Culver summers offer golf, biking, swimming, sailing, skiing, fishing, scuba diving, and touring the lake. Lake Maxinkuckee, covering 1,864 acres, has deep crystal clear waters, and ten miles of gradually sloping shore line. The Town Park offers swimming, a Lodge with dressing rooms and refreshments, and a wooded area with benches and picnic tables. A courtesy pier borders the east edge of the Park. Available all summer at no charge to boaters, the pier provides a convenient place to dock while eating dinner or enjoying a movie in Culver's midtown.
Public access is available near the southwest side of the lake. The lake produces nice catches of perch, bluegill, red-eyes, small and large mouth bass, walleyed pike, and trout.
The Maxinkuckee Country Club and The Culver Academies Golf Course both offer nine-hole golf courses, with play available to members and their guests. Mystic Hills Golf Course is a Pete and P.B. Dye-designed 18-hole course. Typical of a Dye designed course, the lay-out and tee boxes are placed so beginners and advanced players alike will have fun while still being challenged.
Lake Maxinkuckee was, for many years, the home of Potawatomi Indians. Their villages were located on the high ground around the lake shore. Maxinkuckee is a Native American word translated to mean high land and good water or clear, deep blue water. State Roads 10, 17, and 117 follow approximately the original trails between the villages around the lake. Lake Maxinkuckee's Aubbeenaubbe Bay is named for one of the Potawatomi Chiefs. A large, carved limestone memorial is dedicated to another chief, Chief Menominee. Both are located north of town.
Originally known as Marmont, Indiana, the town's name was changed to Culver in 1897, in recognition of the establishment of Culver Military Academy three years earlier. The Academy was founded as a college-preparatory boarding school by Henry Harrison Culver, a wealthy St. Louis businessman whose family spent summers on Lake Maxinkuckee. With the addition of Culver Girls Academy in 1971, the schools are now known as the Culver Academies.
The Culver Farmers' Market offers annual bedding plants and perennials, homemade jams and jellies, popcorn, all-natural wreaths, fresh and dried flowers, and fresh farm produce. Virtually everything in the Market, from asparagus to zucchini, is grown by the person selling it. In fact, much of the produce is harvested by the grower just hours before the Market opens for business, ensuring the freshest produce available anywhere! The Market provides customers with fresh produce and local growers with an opportunity to sell their products. If you grow produce, herbs, or flowers, and would like to participate in the Market, contact the Chamber of Commerce at (574) 842-5253 for an information packet. Sponsored by the Chamber, the Farmers Market is open every Saturday, from mid-May to mid-October, from 8 am to noon. The Farmers Market is located at the corner of Ohio and Jefferson Streets.
Culver Lakefest- The third weekend in July sees the Town Park turn into a festival drawing 10,000 guests to the north shore of Lake Maxinkuckee. Begun in 1983, the Culver LakeFest is a weekend-long event that includes craft and food vendors, musical entertainment, and a wide variety of games and contests for adults and children. The event includes a 5K and 10K run, a two-mile walk, and three bike rides. One of the highlights of the weekend is the parade on Saturday. The largest drawing crowds come for the fireworks display over Lake Maxinkuckee. The show is one of the largest in the Midwest, lasting more than half an hour.
Firemans Festival- During the fourth weekend in July, the Culver Fire Department sponsors the Firemans Festival in the Town Park. During a Saturday afternoon and evening, the Festival offers a moonwalk for children, bingo and many other games and contests for adults and children. The Lions Club Corn Roast is a not-to-miss part of the Firemans Festival. Drawing a couple of thousand visitors to the park, the Corn Roast features fresh roasted corn, cotton candy and many other complementary items.
Summertime | Historical Settings | Farmers Market | Festivals
The Maxinkuckee Country Club and The Culver Academies Golf Course both offer nine-hole golf courses, with play available to members and their guests. Mystic Hills Golf Course is a Pete and P.B. Dye-designed 18-hole course. Typical of a Dye designed course, the lay-out and tee boxes are placed so beginners and advanced players alike will have fun while still being challenged.
The Culver Farmers' Market offers annual bedding plants and perennials, homemade jams and jellies, popcorn, all-natural wreaths, fresh and dried flowers, and fresh farm produce. Virtually everything in the Market, from asparagus to zucchini, is grown by the person selling it. In fact, much of the produce is harvested by the grower just hours before the Market opens for business, ensuring the freshest produce available anywhere! The Market provides customers with fresh produce and local growers with an opportunity to sell their products. If you grow produce, herbs, or flowers, and would like to participate in the Market, contact the Chamber of Commerce at (574) 842-5253 for an information packet. Sponsored by the Chamber, the Farmers Market is open every Saturday, from mid-May to mid-October, from 8 am to noon. The Farmers Market is located at the corner of Ohio and Jefferson Streets.
Culver Lakefest- The third weekend in July sees the Town Park turn into a festival drawing 10,000 guests to the north shore of Lake Maxinkuckee. Begun in 1983, the Culver LakeFest is a weekend-long event that includes craft and food vendors, musical entertainment, and a wide variety of games and contests for adults and children. The event includes a 5K and 10K run, a two-mile walk, and three bike rides. One of the highlights of the weekend is the parade on Saturday. The largest drawing crowds come for the fireworks display over Lake Maxinkuckee. The show is one of the largest in the Midwest, lasting more than half an hour.
