At the turn of the century, the Limberlost Swamp was described as a "treacherous swamp and quagmire, filled with every plant, animal and human danger known-in the worst of such locations in the central states." Stretching for 13 thousand acres across Indiana's southern Adams County and northern Jay County, the vast forest and swampland was a legend for its quicksand and unsavory characters.

The swamp received its name from the fate of Limber Jim Corbus, who went hunting in the swamp and never returned. When the locals asked where Jim Corbus was, the familiar cry was "Limber's lost!"

To the famed Indiana author, Gene Stratton-Porter, the swamp was her playground, laboratory and inspiration. The swamp was the subject of her acclaimed books and photographs. Observations of its nature enriched Porter's fiction.

Geneva (Gene) Grace Stratton was born on August 17, 1863 on the Hopewell Farm near Wabash. Her parents were avid nature enthusiasts who passed along a love of the unspoiled outdoors to their daughter-a love she kept close to her throughout her life as a respected author, naturalist, photographer and illustrator.

In 1886, Gene married Charles Dorwin Porter, a pharmacist and banker. The couple lived for a short time in Decatur. After the birth of their daughter, Jeannette, they built a home in Geneva, Indiana near the Limberlost Swamp in 1895. The Porters lived in this home until the swamp was drained in 1913. Architects describe the home, which Stratton-Porter designed, as a 14-room Queen Anne, rustic log cabin. The interior is finished in both Victorian and Arts and Crafts style.

At that time, they moved to a new home in a beautiful wooded area on the shores of Sylvan Lake near Rome City. It is also a state historic site called the Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site.

In the 18 years that she lived at Limberlost, Mrs. Porter wrote six novels and five nature books, including the best-selling Freckles and A Girl of the Limberlost. During her life, she wrote 12 novels, seven nature books, two books of poetry, children's books and numerous magazine articles.

An estimated 50 million people have read works by Gene Stratton-Porter. Her books have been translated into several foreign languages as well as braille. Eight of her novels were produced as motion pictures.