Many Hoosiers today might be surprised to learn that their state has been home to a clothing optional/nudist resort since the 1930s. Located about about an hour southeast of Chicago, the Sun Aura Resort boasts one of the largest and most unique sundial in the country: the Giant Lady’s Leg Sundial. 

The resort, formerly known as Club Zoro, was opened in 1933 and by Chicago attorney Alois Knapp, sometimes known as “the father of nudism in America.” By 1968, the resort was under new management of the Drost family and renamed Naked City, a moniker which it kept until its closure in the 1980s.

The sundial—an 18.5-foot-tall, 32-foot-long woman’s leg—was built in 1970. This period was also quite problematic in the history of the resort due in large part to the nefarious activities of the owner’s son Dick Drost, which culminated in Dick being run out of Indiana on child molestation charges and the closure of Naked City in 1986. 

In 2015 the property was purchased and renovated, and is now runs under new management as the Sun Aura Resort. They are proud of the legacy of the Giant Lady’s Leg Sundial, which is why it was recently restored to fix damage caused by 46 years of weathering and to preserve it for visitors for years to come.