State Park was dedicated as Indiana’s first state park
on July 4, 1916, as part of the state’s centennial celebration. Canyon Inn opened its doors in the old sanitarium building. A few years later in the early 1920s, the building was remodeled and new brick siding was added. Later changes brought new wings, a banquet room, swimming pool and recreation center, but the inn still rests on the original foundations. Originally a little more than 350 acres, McCormick’s Creek State Park grew to its present size through acquisition of surrounding farms and homesteads as they came up for sale. Much of the park’s building improvements came in the 1930s, when the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) was in the park. The CCC men constructed most of the shelter houses, the old stone bridge, and the fire tower. Another surge of development came in the early 1970s, when the present campgrounds, Nature Center and swimming pool were added. |