Alarm over the nation’s disappearing natural landscape helped launch Indiana’s parks movement, and Richard Lieber and others pushed for a state park system as the state’s 1916 centennial gift. Although Turkey Run was initially lost to a higher bidder at auction, McCormick’s Creek was purchased in time for the centennial celebration, and Lieber’s group bought Turkey Run within the year. By 1932, ten parks dotted the state. Inns provided accommodations for early visitors, many of whom stayed for more than a week, and gatehouses reflected Indiana State Parks’ early leadership in using a user-pays model to support operating costs. From near the beginning, nature guides interpreted the parks’ natural and cultural stories. During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps put jobless young men to work constructing buildings, trail systems, and infrastructure in the parks. After World War II, veterans earned college degrees, entered the workforce, started families, and with increased income traveled more, increasing demand for parks. Beginning in the 1950s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built dams for flood control, and the Division of Reservoir Management managed land for camping, hunting, and fishing before later merging with State Parks. In the 1960s, growing environmental understanding and concern led State Parks to adopt management practices to conserve and maintain valuable ecosystems, and the system continued presenting itself as a leader in conservation and management into its second century.