Lost Creek Reserve is the site of the Historic Knoop Homestead whose rich history encompasses over 200 years and five generations of Knoops. The Victorian Era farm house and historic barns still decorate the landscape.
In 1997, Mark D. and Dorothy Knoop set-up a private trust to benefit the Miami County Park District. The Park District purchased 173 acres, which is contiguous to the 239 acres held in the Trust. This purchase included the Knoop Homestead, the ancestral Knoop cemetery and several barns. In purchasing this property from the family of Mark D. and Dorothy Knoop, the Park District has recognize the influence of the Knoop ancestors on the development of Miami County by naming the new park, Lost Creek Reserve and Knoop Agricultural Heritage Center.
The original 239 acres in the Trust was given to the Park District to be continued as “tillable land for agriculture as well as preserving for posterity some beautiful pastoral area that will never be built over with housing as commercial development has happened in so much of Ohio. “This gift is also a legacy to my ancestors who developed this land” – Mark D. Knoop.