Page 5 - Elkhart Lake 2018 Visitors Guide

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LEGENDARY WATER

Spring-fed, crystal clear and 120 feet deep, the unique
blue-green water of Elkhart Lake is a legend itself. In
Elkhart Lake you don’t just catch big fish, you can see
them - deep below the surface. From the days when
Native Americans lived on its banks, the pristine quality
of Elkhart Lake’s water has soothed the souls of people
from far and wide - and kept them coming back year
after year. To many, it’s the legendary water of Elkhart
Lake that makes it famous.

LEGENDARY NAME
Well known among local tribes was a handsome young LEGENDARY RACING
warrior who proved his bravery by slaying an elk and Open road racing over the hills and around the curves of
devouring its heart - thus becoming known as Elkheart. Elkhart Lake gained prominence in the early 1950s. Now
Attacting the favor of many young maidens, Elkheart land marked, these early closed-loop courses around the
began wooing the one named Silver Birch. But his eyes lake drew sports car racing enthusiasts from across the
soon strayed to another beautiful maiden known as Midwest and led to the development, 60 years ago, of
Singing Bird, leaving Silver Birch heart-broken. One Road America - a rolling four-mile track near the village.
night as the new lovers paddled out on the lake, an Long recognized as one of the premier road racing tracks
arrow from the bow of the dejected Silver Birch pierced in the world, Road America has become legendary. It is
Elkheart, who fell into the deep water. Horrified, Singing a favorite spot for the sport’s best professional and
Bird plunged into the water after him, followed by celebrity drivers of every type of racing vehicle from
a sorrowful Silver Birch, who drowned with the ill-fated motorcycles to Indy cars.
lovers. Now, when the moon is full, the spirit of Silver
Birch passes over the lake crying the name Elkheart. LEGENDARY TRAIN DEPOT
Elkhart Lake’s early growth as a resort destination is
LEGENDARY GAMBLING
attributed, in part, to the arrival of the Milwaukee &
Elkhart Lake could not escape the wave of illicit Northern Railroad to the village in 1873. Trains full of
gambling in the early 1900s. Illegal gambling became vacationers, race enthusiasts, gamblers and gangsters
the accepted standard in the state and, for all of its alike from Chicago, Milwaukee and Green Bay stepped
resort charm, Elkhart Lake became touted as a gambler’s onto the passenger platform at the village’s depot.
paradise. The popularity of the slot machine among
resort visitors took the village by storm. With the Roaring
Twenties came an influx of roulette and poker at four
well-established Elkhart Lake gambling halls. The end of
this legendary era was signaled when, after years of lax
enforcement, Elkhart Lake’s infamous Paddock Club was
raided and gambling equipment destroyed.

Travelers included renowned theatrical troupes with young actors
the likes of Forrest Tucker, Tom Bosley and Shelly Berman,
along with famed musician Burl Ives.
In its heyday, large excursion parties arrived three times daily
in the summer. Beautifully refurbished, this legendary depot
exists today in downtown Elkhart Lake.