Demographics

Community Overview

The Syracuse/Wawasee area is a developing and ever-changing community that blends a progressive, diverse economy with country charm and mid-western friendliness. It has also been a destination for visitors for generations due to the breathtaking Lake Wawasee, the largest natural lake in Indiana. With access to Syracuse Lake there are more than 3,500 acres of water for year round recreation.

Syracuse offers a high standard of living, which includes desirable housing, warm neighborhoods, a strong commitment to schools, a low crime rate, easy access to Fort Wayne or Chicago and a large employment base. Syracuse is known for its narrow tree lined streets both in the commercial and residential areas and is proud to be a Tree City USA and continues to work hard to keep the title. Uptown Syracuse is composed of historic and distinct architectural brick buildings that line Main Street and are home to a variety of businesses. Something is always happening on Main Street which includes retail stores, restaurants and a movie theatre.

The Syracuse Area has a lot to offer people of all ages including many childcare options, a youth center, the Syracuse Community Center and a modern nursing home for senior citizens. There are also (6) banks in town, including Crossroads Bank, Key Bank, Horizon Bank, Mutual Bank, Fort Financial Credit Union and Lake City Bank. More than half of the town's (32) restaurants are locally owned. Included (7) fast food restaurants. Family activities abound in Syracuse thanks to the lakes, golf courses and parks.

Oakwood Retreat and Conference Center is an attractive destination for conferences and retreats. This four star quality Inn is located on a 48-acre facility that has a panoramic view of Lake Wawasee. It has a superb restaurant and a variety of unique meeting spaces for large or small groups. 

Syracuse is home to a diverse group of industries including boat manufacturing, rubber product manufacturing, circuit board manufacturing, RV manufacturing, plastic production, metal fabrication, horse trailer manufacturing, printing, engine and control research and development and modular home manufacturing.

Service organizations in Syracuse include the Syracuse-Wawasee Rotary, Wawasee Kiwanis, Syracuse Lions, Knights of Columbus, Eagles F.O.E. 3760, American Legion Post 223. 

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Syracuse is centrally located between Chicago, Detroit, Toledo and Indianapolis. Syracuse provides an environment where business can flourish with an outstanding quality of life. An abundance of natural resources, unique real estate properties and an affordable and dependable work force fosters the best in business development and family living.

The Town of Syracuse owns 61 acres of land in Benton Township, Elkhart County for the specific purpose of promoting development and redevelopment within the Town's area of urban influence.


MAJOR EMPLOYERS NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

Parker Hannifin Corporation 95
Nautic Global Group (Rinker Boat Company) 130
Dutchman RV 95
Poly-Wood 1000
Nautic Global Group (Godfrey Marine) 55
Technical Services 15
Colbin Tool Company 45
Rogers Electro-Matics 20
Better Way Products (Jasper Plastics) 155
Patrick Industries (AIA Countertops) 322


Population/Workforce

Workforce in Kosciusko and surrounding Counties 240,879
Workforce in Kosciusko County 40,529
Town Population 3,079
Township Population 8,659
County Population 80,240
Median age or Age Composition* 45.6
Number of Households* 3,894
Median Household Income* $65,024
Percentage of Families below poverty level* 7.1%

*Information is from the 2020 Census and refers to the 46567 zip code area.


AREA STATISTICS 

Public Safety
Number of Police Dept Officers 9 full time/4 reserves
Number of Fire Dept Employees 14 full time/23 volunteers www.syracusefd.com
Fire Department Rating: 9 

Area Cities

Location Population Distance to Syracuse
Chicago 2,833,321 141 miles
Indianapolis 785,597 166 miles
Mishawaka 48,912 38 miles
South Bend 104,905 46 miles
Fort Wayne 248,637 43 miles
Goshen 31,882 12 miles
Warsaw 13,082 20 miles
Elkhart 52,748 31 miles

 

Climate in Kosciusko County
Coldest Month/avg temp. January/23.4 degrees
Warmest Month/avg temp. July/ 72.5 degrees
Annual Rain 35 inches

Hotels and Conference Centers
Visitors to Syracuse enjoy staying at one of our two hotels, three Bed and Breakfasts or five camps.

Oakwood Resort 
A 27 acre facility on the shore of Lake Wawasee. The Oakwood facilities are popular for business and social gatherings with 30,000 square feet of flexible meeting space for groups. There are 12 cabins and 10 vacation homes. The hotel itself has 77 rooms and suites and is ideal for groups or individuals. Oakwood's Restaurant-The Pier & Back Porch offers casual, yet elegant dining, along with a variety of alcoholic beverages at two of its bars overlooking Lake Wawasee.

