In 1926 the Studebaker Corporation purchased 850 acres from area farmers to develop an automobile proving ground, and that same year the Clubhouse was built for employee lodging, including a caretaker's apartment. Over the next 40 years, the Clubhouse was renovated for uses including design and drafting rooms and also served as barracks for the US Army. In 1961 Sherwood Egbert, the last president of the Studebaker Corporation, used the Clubhouse as his private residence. In 1966 the Studebaker Corporation sold the proving grounds to the Bendix Corporation, which donated the Clubhouse and 175 acres to the newly formed St. Joseph County Parks and Recreation Board. Bendix Woods County Park opened in 1967, and today the parks department uses the Clubhouse as a Nature Center with office and meeting space. In 1938 more than 8,000 pine trees were planted in a half mile-long area by the Civilian Conservation Corps as a living sign planned as a salute to the growing aviation industry. The sign, made up of red and white pines, was placed on the National Historic Register along with the Clubhouse in 1985. According to the 1987 Guiness Book of World Records, the Studebaker sign is the largest living advertisement in the world.