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Limberlost Swamp


Coordinates: 40°36′00″N 84°56′50″W / 40.60000°N 84.94722°W / 40.60000; -84.94722

The Limberlost Swamp in the eastern part of the present-day U.S. state of Indiana was a large, nationally known wetlands region with streams that flowed into the Wabash River. It originally covered 13,000 acres (53 km²) of present-day Adams and Jay counties. Parts of it were known as the Loblolly Marsh, based on a Miami language word by local Native Americans for the sulphur smell of the marsh gas. The wetlands had mixed vegetation and supported a rich biodiversity, significant for local and migrating birds and insects, as well as other animals and life.

European Americans drained the Limberlost for agricultural development early in the 20th century, destroying the rich habitat. Since 1997, parts of it have been restored. Observers have documented a return of insects, birds, and wildlife of all sorts to the restored area of wetlands. Approximately 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) acres had been restored as of 2015. Several groups supported purchase of lands for what is now known as the Loblolly Marsh Nature Preserve, which was turned over to the state and is held by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

According to the History of Jay County by M.W. Montgomery, published in 1864, the name Limberlost came from the following event:

A man named James Miller, while hunting along the banks of the swamp, became lost. After various fruitless efforts to find his way home, in which he would always come around to the place of starting, he determined to go in a straight course, and so, every few rods he would blaze a tree. While doing this, he was found by friends. Being an agile man, he was known as 'limber Jim,' and, after this, the stream was called 'Limberlost.'


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