Welcome to Gary - "America's Magic Industrial City"; a site devoted to save, preserve, and disseminate information relating to Gary, Indiana architectural history.
Gary, Indiana was founded in 1906 as an industrial city for the Indiana Steel Corporation. The steel age forged a city out of sand hills and swamp land which formerly drew Chicago's elite for hunting. The city rapidly grew in its first three years. The population skyrocketed from 2,000 in 1907 to 16,802 in 1910. Ten years later, the city's 1920 Census showed that the population tripled to 55,378. In 1960, Gary's population again grew three-fold to 178,320.
The City of Gary is best known for being one of the country's major steel producing facilities. As possessing an industry which once was a lucrative money making venture, Gary did draw large numbers of social and economic classes. One aspect of Gary history that has been overlooked is its architecture. Numerous volumes have been authored discussing the social and economic histories of the city but its actual built environment has never truly been discussed. This page is an off-shoot of my thesis research and academic interests. With this site, I hope to illustrate my architectural discoveries and document my continuing concerns to preserve one of the last American industrial cities. In this site, I shall present previously undocumented designs by numerous architects including J.T. Hutton, John Eberson, Holabird & Roche, George & Arthur Dean, George Maher & Son, and Frank LLoyd Wright.
Where can one find significant architectural commissions on nearly every street corner or hidden away within one of the many neighborhoods? Gary drew various Chicago and nationally known architects. The city is a microcosm of architectural styling dating from the early 1900s to the 1980s. Gary, as being a steel manufacturing center and a young city, did not have the architectural elitism that many older cities did possess. An analysis of the city shows many modern forms of construction techniques, architectural styles, and design ideologies. In comparison to other nearby cites, Gary possesses a noteworthy bastion of terra-cotta ornament, early examples of reinforced concrete structures (some of which are loosely modeled after Thomas Edison concrete patents), prime examples of Prairie School buildings, a plethora of American building styles, and rare urban design scenarios.
The purpose of this page is to illustrate that Gary does currently possess a significant architectural pool worthy of preservation. The city contains a noteworthy park system, a downtown commercial corridor, and numerous noteworthy residential neighborhoods: Ambridge-Mann, Glen Park, Miller, to name but a few. In the coming months, I hope to plead such a case and show many of the city's significant structures. I have created this page to illustrate to the internet community the architectural uniqueness and importance of this once prosperous industrial city.
From Sand Hills to Urban Decay is illustrative of the recent past of the city. Attempts are being made to resurrect Gary, the once grand industrial city. Examples of redevelopment include casino gambling in the former Buffington Harbor, airport improvement, Federal Empowerment Zone status, low & moderate income housing programs spearheaded by various community development corporations, downtown beautification, a Continental Basketball League team (the Gary Steelheads), the Miss America Contest, a new State if Indiana office building, and historic building site clean-up.
Gary - "America's Magic Industrial City" is not affiliated with any City of Gary Department nor is this page reflexive of the municipality's preservation policies or planning agendas.
