there, people walked into the park through an arched building known as the Eagle Arcade. In later years, interurban tracks ran to the Arcade and there was a gated road upon which automobiles entered the park.”

When he died in 1936 at age 86, J. Fred Beyer was the largest land owner in Kosciusko County, with 1,600 acres in his name.

Campus has been a little quieter over winter break, but the History Center has been open this past week, getting ready f...
01/12/2026

Campus has been a little quieter over winter break, but the History Center has been open this past week, getting ready for students to return to Grace College. With classes about to begin and as students return to campus this week, we wanted to take a moment to look back at Winona Lake’s long history as a place of learning and the many students who have passed through over the years.

Since its beginning, Winona Lake has been a center for higher education, hosting summer schools and eventually several colleges. In the early 1900s, various schools were established, ranging from the Winona Park School for Young Women to the Winona Normal School to the Winona Agricultural Institute, among others.

The Winona Park School for Young Women was established as a college preparatory school. It was advertised as a “Christian school with all the cultural advantages, under the direction of college trained women of recognized proficiency and experience.”

Westminster Hall became the home of the Winona Academy for Boys. Boys 12-20 were admitted to the Academy. The school prepared them “to enter the freshman class of the best colleges and universities of our country.”

“Normal” school is not a commonly used term today, but in the early 1900s the Winona Normal School was well-known for its endeavor to train teachers “for all grades of work.”

The Winona School of Photography began in 1922 and offered classes in the use of light, the dark room, printing, retouching, coloring, and general business organization.

Eventually several of the schools joined together to form Winona College, which held classes in the Mount Memorial building. Most of the schools did not survive after World War I.

Grace College and Theological Seminary began in 1937 in Akron, Ohio, with 39 students. In 1939, the seminary moved to Winona Lake, Indiana. Soon, professors and board members recognized the need for a Christian college to prepare students for seminary. So in 1948, the Undergraduate Division of Grace Theological Seminary began with two-year programs. In 1954, this became a four-year liberal arts college.

Merry Christmas, everyone! We will see you in the New Year!
12/22/2025

Merry Christmas, everyone! We will see you in the New Year!

Brrrrr! With the lake far too cold for swimming today, we hope this look back at Winona Lake’s summer past offers a bit ...
12/13/2025

Brrrrr! With the lake far too cold for swimming today, we hope this look back at Winona Lake’s summer past offers a bit of warmth, and serves as a welcome reminder that summer does, eventually, return. On warm days, people have long flocked to the water to cool off, and for generations Winona Lake has provided a place of refreshment and recreation. Swimming—or “bathing”—looked quite different a century ago than it does today.

Long before it became known as Winona Lake, the area was called Spring Fountain Park, the name given by the Beyer brothers when they began catering to tourists in the 1880s. One of the earliest descriptions of the park captures the appeal of the area at the height of summer:

“If there is a more beautiful summer resort in the west than Spring Fountain Park, it is unknown to those who every season repair to the park and who never tire of singing the praises of this enchanting spot. A beautiful hillside, dotted with mighty forest trees, whose sheltering leaves, on wide-spreading boughs, give grateful shade, extends for nearly a mile overlooking the lake.”

Bathing, boating, and fishing have been popular activities at Winona Lake for more than 140 years.

We hope everyone is staying warm! Although we are not open today, we will be open all next week so stop in before Christ...
12/13/2025

We hope everyone is staying warm! Although we are not open today, we will be open all next week so stop in before Christmas and ask us about ways that Winona Lake has celebrated Christmas in the past!

We hope everyone has been staying warm in this snowy weather! Pictured here is the Studebaker Spring in winter. Even in ...
12/08/2025

We hope everyone has been staying warm in this snowy weather!

Pictured here is the Studebaker Spring in winter. Even in the wintertime the Studebaker Spring was a beautiful spot in the park!
This fountain was a gift of John M. Studebaker. Studebaker was one of the brothers who founded "The Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company"--- the wagon (and later automobile) manufacturer in South Bend and an early director of the Winona Assembly.

The site of the Studebaker Spring was previously used by the Beyer Brothers as an ice and produce storage room. It was built near the Auditorium to harness one of the many natural springs of Winona. Behind the limestone wall that currently forms the background of the Studebaker Fountain was an underground room. Cooled by a natural spring, the room provided a storage place for the Beyer brothers to keep produce and ice cut from Winona Lake each winter. As the only method of refrigeration, ice was a valuable commodity in the early twentieth century. The Winona Ice Company cut the ice from the lake each winter and stored it through the year. They ran a daily route throughout the town delivering ice.

