Historical Markers and War Memorials in Gary, Indiana
Crown Point is the county seat for Lake County
Gary is in Lake County
Lake County(71) ► ADJACENT TO LAKE COUNTY Jasper County(22) ► Newton County(14) ► Porter County(36) ► Cook County, Illinois(810) ► Kankakee County, Illinois(16) ► Will County, Illinois(142) ►
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On Madison Street north of Madison Lane, on the right when traveling north.
U.S. Representative Katie Hall, standing second from left, witnesses along with other national dignitaries as Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States of America, signs federal legislation establishing a national holiday honoring the . . . — — Map (db m241793) HM
On West 6th Avenue at Washington Street, on the left when traveling east on West 6th Avenue.
Front Side
In the early 1900s, immigrants, white migrants, and black southerners came to Gary for work in the steel industry. Rev. William G. Seaman founded City Church downtown in 1926 to serve as a Christianizing influence on the diverse . . . — — Map (db m200385) HM
On East Dunes Highway (U.S. 12) at East 6th Avenue, on the right when traveling east on East Dunes Highway.
Dedicated to the memory of the men and women whose love for this nation enabled them to make the supreme sacrifice of life itself in its defense. — — Map (db m226841) WM
On West 15th Avenue at Madison Street, on the right when traveling west on West 15th Avenue.
Froebel opened here, 1912, as many European immigrants and southern blacks moved to Gary for jobs in steel mills. An experiment in progressive education, it served students of diverse backgrounds and the local community. Despite early status as . . . — — Map (db m200372) HM
On West 25th Avenue, on the right when traveling west.
Front Side
As Gary grew in the early 1900s, African American students were segregated within white schools or overcrowded into small, separate schools. To compensate, officials transferred some Black students to Emerson High School in . . . — — Map (db m200382) HM
On East 4th Avenue (U.S. 12/20) at Broadway, on the left when traveling east on East 4th Avenue.
Gateway Park
This park, along with City Hall and the County Court Building, was envisioned by the Gary Commerce Club as a "front door" to the city. The City and the Gary Public Transportation Corporation (GPTC) used federal transportation . . . — — Map (db m240904) HM
On Colfax Street at King Street, on the right when traveling south on Colfax Street.
The Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus. The Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, organized in 1907, became one of the largest and most recognized shows to tour the united States. Resembling a small city, by 1918, it featured over twenty tents, 1000 workers and . . . — — Map (db m238554) HM
On Harrison Street, on the right when traveling north.
This Memorial Honors American Veterans Of All Wars Who Have Shared A Common Goal - To Valiantly Protect Our Country's Freedom.
The Memory Of Their Heroism, Sacrifice, Loyalty, and Valor Will Live On Whenever And Wherever Democracy Exists. — — Map (db m200607) WM
On West 35th Avenue at Washington Street, on the right when traveling west on West 35th Avenue.
By 1921, Indiana University offered courses in Lake County, later establishing extension centers in the Calumet Region. As manufacturing jobs in the area drew Black Americans from the South and European and Latino immigrants. IU offered . . . — — Map (db m244325) HM
On Jackson Street at West 23rd Street, on the left when traveling north on Jackson Street.
Whereas; Michael Jackson was born on August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana. He was the seventh of nine children and is recognized as one of Gary's favorite sons, and Whereas; Michael Jackson was an American recording artist, world's greatest . . . — — Map (db m241000) HM
On Jackson Street south of West 23rd Avenue, on the right when traveling south.
In Loving Memory Of
Michael J. Jackson
(1958 - 2009)
"You gave us a lifetime of love"
The Jackson Family
Parents: Joseph & Katherine
Brothers: Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon, Randy, Tito
Sisters: Janet, LaToya, Rebbie . . . — — Map (db m200431) HM
On Madison Street south of West 19th Avenue, on the left when traveling south.
Representative Katie Hall (1938-2012).
Democratic leader Katie Hall was born in rural Mississippi and moved to Indiana in 1960. She taught in Gary before serving in the Indiana General Assembly, 1974-82. Hall became the first African American . . . — — Map (db m241795) HM
On Taft St at W. 10th Ave, on the right when traveling north on Taft St.
St. John's Church, the oldest surviving institution in Gary and north of the Little Calumet River, began with the work of the Rev. Henry Wunder in the early 1860's. He regularly came from Chicago by horse and buggy. Baptism records date from 1863; . . . — — Map (db m200365) HM
On East Massachusetts Street at West 15th Avenue, on the right when traveling east on East Massachusetts Street.
