MARKTOWN UPDATE A publication of the Marktown Preservation Society December 2006 Christmas In Marktown - 1953 80,000 Calumet Residents See Yule Display The Youngstown Sheet and Tube Office building. At the east end of Christmas Today Company's annual Christmas tree is the building was an illuminated church Needless to say, Christmas is not gone but its memory lingers on. and on the top of the building was a celebrated by industry today as it had For two full weeks the brightly il- cutout of reindeers pulling Santa in his been in the past. But then again, none luminated tree revolved in all its beauty sleigh. More than 2,500 lights were of the major companies appear to be to entertain probably 80,000 Calumet used for the exhibit. owned domestically. Youngstown district residents. More than 16,000 Every seven minutes the large Sheet & Tube and Inland Steel are both cars loaded with travelers stopped at tree made a complete revolution. As now Mittal Steel and that's a foreign the plant to see the tree and listen to it revolved Christmas carols filled the held company. the music. air with music. When many of us grew up, Stan- From December 19 through New There was a good crowd to see dard Oil would decorate a portion of Year's Day the tree was illuminated the tree every night it was illuminated. their refinery with Christmas lights and from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. And on the three And there has been much comment large white stars atop a particular unit days before Christmas - Dec. 22, 23 from many of the visitors on the on Indianapolis Boulevard. You could and 24, it also was illuminated from 6 beauty of the scene. see it from the South Shore station in to 8 A.M. The Yield - a publication of YS&T Co. Roxanna. It was great! But then again, This year's tree attracted the big- January 1954 Standard Oil is now BP or British Pe- gest group of spectators in troleum. Wouldn't it be nice the years the company has if corporations would once arranged this holiday fea- again celebrate the holidays ture. in a much more public way Made of 200 Trees today as they did those Standing 40 feet high, many years ago. Well, the tree was made from maybe next year they will 200 smaller Christmas begin the practice anew. trees. More trees were Merry Christmas to all and used in front of the Tin Mill to all a good night. visit us on line at www.marktown.org Restoring East Chicago’s Historic Past Lake County Interim Report Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Inventory The major impetus for a comprehensive in- ventory of Indiana’s cultural resources came from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The Act declared it the policy of the federal government to foster the preservation of our cultural resources in partnership with the states, local governments, and the private sector. In order to implement this policy, the Act created the National Register of His- toric Places, composed of buildings, sites, struc- tures, objects, and districts significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture. It also established a partnership between the federal government and the states, whereby each state developed a state historic preservation pro- gram to be approved by the U.S. Secretary of Inte- rior. To gain approval, the governor of the state must appoint a State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) and a State Review Board must be appointed. One of the responsibilities of the SHPO is to conduct a comprehensive statewide survey of historic proper- ties and maintain inventories of such properties for the purpose of locating, identifying, and evaluating cultural resources. Another responsibility is to en- sure that historic properties are taken into consider- ation in planning and development through the envi- ronmental review process. In 1971, the Indiana State Legislature autho- rized creation of a state preservation program within the Department of Natural Resources, and the The interim report is designed to be utilized as a Department’s director was designated as the SHPO. working document by government agencies, local The first full-time staff was hired in 1973, and the organizations, and private citizens as the basis for comprehensive survey program began in earnest in a wide variety of projects. It was first published in 1975. In 1978, an initial five-county survey project 1996 and is scheduled for revision in the next few was completed by Historic Landmarks Foundation years. When it was first published 675 buildings in of Indiana utilizing federal grants-in-aid administered East Chicago were included in the report. Exactly by the Division of Historic Preservation and Archae- how many have been lost is unknown at this time. ology. An average of three counties has been inven- toried by the Foundation each year. About Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana In 1960, alarmed by the loss of defining his- toric buildings in the capital city, a group of India- napolis civic leaders created Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. The organization established by those volunteers now ranks as the largest pri- vate statewide preservation group in the United States, with an Indianapolis headquarters and nine regional offices staffed by professionals who help 15 Most Historic Struc- Hoosiers save and restore old buildings. The Calu- met Region Office in the Miller section of Gary serves tures & Districts in all of Northwest Indiana. East Chicago, Indiana About This Report 1. Carnegie Library After four decades of razing entire sectors 2. Lake County Superior Court Building of East Chicago for redevelopment projects that did 3. Riley Bank Building not materialize, the decision was made to begin the 4. Washington Park Historic District process of celebrating our historic past through the 5. Block Stadium restoration and preservation of our architectural heri- 6. Euclid Avenue Chicago Three-Flats 7. Alder Street Classic Two-Flats tage. While there are more than 600 historic prop- 8. Main Street Historic District erties that merit our attention, we have been asked 9. St. George Serbian Orthodox Church to limit this first report to but fifteen properties. In 10. Wickey House doing so, we have identified five districts and ten 11. First Congregational Church individual structures as listed herein. 12. City Hall 13. Main Post Office 14. Inland Steel Office Building 15. Marktown Historic District This list was complied by Paul A. Myers in cooperation with Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana's Calumet Region Office 563 South Lake Street Gary, Indiana 46407 (219) 938-2200 If you would like to learn more about historic preservation efforts in your community please contact HLIF at the above telephone number or Paul A. Myers at (219) 397-2239. Revisiting The Calumet Heritage Corridor... cago coupled with the 1937 Me- morial Day massacre at Republic Steel are major milestones in the history of American industry and labor. What about the Marktown & Pullman Districts? Both are included in the pro- posed National Heritage Area. Pullman was built as a social experiment in controlling the work force of the Pullman Palace Car Company. The Pullman Historic District, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 in rec- ognition of its significance as an industrial community, as well as its association with the 1894 rail- road strike. The Marktown Historic District, listed on the National Register in 1975, is an example of an early 20th century industrial-sponsored development. Today, it is com- pletely surrounded by industrial development, but is remarkably intact and still features a dense spatial arrangement of dwellings, yards and streets. Marktown was designed in What is the the region and Great Lakes ship- 1917 by Howard Van Doren Shaw, Calumet National Heritage Area? ping increased. In those energetic who was hired by Clayton Mark to The proposed Calumet Na- days, these steel plants were create a community to house tional Heritage Area wraps around models for the world and sur- workers in his Indiana Harbor the southwestern end of Lake rounding lakes and wetlands were manufacturing plant. The commu- Michigan, reaching from the Indi- altered, filled and contaminated nity layout and its houses reflect a ana Dunes National Lakeshore on without thought. European influence; the lots are the east to the Illinois and Michi- Once a wilderness of dunes, square, the roads narrow, and the gan Canal National Heritage Cor- lakes and marshes, the region still houses close to the street. Many ridor on the west. Including south- has the highest concentration of of the house are duplexes, which ern section of Chicago and ex- diverse natural environments of are two stories and connect on tending well into Indiana, the Calu- any region in the Great Lakes. It their rear elevations, facing their met Region is a premier example is, in fact, a globally significant side yards in opposite directions. of our country's urban and indus- ecosystem. It's developer, Mark Manufacturing trial growth over more than 100 In and around these areas of Company, originally owned Mark- years. With this growth have been natural richness, the legacy of the town. Marktown represents the dramatic impacts on the natural struggle of workingmen in America planned industrial community beauty and environment of a re- took place. The creation of Pull- movement of the late nineteenth gion where lake meets prairie and man and Marktown and the great and early twentieth centuries and woodlands. steel works on the lakefront, the is reflective of the social aware- Heavy industries grew in the 1894 Pullman workers' strike and ness programs spawned by the lake 1800s as railroads came into the early strikes here in East Chi- effects of the industrial revolution.