Beach House

The Beach House DECATUR - Mrs. L.P. Walbridge and Mrs. E.P. Irving had a gift for the people of Decatur: 153 acres of lakeshore property.Thousands of trees grew on the land and people often rented cottages there. But there was a catch.The women were daughters of the late Robert Faries who had owned the property. They wrote a letter to the local newspaper, indicating they would turn it over only if the residents voted to form a park district.The district would take over management of parks that had been owned by the city. This was, the women said, what their father would have wanted.