Local lore has it that on a dark and rainy night in 1875 (or 1880 or 1881 - no one really knows for sure), several railroaders from the West Michigan Railroad watched in horror as a train engine and 4-6 cars box cars slowly sank into Lily Lake in LaPorte, and were never seen again!

The railroad tracks had been constructed on pilings over the marshy lake, and the train and tracks simply sank into the muck. Fortunately, no lives were lost. Some say that the bottom of the marsh was quicksand, and that no one ever saw the train again. Others swear that divers have seen the engine and cars, but that the quicksand will never yield up its prize.

In any event, the marsh and several acres have long since been filled in and no one really knows the truth. No actual documentation has ever been located.