About Warsaw & Winona Lake
The Location
Cradled among Winona Lake and surrounding cities, Warsaw is the county seat of Kosciusko County and nicknamed "Lake City." Other major cities in proximity to Goshen include:
- Elkhart, 38 miles
- South Bend, 50 miles
- Detroit, 231 miles
- Indianapolis, 117 miles
- Toledo, 146 miles
- Cleveland, 270 mile
The History
Warsaw
Warsaw, named for the capital of Poland in tribute to Thaddeus Kosciusko, was platted on October 21, 1836. Early Warsaw contained traders, trappers, and merchants supplying manufactured goods to area farmers. Because of the central location in the lake region, tourists soon began visiting Warsaw and eventually made permanent residences in the city, with industry soon following. In 1895, Revra DePuy founded DePuy Manufacturing in Warsaw to make wire mesh and wooden splints, becoming the world's first manufacturer of orthopedic appliances. In 1905, DePuy hired Justin Zimmer as a splint salesman. Zimmer broke away from DePuy in 1927 to start his own orthopedic company with Joe Ettinger in the basement of Ettinger. Warsaw is now known as the "orthopedic capital of the world."
Winona Lake
Winona Lake is best known for the lake it is named after and built on. It is also the home of Grace College and Grace Theological Seminary and the home of former preacher and professional baseball player Billy Sunday. Christian musician and preacher Homer Rodeheaver made Winona Lake his home from 1912 until his death in 1955. The Winona School of Professional Photography was started there in 1912 (as the Indiana School of Photography) and was operated by the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) until its move to Chicago (Mount Prospect) in 1988. Famous photographers from around the world taught there during summer-only classes. The now defunct Winona College was founded here, and the Winona Lake School of Theology was located here from 1920 to 1970. Winona Lake was also home to the headquarters of The Free Methodist Church until they moved their offices to Indianapolis in 1990.
