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About Duneland.com

Duneland.com was established in September 1996 by local resident Robert (Bob) Gray. Bob was an electrical engineer by-day and moonlighted as a self-taught web developer at his home in Chesterton.

Duneland.com was the first website to feature Chesterton-area businesses and resources on the World Wide Web. Bob and his wife Linda first created a business directory of all local businesses by transcribing all of the local listings from the phonebook and publishing them online. Businesses could then purchase links, banner ads, and customized websites from Duneland.com.

Bob Gray with wife Linda in their Chesterton home, both sporting Duneland.com shirts.

Bob spent much of his time in the early development years educating local businesses about what a website is, and trying to convince skeptics of the importance of the Internet. He would print out pages of his website to show potential customers and explained: “like a store front for your business, your website is open for anyone to see – local residents, and people around the world.”

One of his first customers, Chuck Roth of Chesterton Feed & Garden commented, “He single-handedly brought this area up to speed with his innovative Duneland.com. I would probably still not have a website on my own if he had not stimulated me to do it and then made it so easy for us to manage it.”

From the very start-up days of Duneland.com the mission was “To share the beauty and interests of the Duneland Community with local residents and visitors alike”. Original features included a local business directory, recreational activities, upcoming events and festivals, school lunch menus and closings, beach and parks information and activities.

Affordability was also an important value of the business model for Duneland.com. At an affordable rate local businesses purchased customized websites and direct links from the Business Directory to their websites.

By 2002 Duneland.com exceeded 1.6 Million visitors in one year with dozens of local customers with web pages, links and ads featured on Duneland.com.

By 2007, Bob was looking forward to retiring from his day-job and pursuing his passion of Duneland.com on a full-time basis. Sadly, he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. In April of 2008 at the age of 60 Bob passed away at home surrounded by his family.

In 2009 Linda forged a new partnership with local web developers The Grossbauer Group and together, they re-released a modern, interactive version of Duneland.com.

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