City West, Indiana, Former settlement near Lake Michigan, Indiana.
City West was a settlement located at the mouth of Fort Creek, now called Dunes Creek, within what is today Indiana Dunes State Park. The village stretched between this waterway and Lake Michigan, with buildings and structures arranged across the landscape.
Jacob Bigelow and his partners founded the settlement in 1836, and it grew quickly into a bustling trading post. However, financial difficulties caused the entire community to be abandoned by 1839, ending its brief existence.
The settlement served as a meeting point for Potawatomi trading groups who regularly visited the area. It existed alongside a Native American burial ground that was respected by residents living between the inland settlement and the shoreline.
The remains of the settlement can be explored through marked trails in Indiana Dunes State Park. A shelter structure near the beach provides orientation and shade for visitors navigating the site.
The settlement housed The Exchange, one of the largest hotels standing between Chicago and Detroit at the time. This impressive building was later relocated to the nearby town of Chesterton.
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