Koontz Lake, IN

Koontz Lake is an unincorporated community wrapped around a lake that crosses the Starke–Marshall county line in northern Indiana. The water began as Woodworth Lake on early survey maps, then took the Koontz name after Samuel Koontz bought land at its outlet in 1848. He built a dam and sawmill, followed by a gristmill that drew farmers from the surrounding country. The 2020 census counted 1,667 people in the CDP, making the lake itself the community’s most obvious boundary and meeting point.

ATTRChris Light / CC BY-SA 4.0

Today the shoreline is a mix of homes, lake association property, county services, and public access. Starke County’s Kramer’s Beach sits on the eastern shore, while Indiana’s DNR maintains a boat ramp and fishing access on the Marshall County side. The Starke County Public Library keeps a Koontz Lake branch nearby, adding an everyday institution to a place often described through its water. The Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965 badly damaged the community and destroyed cottages, a hard local memory that still belongs to the lake’s history. Koontz Lake works as both neighborhood and recreation corridor, with the county line running through the water and the road network around it.