History of Lake, Porter, and LaPorte, 1927County history published by the Historians' Association . . . .
Source Citation:
Cannon, Thomas H., H. H. Loring, and Charles J. Robb. 1927.
History of
the Lake and Calumet Region of Indiana, Embracing the Counties of Lake,
Porter and LaPorte: An Historical Account of Its People and Its Progress
from the Earliest Times to the Present.
Volume I. Indianapolis, Indiana: Historians' Association. 840 p.
HISTORY OF THE LAKE AND CALUMET REGION OF INDIANA
CHAPTER XXV.
TRANSPORTATION AND WATERWAYS.
PIONEER TRAVEL -- THE STAGE COACH ERA -- THE STEAM RAILROADS -- THE
AUTOMOBILE -- PERMANENT SURFACED ROADS -- THE DUNES HIGHWAY -- LAKE
NAVIGATION -- PORT OF INDIANA HARBOR -- CALUMET SEAWAYS ASSOCIATION --
REALIZATION OF A DREAM -- LAKES TO THE GULF WATERWAY -- OCEAN PORTS --
CHICAGO SOUTH SHORE & DOUTH BEND RAILROAD -- GARY RAILWAYS -- NORTHERN
INDIANA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY.
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The development of any territory, great or small, is largely dependent on its transportation facilities. Each section of country has its own local transportation problems, and the earlier they are solved, the more quickly any inviting and attractive opportunities or resources in such territory gets attention from the investigator. The early settlers quickly realized the necessity for improved means of transportation and communication. In the Lake Region the various Indian trails which led through the most favorable sections for travel were largely used by the early settlers as a means of communication, but hauling heavy loads meant substantial roads and bridges in order that the products of the farm and needful supplies for the pioneer could be transported with safety and dispatch and the territory appear inviting to new home seekers. Hence, we find among the earliest acts of the county officials the building of bridges which would make travel possible across streams throughout the year and the improvement of road foundations and the building of new roads of a substantial character for that period so as to bring the various markets and centers of trade within easy access of the settled agricultural areas.
The growth of Chicago, which became an outfitting center for the still farther westward movement, brought into being in the Lake Region at a very early date the stage coach era of travel. Various stage coach lines were inaugurated, which crossed the Lake and Calumet Region from Detroit via Michigan City, and also through the territory farther south, and a few local lines originated in the larger settlements of the Lake Region. In the twenty years which preceded the steam railroad, thousands of people were carried to Chicago by the various stage coach lines, which passed out of existence with the advent of steam travel. During this period the improvement of road communication between the settlements became a settled policy and the expense at times became somewhat of a burden—although a necessary one—on the slender resources of the settlers, and at the close of the stage coach era most of the settlements in
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the Lake Region were connected by entirely new and improved highways. As the tide of travel to Chicago was from the east along the lake shore and through the least desirable agricultural section, the first railroad, the Michigan Central, did not immediately prove of material benefit to the developed agricultural area, but quickly following the Michigan Central in 1850 came the Michigan Southern in 1851, and the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago in 1858. The latter road was of great benefit to certain sections and opened the eyes of the settlers to the great future of agriculture in the Lake Region when new roads then in contemplation were completed. The Joliet Cut-Off in Lake County, which later became a part of the Michigan Central, was in operation in 1854, but owing to the war, no railroads other than the ones mentioned were built in the territory until after 1865.
The return of peace inaugurated a great era of railroad building throughout the country, in which the Lake and Calumet Region most abundantly shared. The location of Chicago made certain its future destiny as one of the greatest Midwest cities, and it was early seen that its size would be only limited by the extent of the development of the territory farther west. It was natural therefore that railroad promoters would be anxious to connect leading Eastern and Midwest centers of trade and industry with the rapidly growing Chicago, and this incentive to the construction of new lines to Chicago was assurance that as fast as capital requirements could be met, the Lake and Calumet Region would be crossed in every direction with railroads. The Chicago & Great Eastern (Pan Handle) from the southeast was the first road to give the settled area of Lake County the transportation advantages for which it had been patiently waiting, and the long and wasteful heavy hauls to Chicago and other markets were now replaced by the short haul to the railroad shipping points. The effect on agriculture was electrifying and gave stimulus to raising many products for which a quick cash market existed in Chicago. The completion of the Baltimore & Ohio in 1874 was of great aid to the development of agriculture in the eastern territory of the Lake Region, and the Grand Trunk in 1880, followed by the New York, Chicago & St. Louis (Nickel Plate), the Chicago & Atlantic, later a part of the Erie Lines, and the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago (Monon) in 1882, insured a rapid growth in population and the settlement of all available agricultural lands throughout the Lake Region.
While great expectation existed of industrial growth in many cities and towns on the various lines, in only a few places did manufacturing industries obtain a strong foothold at this period, and these were the result of the inventive genius of a few citizens in the more populous centers in introducing advanced types of machinery and some other products. In 1883 the Illinois, Indiana & Iowa Railroad was built, giving transportation facilities to the extreme southern part of Lake County. In
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1888 the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad and the Chicago & Calumet Terminal began operations in the Calumet Region of Lake County, and in 1892 the Wabash line was finally completed. The effect of the railroads on the life of the pioneer was quickly apparent, and one of the most notable effects being the passing of the oxen to be replaced by horses for both farm and road work. While modern agricultural machinery was yet in its infancy, types of mowers and reapers appeared which were astonishing in their efficiency as compared with the pioneer methods, and these and other changes brought the horse into general usefulness, and by 1870 only a few oxen could be found in the entire Lake Region. With the opportunity to obtain lumber came an era of frame structures of all kinds, and the log dwellings became outbuildings for farm use. The new homes were quickly equipped with modern household appliances and utensils, household furniture, carpets, sewing machines, pianos and other products of Eastern industrial centers, which before the railroad era were difficult to obtain, and the mode of living underwent a complete change.
