Wakarusa, a town (1959 pop. 1,200; 2000 pop. 1,618) located in Olive Township, Elkhart County, Indiana. Mennonite pioneers had settled in the vicinity before 1852, when the town was platted, and the Holdeman Mennonite Church (MC) had been built the year before. Approximately 60 Mennonite families live in the town, and about 10 business establishments are operated or managed by Mennonites. The town is a shopping center for some 750 Mennonites. The six Mennonite churches in the vicinity include Holdeman Mennonite (MC), Salem Mennonite (MC), Olive Mennonite (MC), Yellow Creek Mennonite (MC), Yellow Creek Wisler Mennonite, and Blossers Wisler Mennonite. The County Line Wisler Mennonite Church, 2 miles west and 1½ miles north of Wakarusa, was used for a number of years as an alternate place of worship for the Yellow Creek-Blossers group. The first Mennonite settlers in the Wakarusa community were the Holdeman, Weldy, Davidhizar, Smeltzer, Lechlitner, Loucks, and Hartman families.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 872. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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