Bass Lake, IN

At the 2020 census, Bass Lake was a Starke County census-designated place of 1,384 people spread across California and North Bend townships. The community took its name from the lake, where black bass were plentiful, and was once called Cedar Lake. The lake sits on a gentle rise above its drainage basin, with water running away from its shores. That odd geography is part of the local appeal, and it helps show why the lake has always felt like its own destination in the middle of Starke County.

Bass Lake's past includes a resort chapter, a post office opened in 1892, and a visitor list that included author Lew Wallace, who spent time here and wrote parts of Ben-Hur. The old Cedar Lake name still turns up in county history, while the spring-fed lake remains the center of the community's recreation and water concerns. The Bass Lake Conservancy District manages the sewer and lake-improvement work that keeps the shoreline functioning. Bass Lake is a place where a name change, a famous writer, and a fish-filled lake all feed the same local story.