Beverly Shores, Indiana

Beverly Shores is a town in Pine Township, Porter County, Indiana, United States, about 36 miles (58 km) east of downtown Chicago. The population was 613 at the 2010 census.

History

Beverly Shores began life as a planned resort community. The Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend railroad began to provide service from South Bend to Chicago shortly after 1900. The Chicago businessman Samuel Insull reorganized the line as the Chicago, South Shore & South Bend (today's South Shore Line) in 1925, upgrading the stations and encouraging tourism. A number of promotional posters were issued, many of which remain in print.

The Frederick H. Bartlett Company, at that time one of Chicago's largest real-estate developers, bought 3,600 acres (1,500 ha) in the area in 1927, and plotted thousands of homesites. He named the prospective development Lake Shore, North Shore Beach and South Shore Acres. The Great Depression dampened its prospects, and many of the plots were never built on.

Robert Bartlett, Frederick Bartlett's brother, purchased the properties in 1933, He named the entire development after his daughter Beverly,and continued to develop its infrastructure with roads, a school, a golf course, and a hotel. He purchased and relocated sixteen structures from Chicago's 1933-34 Century of Progress World's Fair, four of which were transported by barges on Lake Michigan.

Beverly Shores station

Beverly Shores is a station in Beverly Shores, Indiana, served by South Shore Line trains. The station also serves the nearby Town of Pines. It is a flag stop.

Architecture

This is one of nine such stations built along Insull lines, which included the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee line. Of the nine, only this station and the North Shore Line's Briergate station still exist. The Mediterranean Revival Style was used for a series of buildings adjacent to the station, including the Bartlett Real Estate Office.

Beverly Shores Station is the last example of the "Insull Spanish" architecture style used for station houses along the electric railroad lines acquired by Samuel Insull in the first part of the twentieth century. It was a Mediterranean Revival style designed by Insull's staff-architect, Arthur U. Gerber. The station is served by daily passenger trains of the South Shore Line. Although freight trains pass daily in either direction, no freight service is offered from this location. The station housed an agent at one time. This section is now an art gallery. The most notable characteristic of the station, aside from the Spanish style, is the large neon sign reading "Beverly Shores".