The History of Monticello Indiana

Monticello Indiana boasts two lakes, Freeman Lake, which is mostly residential and then there is Shafer Lake, the vacationer’s paradise. Both lakes were created when the Oakdale dam was built around 1925 and while Freeman Lake stayed residential, a man named Earl Spackman wanted to build a summer home by Shafer Lake for swimming and summer fun for his family with all its beauty. However the new lake had steep banks and was of little use in this condition, after some thought he came upon an idea of how to change Lake Shafer. Out of his idea would come Indiana Beach, a place for Indiana vacations; his idea was a lot of work and with a shovel, horse and wagon along with two by fours he set out to build a beach. He would not stop there; he also built a bathhouse and a refreshment stand for swimmers at the beach. Earl Spackman opened his beach in 1926, and named it Ideal Beach, and by 1927 it had two slides. These slides would send the swimmers down approximately thirty feet. This still was not enough for Lake Shafer and Earl Spackman, his next attraction was installing a dance floor which became the Ideal Beach Ballroom; this dance floor is still in use today.   
  
By 1947 Earl’s son Tom had taken over and he added the first permanent rides, a Merry-Go-Round, and a ride named The Bullet. Tom knew at this time while he wanted Ideal Beach to grow there were not enough residents in the area to use these attractions often enough to keep it going. By 1959 Tom would decide to change the name of the Ideal Beach to Indiana Beach in order to bring people from all over to an Indiana vacation at Shafer Lake.
  
Tom would turn to advertising Indiana Beach, with an ad campaign that even today would attract attention. Using an escape artist “The Great Pasha,” a high-wire act, and a man shot from a cannon were some of his tools for advertising and bringing needed attention to the lake along with a name “ the Riviera of the Midwest.” This was just the beginning for Indiana vacations to this Monticello, Indiana area.