Stewart House was organized during depression of 1921 to provide social services for Gary’s black community. A vital neighborhood center for unemployed WWI veterans and southern blacks who migrated for jobs in steel mills, it helped thousands . . . — — Map (db m200378) HM
Genesis Plaza - Omri Amrany's The Fusion Centennial Sculpture The 40' sculpture, often called "The Steelworkers' Monument," was completed and dedicated in 2006 and installed to mark Gary's centennial,. — — Map (db m240999) HM
On East 4th Avenue (U.S. 12/20) at Broadway, on the right when traveling west on East 4th Avenue.
During the 1920's, the population of Gary would double. In order to attract and keep good leadership. U.S. Steel needed quality housing available for its managers. Plans were soon conceived for a 68-unit apartment building near the heart of . . . — — Map (db m226732) HM
On East 4th Avenue (U.S. 12/20) at Broadway, on the right when traveling west on East 4th Avenue.
Gary's first Methodist Church was established in 1906. In October of 1916, Dr. William Gran Seaman became pastor. Seaman relished his role in the growing congregation, but he had bigger dreams; he wanted to build a new church to serve the . . . — — Map (db m227755) HM
On East 4th Avenue north of Broadway, on the right when traveling east.
Gary City Hall - Bryant Baker's Elbert H. Gary Statue
The bronze statue was sculpted and erected in 1927. Elbert Gary was the key founder of U.S. Steel, bringing together J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, and Charles . . . — — Map (db m241907) HM
On East 4th Avenue (U.S. 12/20) at Broadway, on the right when traveling west on East 4th Avenue.
Gary School Superintendent William Wirt used the Ralph Waldo Emerson School to be the first to use his new Work-Study-Play system of education, a "Whole Child" philosophy. This philosophy drew international attention to Emerson.
The building . . . — — Map (db m227754) HM
Architect Philip Brooks Maher's Gary City Hall Building
City Hall was completed in 1927 by Philip Maher after his father and original architect George W. Maher's death. George drafted a Prairie-style design while . . . — — Map (db m241909) HM
On Broadway at 5th Avenue, on the right when traveling north on Broadway. Reported damaged.
The founding of Gary in 1906 occurred at a time when electric street cars were booming in cities across the country. Provisions were made in the original layout of Gary for electric passenger car rail lines to be placed down the middle of major . . . — — Map (db m241910) HM
This house was the first permanent structure built in Gary, and was the home of Gary's first town hall, polling place, post office, and high school. In 1981 the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and restored in 1982 . . . — — Map (db m236261) HM
On East 4th Avenue (U.S. 12/20) at Broadway, on the right when traveling west on East 4th Avenue.
Gary Public Library (GPL) was organized on March 30, 1908 when its first library board met, and Ora L. Wildermuth, Gary Public Library's founder, moved "that we have a Public Library and that the Board proceed to arrange for the same." The . . . — — Map (db m227756) HM
On East 4th Avenue (U.S. 12/20) at Broadway, on the right when traveling west on East 4th Avenue. Reported missing.
In 1906, a two-level building was erected on the corner of Sth Avenue and Broadway and became the Gary State Bank which operated in the building above until it was razed in 1925 to make way for a new high-rise building.
On East 4th Avenue (U.S. 12/20) at Broadway, on the right when traveling west on East 4th Avenue.
At first, Horace Mann consisted of two portable trailers near the street on the large property. The first class consisted of 45 students who had previously attended Jefferson School. Demand for the west side school was greater than initially . . . — — Map (db m245177) HM
On East 4th Avenue (U.S. 12/20) at Broadway, on the right when traveling west on East 4th Avenue.
Shortly after the city's founding by U.S. Steel in 1906, the Gary Heat, Light, and Water Company constructed the utilities necessary for tens of thousands of new residents and businesses. The company hired civil engineer John W. Alvord of . . . — — Map (db m226733) HM
On Broadway at 5th Avenue, on the right when traveling north on Broadway.
500 Broadway - Jason Bord's Lake Wind Sand Composition Sculpture
This piece, installed in 2018, was part of a public art contest supported by the City of Gary, Legacy Foundation, and the Knight Foundation. The . . . — — Map (db m241912) HM
On Massachusetts Street, on the right when traveling north.
Gary City Hall - Gary Tillery's Mayor Richard G. Hatcher Statue
This statue honors Mayor Hatcher, one of the first two black mayors to be elected in major cities in the U.S. The bronze statue celebrates this . . . — — Map (db m241908) HM
On East 4th Avenue (U.S. 12/20) at Broadway, on the right when traveling west on East 4th Avenue.
Gary Public Schools Memorial Auditorium was built in 1927 to honor Gary residents who died in World War I. It was part of an emerging movement to build structures of significant public utility rather than traditional monuments.
