The popular Logs to Lustrons Tour returns on May 6, featuring 16 northwest Indiana sites spanning over a century of architecture, from rustic log structures to Lustron homes – the prefabricated enameled steel houses developed post WWII. The tour features several restored residences not normally open to the public, plus vacant landmarks in need of a new use. Seven interiors will be open for touring.

Tour stops this year include the restored 1950 two-bedroom Jacob Lustron. When the house’s location in an endangered habitat in Indiana Dunes National Park required its relocation, Steve and Laurie Snell answered the call to disassemble, move, and rebuild the prefabricated house, which they lease through a special program overseen by Indiana Landmarks and the National Park Service.

Indiana Landmarks and the Indiana Dunes National Park sponsor the annual tour. Children who join the tour (with an adult) can earn a Junior Ranger badge by picking up a workbook, program, and a bag with sketch book and pencil when they check-in. At the end of the tour, they show the completed workbook to a park ranger at the check-in site to earn a badge. Children under 16 are welcome to attend the tour for free but will still need to reserve a ticket.

The night before the tour, staff from Indiana Landmarks and Indiana Dunes National Park will give a lecture on the park’s history and preservation, including a deeper look at the heritage of the Calumet Region. Madeleine Tudor, co-curator of the Calumet Voices, National Stories exhibition at the Field Museum, will talk about the compelling mix of housing sizes and styles of the area that include architecturally renowned planned communities, single-family dwellings, public housing developments, and a farm that served as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Park officials will also offer an update on planned rehabilitation work for the Good Fellow Club Youth Camp Lodge, a rustic Adirondack-style landmark built as a dining and recreation area for the camp that served children of U.S. Steel employees in the 1940s-70s.

Logs to Lustrons Tour
WHAT: Tour featuring 16 sites, including several not typically open to the public

WHEN: May 6 with tours leaving every 30 minutes beginning at 9:00 a.m. with the last tour departing at 1 p.m., Central Time. The tour lasts approximately three hours.

WHERE: Shuttles depart from the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center, 1215 N. State Road 49, Porter, Ind. No parking is available at the tour sites. All guests must use the shuttles.

COST: $30 per person ($25 for Indiana Landmarks members). Tickets available at logstolustronstour23.eventbrite.com or by calling 317-639-4534.

Logs to Lustrons Talk
WHAT: Reception with light snacks, talk and Q&A session

WHEN: May 5, 6:30-9 p.m. Central Time

WHERE: Indiana Dunes Visitor Center, 1215 N. State Road 49, Porter, Ind.

COST: $15 per person ($10 for Indiana Landmarks members). Children 16 and under are welcome and free but must have a ticket. Tickets available at logstolustronstalk23.eventbrite.com or by calling 317-639-4534.

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Media contact:
Todd Zeiger, Director, Indiana Landmarks’ Northern Regional Office, 574-232-4534, 574-286-5765 (cell), tzeiger@indianalandmarks.org

Indiana Landmarks revitalizes communities, strengthens connections to our diverse heritage, and saves meaningful places. With nine offices located throughout the state, Indiana Landmarks helps people rescue endangered landmarks and restore historic neighborhoods and downtowns. People who join Indiana Landmarks receive its bimonthly magazine, Indiana Preservation. For more information on the not-for-profit organization, call 317-639-4534, 800-450-4534, or visit www.indianalandmarks.org.