A history of Gary,
since 1906
Postcards, papers and photographs of Gary from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Gary, Indiana, was founded in 1906 by the U.S. Steel corporation as the home for its new plant, Gary Works. The city was named after lawyer Elbert Henry Gary, who was the founding chairman of the United States Steel Corporation.
Gary was the site of civil unrest in the 1919 General Steel Strike. On October 4, 1919, a riot broke out on Broadway, the main north–south street through downtown Gary, between steel workers and strike breakers brought in from outside. Indiana governor James P. Goodrich declared martial law three days later. Shortly after that, over 4,000 federal troops under the command of Major General Leonard Wood arrived to restore order.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Gary’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewGaryStationcardlarge, 1910: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Gary
See all 67 →
Gary, decade by decade
CommonsBethlehem Lutheran Church, U. A. C., 3705 South Anthony Bou…c. 1930 · postcard
CommonsCity Hall, Gary Indiana (63369)c. 1930 · postcard
CommonsClub house, Gary Gun Club, Marquette Park, Gary, Indiana (6…c. 1930 · postcard
CommonsEmerson School, Gary, Indiana (75206)c. 1930 · postcard
CommonsFather Marquette Monument, Marquette Park, Gary, Indiana (6…c. 1930 · postcard
CommonsFroebel High School, Gary, Indiana (75204)c. 1930 · postcard
CommonsHorace Mann School, Gary, Indiana (63378)c. 1930 · postcard
CommonsHotel Gary, Gary, Indiana (63360)c. 1930 · postcard1990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as GaryStationcardlarge (1910) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Historic places
National Register · via Wikidata
From Wikimedia Commons (10) and the National Register (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.