Brook Pointe 
A family owned and operated 30-unit Inn. The relaxed setting, impeccable service and fine amenities are appreciated by both leisure and business travelers. A gorgeous screened in porch overlooks 20 acres of meadow and wooded areas. Choose a rocker and let the world go by or head outside to enjoy nature on the walking paths. The year-round indoor heated pool is also very popular as is the unique gift shop. An 875 square foot conference room with available food service draws many meetings and retreats.

Bed and Breakfasts
Enjoyed by individual visitors and groups, all of the local Bed and Breakfasts have unique characteristics such as an indoor pool, in home theater, children's areas, lush gardens, a sauna and complimentary dining. The three Bed and Breakfasts have a total of 10 rooms to choose from.

Camps and Camp Grounds
Quaker Haven Camp 574-834-4193
Cottonwood Camp 574-457-4389
Camp Crosley 574-834-2331
Rustic Root 260-856-4476
Tippecanoe Camp 574-834-4184

RECREATION

Parks www.syracuseparks.org 
Syracuse maintains a very fine system of parks. The Syracuse Community Center is a hub of activity for the whole family. It is located adjacent to Lakeside Park and includes a large beach, restrooms, gazebo, skate-park, playground and shelter. Three other parks are spread throughout town, which provide swimming, playground, fishing and boating activities.

Trails syracusewawaseetrails.com
The master plan for the Syracuse-Wawasee Trails project calls for over 30 miles of trails and sidewalks to be created. The trails are wide and perfect for jogging, walking, bicycling and skating. While most of the trails that have been completed are within the town of Syracuse, new construction has started that will eventually extend around both Syracuse and Wawasee Lakes.

Fish and Wildlife Area www.in.gov/dnr 
The Tri-County Fish and Wildlife Area has 3,546 acres of land with 650 acres of lakes. It is perfect for bird watching, hiking, hunting and fishing.

Wawasee and Syracuse Lakes
Lake Wawasee is the largest natural lake in Indiana. With access to Syracuse Lake, there are more than 3,500 acres of water for year-round recreation including swimming, fishing, boating, skiing and relaxing. In the winter the lakes are great for skating, ice fishing, skiing and snowmobile riding. Jet skiing, fishing tournaments and water skiing are some of the activities available on the lakes.

Golf Courses
Maxwelton                                                         18 holes
Wawasee                                                            9 holes

Municipal Pier
The newly redone Municipal Pier is a public pier that provides boaters with the opportunity to dock at the pier and to visit the beach, Community Center or Main Street. The pier is at the eastern end of Main Street and allows for an easy walk to restaurants, the movie theater and shopping.

 

EDUCATION AND CHILDCARE
The Wawasee community school district is comprised of the communities of Milford, North Webster and Syracuse, Indiana. The mission of the school corporation is to develop the academic, social and artistic skills of students so they will be productive, responsible citizens. This mission is taken to heart and can be seen in the accomplishments of the students. Preparing students to meet the challenges of the future is a daily practice of the Wawasee school community.

The Wawasee School district is a part of the Wawasee Area Career and Technical Cooperative. The goal of this cooperative is to give high school students the chance to acquire experience in a career area, enabling them to make informed decisions about post secondary education and/or employment. Programs such as this help students bridge the gap between high school and the "real world."

The opportunity to offer internships to high school students is a great benefit to business in the Syracuse community.

Wawasee Community School Corporation Statistics
Enrollment 3,434
SAT Average Score 1016
Graduation Rate 84%

Educational Attainment in the Syracuse Area (population over 25 years)
High School graduate or higher 87%
Bachelor's degree of higher 17.9%

Childcare Options
Natural Wonders Preschool 574-457-3391 www.naturalwonderspreschool.com
Lakeland Community Learning Center 574-457-4983
Lakeland Youth Center 574-457-3055 www.lakelandyouthcenter.com
Little Lambs Day Care 574-457-3689

Higher Learning (within 50 miles of Syracuse)
University of Notre Dame 
Ivy Tech Community College
Andrews University
Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne
Grace College
St. Mary's College
Indiana University-South Bend 
University of St. Francis 
Bethel College
Southwestern Michigan College 
Tri-State University Grace College
Manchester College
Huntington University 
Goshen College
Glen Oaks Community College 
Brown Mackie College 
Holy Cross College
Ancilla College 
Indiana Business College 
Taylor University
Indiana Institute of Technology


OTHER COMMUNITY ASSETS

Syracuse-Turkey Creek Township Public Library
Located in the Syracuse Community Center across from Lakeside Park, the Syracuse-Wawasee Historical The library is an information center providing resources in a variety of formats to serve the needs of the citizens of Turkey Creek Township, including the Town of Syracuse. It is funded through local property tax assessment. Borrowing privileges are extended to all residents and property owners of the taxing area and to the students of the Wawasee Community School Corporation.

