Versailles State Park (pronounced locally as ''ver-SAYLES'') is an Indiana state park, near the town of

Versailles, Indiana Versailles is a town in Johnson Township, Ripley County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 2,113 at the 2010 census. The town is the county seat of Ripley County. History It was decided in 1818 a county seat should be located at ...

in Ripley County. The land was given by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

for use as a state park to Indiana's Department of Conservation in 1943. The park draws about 225,000 visitors annually. In the early 20th century, the area was farmland. In the 1930s, the

acquired the land and hired the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

(CCC) to improve the land into a

Recreational Demonstration Area The Recreational Demonstration Area program (also known as the Recreation Demonstration Area program) was a National Park Service program during the 1930s and early 1940s that built forty-six public parks in twenty-four states on , chiefly near urba ...

. The Versailles Lake was formed in 1954 when a dam was built across

Laughery Creek Laughery Creek is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 19, 2017 stream that flows through Ripley, Dearborn, and Ohio counties in southeastern Indiana, and is a tr ...

. Near the park's entrance is a statue commemorating the work done by the CCC to improve the land. Efforts to build the statue were led by two local women, Ruth Swinney and her daughter Lisa Ebinger, as well as the Ripley County Historical Society. Two grants--one from the Rising Sun Regional Foundation and another from the Ripley County Community Foundation--provided the funds necessary to construct the statue. The statue was dedicated on May 21, 2010. Similar statues exist across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, but the only other such statue in Indiana is located in

Ouabache State Park Ouabache ʊ'bɑːtʃi(a French transcription of the Miami Indian word for the river, ''waapaahšiiki'', meaning "it shines white", "pure white", or "water over white stones") is a state park in Indiana. It is located south of Fort Wayne, Indi ...

in Wells County. 036 34A Busching, Versailles SP, Versailles Cty

It is a recreation area, with fishing and boating on Versailles Lake and Laughery Creek. A

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

, the Busching Bridge, crosses the creek. This

Howe truss A Howe truss is a truss bridge consisting of chords, verticals, and diagonals whose vertical members are in tension and whose diagonal members are in compression. The Howe truss was invented by William Howe in 1840, and was widely used as a bridg ...

bridge was constructed in 1885, is long, and although within the state park, Ripley County owns it. The bridge was documented by the

Historic American Engineering Record Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

in 1973. A group camp, originally constructed by the CCC, is available for use as well. Swimming is not allowed in Versailles Lake, but a 25-meter pool is available. The park is 1 of 14 Indiana State Parks that are in the path of totality for the 2024 solar eclipse, with the park experiencing 1 minute and 55 seconds of totality.

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* Protected areas established in 1943 State parks of Indiana Protected areas of Ripley County, Indiana Civilian Conservation Corps in Indiana Nature centers in Indiana 1943 establishments in Indiana {{Indiana-protected-area-stub