On Massachusetts Street south of East 4th Street (U.S. 20), on the left when traveling north.
In 1967, Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher became the first elected African American mayor of a major US city. A civil rights luminary, Mayor Hatcher served as advisor to Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter on issues of civil rights and urban . . . — — Map (db m236263) HM
On Broadway north of Interstate 90, on the right when traveling north.
Built in 1910, just four years after the city was founded, the station is located between the elevated lines of the Norfolk Southern and CSX Railroads. The station transported the thousands of workers who came from around the country to work in . . . — — Map (db m236260) HM
On Oak Avenue, 1 mile west of Montgomery Street, on the right when traveling west.
The glider you see above you and to your left was designed by Octave Chanute, whose statue you see on your right. In June of 1896 (ten years before Gary, Indiana was founded), Chanute, a leading civil engineer, came across Lake Michigan from . . . — — Map (db m227829) HM
This is to certify that Gary Bathing Beach Aquatorium was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on the 25th day of November 1994 by the United States Department of the Interior in cooperation with the Indiana Department of Natural . . . — — Map (db m226861) HM
Near Oak Avenue west of Montgomery Street, on the right when traveling west.
In 13,000 BC the shoreline of Lake Michigan was several miles south of this marker, at what is now Ridge Road. As the lake receded over the centuries the shoreline inched north to where you are standing. In 1675 Jesuit explorer Father Marquette . . . — — Map (db m236264) HM
On Marquette Drive at Oak Avenue, on the left when traveling east on Marquette Drive.
A French Jesuit Priest. One of the earliest Christian teachers of the American Indians landed here AD 1673 in company with the French explorer Louis Joliet. — — Map (db m226864) HM
On Oak Avenue at North Grand Boulevard, on the left when traveling south on Oak Avenue.
Marquette Pavilion, built in 1924, is an example of prairie-style architecture.
Can you find these features that are emblematic of this style?
• Strong geometry and massing
• Horizontal and vertical lines
• Brick or stucco exteriors . . . — — Map (db m227758) HM
On Oak Avenue west of Montgomery Street, on the right when traveling west.
Octave Chanute arrived at Miller Beach, Gary, Indiana on June 22, 1896 to perform gliding flight experiments in the dunes just west of this site. Over 700 successful flights provided him with significant aerodynamic data.
Chanute willingly . . . — — Map (db m227760) HM
On Oak Avenue west of Montgomery Street, on the right when traveling west.
Octave Chanute, a French-born engineer, is celebrated for his pioneering aviation experiments here on the dunes of Lake Michigan. He was an innovator for railroads as well.
He designed wood and iron trestle bridges for some of the most . . . — — Map (db m227830) HM
On Oak Avenue, 1 mile west of Montgomery Street, on the right when traveling west.
Made the first successful flights in heavier-than-air craft from these dunes in 1896. This glacial boulder dedicated to his memory in 1936. — — Map (db m236259) HM
On Oak Avenue, 1 mile west of Montgomery Street, on the right when traveling west.
The figure of Octave Chanute is pointing toward the dune where, in July of 1896, he conducted his famous experiments with gliders. These experiments had a dramatic impact on the history of aviation. The publicity generated by the experiments . . . — — Map (db m227824) HM
Near Oak Avenue north of Marquette Drive, on the right when traveling south.
For decades people have enjoyed strolling the bridges to Patterson Island. The small island located in the Grand Calumet Lagoon was enhanced for access during the Great Depression through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). . . . — — Map (db m226859) WM
Near Oak Avenue west of Montgomery Street, on the right when traveling west.
Of the estimated 1,500 shipwrecks in Lake Michigan, there are 14(*) within Indiana waters. Two lie offshore of Gary. They are identified only as "Unknown 5" and "Unknown 6."
"Unknown 5 and 6" have been identified by archeologists as barges . . . — — Map (db m226863) HM
On Oak Avenue west of Montgomery Street, on the right when traveling west.
World's largest freshwater sand dunes in the world line the southern shores of Lake Michigan.
5th largest lake in the world and largest lake in Indiana.
Over 3,500 ships and planes lay at the bottom of Lake Michigan.
You are . . . — — Map (db m226866) HM
On Oak Avenue, 0.2 miles west of Montgomery Street, on the right when traveling west.
In 1941 the American military did not want the Tuskegee Airmen to fly. By May 8, 1945, the end of World War II in Europe, only the Nazis felt that way.
The heroics of the Tuskegee Airmen led to President Truman's 1948 order ending racial . . . — — Map (db m227759) HM WM
