In 1962, an Indiana family rejected $25,000 for two acres; by 1969, their land stood as an island of nature surrounded by industrial sprawl

Along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, environmental conservation came to a head in the mid-20th century. According to a historical profile published on the National Park Service website , a World War II veteran and struggling artist named John Samuel Hawkinson Jr. purchased a modest two-acre plot of land in the Central Dunes of northern Indiana in 1950 for just $400. The property lay off Barking Dog Road, inside a 5,000-acre wilderness of rolling sand dunes, wetlands and ancient oak savanna. Hawkinson and his wife, Lucy Ozone Hawkinson, built a cabin on the two-acre parcel and used the property as a retreat. Their decision to hold on to the land became increasingly significant as industrial development closed in around it.

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