
Eagle Creek Reservoir may be one of Indianapolis’s premier recreation destinations, but it was built as a flood-control project. Big Eagle Creek kept overflowing its banks. More than once it flooded the little town of Traders Point, which used to nestle nearby where Lafayette Road (then US 52) intersected the creek. The flood control project was meant to end that – but it was also thought that the reservoir would partially submerge poor Traders Point. So in 1968, the town was razed. And then the site wasn’t submerged after all, and the demolition of poor Traders Point turned out to be unnecessary.
I doubt that many who fish, boat, or otherwise enjoy the reservoir (as these three fellows appear to be doing) have any idea about Traders Point and its fate. Just what are these guys doing, anyway? Surfing? I had an 80-200mm zoom lens on my Pentax ME this day, and used it to get a closer look. I still couldn’t figure it out.