My understanding of the Gary Mayoral Election of 1967 Stay Little and Be White

The history of Tolleston is well known. However, railroad operations in Gary are not something well covered by most historians. Tidbits are thrown at us here or there, but their knowledge of railroading is severely lacking. Thus when they write about Gary, those types of factoids are missing. One of…

Vitucci’s Tower Throughout my research, I’ve often wondered who was the “Vitucci” in Vitucci’s tower. I’ve seen the same tower photo in numerous publications. However, none explained the name. Vitucci’s tower is a railroad crossing gatehouse. The gatehouse itself was a simple thing. It stood on the west side of Broadway, guarding…

I discovered an article from 1910 that discusses the rumor of a second union station in Gary, Indiana. This station was to be shared by Michigan Central Railroad, Wabash Railroad, and Gary & Western Railway. Also, it was mentioned that Illinois Central Railroad would operate passenger service to Gary and…

Rewrite of original Facebook post John Wiss (Wise) was born in 1808 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. According to Wikipedia, a plaque erected in his honor mentioned Wise "lived most of his life near this spot." He had an interest in ballooning, which developed in his teenage years. Over time, he mastered…

Though I’ve lived in the Ambridge neighborhood nearly all of my life, I know very little about it. Well, what I consider to be “very little” might be significant to most. Ambridge Park used to be a significant sandy delta at the end of a stream known as Gibson’s Run…

How U.S. Steel and the City of Gary Caused Mass Layoffs — The Hearth

INTERLUDE Big news broke around this time in 2018. U.S. Steel announced it would invest nearly a billion dollars over five years into its largest manufacturing plant in Gary, Indiana. This is the most significant investment in Gary Works in decades. US Steel already set funds aside for asset revitalization, and…

Continuation of The Family Street Gang Story — FADED GLORY I read a book written by a Gary historian (I can’t remember who, sorry). He stated in the 70s, Gary was not a beautiful place to live anymore — and questioned if the city ever was truly beautiful. Whatever charm could be found was overcast by streets paved with broken…