Due to the proximity of Lake Wawasee and Syracuse Lake, many of the Library's patrons are summer residents. All students from the Wawasee Community School Corporation are eligible for free library cards regardless if they are residents of Turkey Creek Township.

The library has a full range of materials to choose from, including a large print book section, periodical section, audio book section, video (both VHS and DVD) section, as well as many volumes of reference materials in addition to fiction and non-fiction selections (children, adults and young adults). There is a local history section, with volumes outlining the history of Kosciusko County and Indiana history in general. The microfilm collection includes local newspapers dating from 1875 through 2004 (as of 2009); physical copies of local newspapers are kept in the library for five years after the publication date. There are approximately 87,000 library visits each year.

Syracuse-Wawasee Historical Museum
Located in the Syracuse Community Center across from Lakeside Park, the Syracuse-Wawasee Historical Museum offers a glimpse back in time. It occupied a room in the Syracuse Library until 2002, when it moved to its current location in the Syracuse Community Center.

Center Stage at the museum is the 1905 Mier car designed and built by local resident, Sheldon Harkless. Mr. Harkless sold the car's design rights to the Mier Carriage Co. of Ligonier. The company produced only about 10 cars and this is one of the two known survivors.

Center Stage at the museum is the 1905 Mier car designed and built by local resident, Sheldon Harkless. Mr. Many other items are on display, including a complete collection of class portraits of graduating classes of both Syracuse and Wawasee High Schools; an extensive collection of Native American artifacts found in surrounding fields; a 400 year old grandfather clock; the telephone switchboard from the Spink Hotel and several oil paintings (by Ken Harkless) of scenes depicting life as it was years ago in Syracuse.

TRANSPORTATION

Trains
CSX railroad tracks run west and east through the town of Syracuse. Commuter train service is available from South Bend to Chicago. Amtrak provides passenger service from Elkhart to Chicago and New York.

Freight service is provided east-west by CSX and North-South by Norfolk-Southern.

Trains Distance from Syracuse
CSX runs west to east through Syracuse (Freight Service) .0 miles
Commuter train service is available from South Bend to Chicago 51 miles
Amtrak provides passenger service from Elkhart to Chicago and New York 20 miles
Norfolk-Southern runs north to South in Milford (Freight Service) 5 miles

 

Airports Distance from Syracuse
Chicago Midway International Airport 144 miles
Indianapolis International Airport 146 miles
Chicago O'Hare International Airport 155 miles
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport 196 miles
Goshen Municipal Airport 8 miles
Nappanee Municipal Airport 8 miles
South Bend Regional Airport 51 miles
Warsaw Municipal Airport 16 miles
Fort Wayne International Airport 49 Miles
Chicago International Airport (Gary) 113

Highways Distance from Syracuse
US 6 1.2 miles
US 33 5 miles
US 30 16 miles
US 20 18 miles
Interstate 80/90 27 miles
Interstate 69 23 miles
SR 13 0 miles
SR 15 5 miles


UTILITIES

Water
Water is supplied by the Town of Syracuse and comes from (3) wells. The water has a capacity of 2.3M gallons per day with a usage range of 350,000 to 700,000 gallons daily. The Town has above ground storage tanks which hold 650,000 gallons.  www.syracusein.org   574-457-3229 

Sewer
The Town of Syracuse provides primary and secondary treatment. Present capacity is 1.05 million gallons per day, present normal flow is 500,000 gallons per day.  www.syracusein.org   574-457-3229 

Natural Gas/Electric 
(NIPSCO) Northern Indiana Public Service Company is an investor owned company and furnishes electricity and natural gas to the greater Syracuse area.  www.nipsco.com 1-800-262-6477

(NREMC) Northern Rural Electric Membership Corporation is a consumer owned corporation that also provides service to the Syracuse area.
www.unitedremc.com 1-800-542-6339

Telephone
Century Link provides telephone service in the greater Syracuse area, including high speed DSL) internet and bundled packages.

Cable
Mediacom (Comcast) provides broadband internet, digital cable TV and digital phone service to the Syracuse area.
www.mediacomcc.com 1-866-755-2225 

CONTACTS:
For Additional Information on the Syracuse Area, contact:

Town of Syracuse 574-457-3348 www.syracusein.org
David Wilkinson, Town Manager townmanager@syracusein.org

Syracuse-Wawasee Chamber of Commerce 574-457-5637 www.swchamber.com
, Executive Director info@swchamber.com

David Behr, North Central Region Director 574-288-6834 dbehr@iedc.in.gov
Indiana Economic Development Corporation

Alan Tio, Executive Director 574-265-2601 kosciuskoedc.com
Kosciusko County Economic Development Corporation atio@kosciuskoedc.com