Take a walk down and have a look at what the snow covered Studebaker Spring looks like now!

The Winona History Center and Sunday Home tours will be closed today! We will be back on Monday starting at 9:00! Have a...
12/06/2025

The Winona History Center and Sunday Home tours will be closed today! We will be back on Monday starting at 9:00! Have a great weekend!

Join us today at 12:00 for a lecture by Dr. Jared Burkholder online via Zoom! Register here:https://www.moravianchurchar...
11/11/2025

Join us today at 12:00 for a lecture by Dr. Jared Burkholder online via Zoom! Register here:
https://www.moravianchurcharchives.org/event/lecture-jared-burkholder

"In the early decades of the twentieth century, baseball-player-turned-celebrity-evangelist, Billy Sunday was a sensation. At the height of his preaching career, Sunday held campaigns in America’s cities that could last several months and were attended by millions of people. His on-stage antics, colloquial speech, and fiery sermons drew both praise and scorn across the nation. In 1915, Sunday held a major campaign in Philadelphia and ten years later, in 1925, he brought his campaign machine to Winston-Salem. As Billy Sunday came to town, Moravians in both the northern and southern provinces had opportunity to weigh in on his controversial methods. Jared Burkholder will discuss what Moravians had to say and whether they found Sunday’s preaching consistent with Moravian tradition or not."

The Billy Graham Day of Evangelism Assembly & Prayer will be held on Thursday, November 6th, 6:30pm at the historic "Rai...
10/27/2025

The Billy Graham Day of Evangelism Assembly & Prayer will be held on Thursday, November 6th, 6:30pm at the historic "Rainbow Room" (West Room) of Westminster Hall, 105 N 9th Street, Winona Lake on the campus of Grace College & Seminary. Dr. Terry White will present the history of the connection of Dr. Billy Graham to Winona Lake. White will discuss Dr. Graham's participation in Winona Lake including Youth for Christ and the all night prayer meeting that happened at the "Rainbow Room" in 1949 before his famous campaign in Los Angeles that launched the worldwide ministry of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA).
This assembly will also be a celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the BGEA.
The Winona History Center will be open as well as the newly remodeled Ray "Butch" and Sandra Shook Welcome Center for Grace College and Seminary.
A time of singing hymns and prayer will be part of the evening for the gospel of Jesus Christ to be spread around the world.
All followers of Jesus are encouraged to share the Good News of Jesus to at least one person to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Billy Graham (November 7th)!
This event is sponsored by the Greater Warsaw Ministerial Association (GWMA).

One of the older houses in Winona that still graces the Terrace, the Hillside was built by the Winona Assembly in 1901 o...
10/26/2025

One of the older houses in Winona that still graces the Terrace, the Hillside was built by the Winona Assembly in 1901 on Lot 1. Located directly behind the Billy Sunday Tabernacle at the north end of the Terrace, it served as a three-story boarding house for the thousands of visitors who attended Winona’s summer programs and conferences. The Hillside was the first home of the Rodeheaver family in Winona Lake. Homer Rodeheaver often slept under a canopy on the top veranda deck. Rodeheaver sold the boarding house to Virgil Brock (author of Beyond the Sunset) in the 1930s to be used specifically for students at the Rodeheaver School of Music. The Brocks kept an apartment on the first floor and often sang for guests at the restaurant. After World War II, the Brocks made the house their permanent residence.

By the 1980s, the home was in poor shape. During the renovation of Winona Lake in the 1990s, the badly-deteriorated Hillside underwent a transformation and is again a single-family dwelling which retains its wood siding, windows, and expansive porches with a magnificent lake view.

Recently, we were given a copy of a photo from someone who lived at the Hillside in 1973 and 1974. At that time, a group of around 20 people were living as a Christian commune at the Hillside (shown in photo below).

“While we lived there, Virgil Brock came for a visit one day. I think, by then, Virgil was in his 80's. He was thrilled to see the Hillside again, and was happy to know it was Christian people living there.”

Address

105 9th Street
Winona Lake, IN
46590

Opening Hours

Tuesday 2pm - 5pm
Wednesday 2pm - 5pm
Thursday 2pm - 5pm
Friday 2pm - 5pm
Saturday 2pm - 5pm

Telephone

+15743725193

Website

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