Civil War Site

During the Civil War, what is now the northern unit of the park became Camp Logan, a Union prisoner of war camp. It was named after General John Alexander Logan, a Civil War hero and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Later, the camp (Link to PDF Slate Opening of Logan) became an Army basic training area during World Wars I and II. It provided ideal conditions for soldiers to learn how to maneuver tanks. It became a National Guard installation in the late 1940’s, then later became property of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Activism to set aside land to establish the park is an important factor in Dunesland’s history. Members pressured the state to protect this special area and finally in 1946 Governor Green set aside $100,000 for the purchase of the “flats.” The park’s jurisdiction changed from the state Department of Public Works and Buildings to the Department of Conservation in 1946. In 1948, the state finally acquired the first parcels of what is now Illinois Beach State Park. The northern unit, from the Commonwealth Edison power plant to the Wisconsin border, was acquired between 1971 and 1982. 

A local columnist, whose name is not in our records, promoted public access to all five miles of the beach stating that “crowds on the sand beach will not hurt the flora and fauna inland.” Public petitions persuaded the state not to landscape the entire area but to leave the middle and southern portions in their natural state. In 1947, that same columnist helped to promote an entrance from Waukegan into the south end of the park. Also in 1947, the first aerial photos exposed hitherto unknown buffalo wallows in the park!

In 1950, the Illinois Dunesland Preservation Society received its state charter and voted to affiliate with the Nature Conservancy in 1952. Our goal was to protect the natural qualities of the area, and through our efforts and the efforts of the Department of Conservation (now Illinois Department of Natural Resources), the area south of Beach Road was dedicated in 1964 as the first State Dedicated Nature Preserve in the United States.

Dunesland’s first President was Dean Howard Ganster who began working for the preservation of the “Waukegan flats” as early as 1914 when he was a member of the Waukegan Park Board. He had urged the city to purchase the land in order to protect it.

In 1954, the couple was very involved in the struggle to prevent property, which the state intended to purchase as addition to the park, from being priced beyond reason due to the construction of a proposed north entrance to the park by the City of Zion. In 1958, they were instrumental in assisting young Jack Bicket, who was then Secretary of the Governor’s History Advisory Committee for the Illinois Beach State Park, to establish the placement of a natural history exhibit area at the lodge.

Calling the Dunes a veritable floral melting pot, she amassed a photo collection of 650 species of plants. Dr. Lunn was one of the few people privileged by the State Department of Conservation to collect specimens from the Nature Preserve. She added almost all of them to the Lake Forest College herbarium. The Society published her book, Plants of the Dunesland, still recognized as a highly significant work. It has been available for years at the world famous Chicago Botanic Garden, among other places.

Unfortunately, the activist work of the Illinois Dunesland Preservation Society continues to this day. We wish that our only necessary task would be to enrich and support the park’s programs. However, contamination is a major problem that must be battled to preserve the park for future generations; to protect the critical habitats of our plant life and wildlife; and to safeguard the health and safety of the people who are using the park and Illinois shoreline now.

Further information on this topic will be added to this section at a later date. However, you will be able to understand our current activism by reading the Asbestos and Critical Issues sections of this site.