Westchester Township is one of twelve townships in Porter County, Indiana. It is included in the Calumet, Northwest Indiana, and Great Lakes regions. It is located on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, about southeast of Chicago. It stretches from the famous Indiana Dunes on its northern border, south to the Valparaiso Moraine, a ridge of rolling hills left by the last glacier to pass through the area. As of the 2010 census, its population was 19,396.
Towns
Westchester Township includes the communities of Chesterton, Porter, Dune Acres, and Burns Harbor. Former communities in the township include Baillytown, City West, and Tremont.
Education
Westchester Township is served by the Duneland School Corporation. Its high school is Chesterton High School, its middle school is Chesterton Middle School, its intermediate school is Westchester Intermediate School, and its elementary schools are Baily, Brummit, and Yost Elementary Schools.
Westchester Township is served by the Westchester Public Library in Chesterton.
Parks
Westchester Township is the home of Indiana Dunes State Park and a large portion of Indiana Dunes National Park.
Geography
The land that is now Westchester Township was once completely covered by the Wisconsin Ice Sheet. Later, it was submerged beneath Lake Chicago during one other notable period of the ice sheet's retreat from around Indianapolis to the arctic region where it currently resides. Known for its sand dunes, wetlands, and forests, Westchester Township gives evidence of the dynamic geographical and ecological circumstances brought about by the glacier's last passage. As recently as the 1700s, most of Westchester Township was part of a vast wetland marsh that stretched across the Calumet Region. Today as little as 6.6% of Porter County is wetland habitat, most of which is located within Westchester Township.
Drainage
Westchester Township is within the Great Lakes Watershed, which eventually empties into the Atlantic Ocean.
Rivers and streams
Westchester Township is home to the Little Calumet River and several streams, including Dunes Creek (previously named Fort Creek), Willow Creek and its tributaries, Salt Creek and its tributaries, Sand Creek, Coffee Creek, Damon Run, the Swanson-Lamporte Ditch, and Johnson Ditch.
Lakes
Westchester Township is home to Billington Lake, Morgan Lake, Chubb Lake, and Pratt Lake.
Wetlands
A notable wetland in the area is Cowles Bog, a fen named after a University of Chicago researcher who became famous for his study of geophysical conditions and ecological succession in the dunes.
Sand dunes
By far the most notable geographic feature in Westchester Township are the great hills of sand strung along the shoreline of Lake Michigan. These great hills of sand are approximately 50 to 100 yards back from the water and can range from three quarters of a mile to a mile in width. They were first formed by the northwesterly winds which continue to blow across the lake and carry with them sand that washes up on the shore of Lake Michigan. The sand dunes begin to form around trees and clumps of grass that block the wind's path and continue to shift in size and shape depending on weather patterns and human interference. These great hills have been found to move as much as 10 to 15 feet per year. Before settlers came to the region, the dunes had reached a stable, or "dead" point, as they were completely covered by a forest of white pine. As the settlers began to remove the white pine for lumber, many areas of the dunes once again came "alive" and began to shift and move with the wind, weather, and human traffic.
Plant life
Westchester Township, thanks to its sand dunes and marshes, is home to over 1,300 species of flowering plants and ferns. Plants of the desert grow in the same vicinity as plants of the woodland and plants of the prairie. The area is known internationally for this diversity of plant life.
Wildlife
More than three hundred varieties of birds have been found in the area. It is estimated that about half of these are only seasonal residents. Other notable wildlife include deer, bear, wolves, foxes, mink, muskrat, wild ducks and geese.