Dune Acres is a town in Westchester Township, Porter County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. The population was 234 as of the 2020 census. Dune Acres is located in the duneland of the south shore of

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

. Many residents of Dune Acres and surrounding communities helped preserve parts of the

Indiana Dunes Indiana Dunes National Park is a national park of the United States located in northwestern Indiana managed by the National Park Service. It was authorized by Congress in 1966 as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and was redesignated as the ...

History

Dune Acres was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted in 1923 as a lakeside resort village. The Dune Acres Clubhouse was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2007.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Dune Acres has a total area of , of which (or 63.08%) is land and (or 36.92%) is water.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 182 people, 94 households, and 58 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 163 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 95.1%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.1%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 2.2% Asian, 0.5% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.6% of the population. There were 94 households, of which 10.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 1.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.3% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.94 and the average family size was 2.41. The median age in the town was 63.4 years. 8.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 3.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 4.3% were from 25 to 44; 36.8% were from 45 to 64; and 46.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 52.2% male and 47.8% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 213 people, 101 households, and 76 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 154 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 99.06%

, and 0.94% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 1.41% of the population. There were 101 households, out of which 13.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.3% were

living together, 5.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.8% were non-families. 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.39. In the town, the population was spread out, with 11.7% under the age of 18, 3.3% from 18 to 24, 13.1% from 25 to 44, 33.8% from 45 to 64, and 38.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 60 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.9 males. The median income for a household in the town was $94,843, and the median income for a family was $102,524. Males had a median income of $83,632 versus $41,250 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $68,051. None of the population or families were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

Transportation

In the past, Dune Acres was served by the eponymous station on the

South Shore Line The South Shore Line is an electrically powered commuter rail line operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago, Illinois and the South Bend Airport station in Sout ...

, which was located at Mineral Springs Road. That station was closed in 1994 as part of NICTD's effort to consolidate the line's Porter County stations. Since then, the community has been served by the Dune Park station. V-Line's Orange Line route stops at the station Friday-Sunday, allowing Dune Acres residents to connect to Valparaiso (and vice versa).

Coach USA Coach USA, LLC is a holding company for various American transportation service providers providing scheduled intercity bus service, local and commuter bus transit, city sightseeing, tour, yellow school bus, and charter bus service across the ...

's ''Tri-State/United Limo'' Service stops at the nearby town of Portage, providing a direct connecting to Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Dunes Highway (

U.S. Route 12 U.S. Route 12 or U.S. Highway 12 (US 12) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway, running from Aberdeen, Washington, to Detroit, Michigan, for almost . The highway has mostly been superseded by Interstate 90 (I-90 ...

) is the closest highway to Dune Acres. The closest airport is located in western Gary, and the closest Amtrak station is located further northeast in Michigan City.

Notable people

Jim Gaffigan James Christopher Gaffigan (born July 7, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. His material often addresses fatherhood, laziness, food, religion, and general observations. He is regarded as a "clean" comic, using l ...

, comedian * Jack Knight, Aviation pioneer

References

External links

Town of Dune Acres, Indiana website
{{authority control Towns in Porter County, Indiana Towns in Indiana