With the growth and development of the Lake Region came additional transportation facilities until there are now twenty-three steam railroads, seven electric lines and numerous bus lines in Lake County, while the railroad transportation facilities of LaPorte and Porter counties are on a par with the needs of the population. LaPorte County has 250 miles of steam roads, Porter County 200 miles, and Lake County 372 miles. LaPorte County has a total of 51 miles of interurban transportation, Porter County 35 miles, and Lake County 89 miles. Some of the railroads deserve particular mention for the cooperation which they have extended to the farming communities and to the industries and shippers generally throughout the Lake Region, and enjoy an invaluable asset in the good will of the citizens in Lake, LaPorte and Porter counties for the willingness at all times to aid in the development and growth of the counties. The Nickel Plate, the Chesapeake & Ohio, the Wabash, the Monon, the Baltimore & Ohio, Grand Trunk, Pere Marquette, and Erie railroads are trunk lines whose officials should feel proud of the good will which they enjoy among the shippers in the Lake Region for the uniform courtesy, aid and service which has been characteristic of the above mentioned officials. The approximate total mileage of main track of the principal trunk line railroads crossing the Lake Region is as follows: Nickel Plate, 56 miles; Lake Erie & Western, 26 miles; Monon Railroad (LaPorte and Lake counties), 66 miles; Baltimore & Ohio, 56 miles; Grand Trunk, 57 miles; Pere Marquette (LaPorte and Porter counties), 55 miles; Erie, 44 miles; Chesapeake & Ohio, 43 miles. Inability to obtain with near accuracy the main track mileage of the New York Central and Pennsylvania lines in the Lake Region prevents a record being made here.
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CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT OF ROADS — The advent and increase in the mileage of railroads did not weaken the settled policy of constant improvement of roads, but on the contrary the demand for new and better roads became greater. The scattered farm sections were insistent in their demand to make the railroad shipping points more accessible through better roads and also to strengthen and improve the main highways. More and better bridges were erected and the draining of the marsh land of the Kankakee resulted in making that inaccessible territory everywhere open to travel. The sand brought up by. the dredges in the river proved of great value in road building and was utilized in the construction of several roads across the marshes. By 1890 nearly all the county seats and centers of trade of Northwestern Indiana were connected by good wagon roads and there was a constant improvement in the character of the less traveled highways. For the next fifteen years maintaining the main highways in a good state of preservation and the gradual improvement of country roads was the general road policy in the Lake Region, but after 1905 it became apparent that one of the greatest changes in the history of transportation was about to take place, making necessary an advanced type of road construction, with bridges of new and radically improved designs.
AUTOMOBILE — Over night the automobile had come into existence, and during the first few years of the inventive period and before anything approaching a standard type was evolved, it was looked upon as only an expensive toy for the rich, but after 1905 its practical value for travel and freight transportation took on hereinbefore undreamed of significance as engineering ability both here and abroad, combined with American production methods, established a standard product of such remarkable efficiency and at such a low cost that it entered into and became an essential part of the family life of the nation, made great inroads into freight and passenger transportation business of the railway systems, and even threatened the economic ability of many of them to exist. In order that the fullest advantage in speed and load carrying ability be obtained in the use of the automobile and freight carrying trucks, it became necessary to provide smooth non-destructible surface roads, with bridges of new and advanced types of construction, between important state and interstate centers of trade and industries, so that the new mobile method of transportation could be operated with safety and economy. The construction of the new slow-wearing surface types of roads became an established policy of the States and many national highways are now under construction from coast to coast and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Important state and national highways which cross the Lake Region are Ade Way, Dunes Highway, Huntington-Manitou-Culver Trail (H. M. C.), Jackson Highway, Liberty Way, Lincoln Highway, Michigan-Detroit-Chicago Highway, Chicago-Benton Harbor Trail (Seven-A-Route), and
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Yellowstone Trail. These are improved highways and are great routes for tourist travel. Parts of these highways already have surfaces of the most modern construction and the mileage of this new type of surface is being gradually extended.
A heavy tax on pleasure automobiles, trucks and passenger line busses, which are now in service in many states, with an additional tax on gasoline, were the measures generally adopted to help defray the expense of building and maintaining the new road systems, supplemented in many cases by substantial aid from the National Government. In the fiscal year of 1925 and 1926 the amount of tax received in Indiana on automobiles, trucks and passenger line busses was $5,090,267, and on gasoline amounted to $8,867,000. In only a few’ sections of America are there more automobiles and auto trucks in proportion to the population, hence there is a constant local demand for hard, slow-wearing surface roads in the Lake Region, which added to the necessity for caring for the great tourist travel, and Lake County having the largest volume of motor truck traffic in any one county in Indiana, has made the building of the most modern improved roads a fixed policy on the part of the local authorities, and additional mileage is constantly being added.
Porter County has a total of 793 miles of road, 58 miles being state highways, 412 miles improved county roads, and 323 miles of unimproved or earth roads. Lake County has a total of 1,050 miles of road, which includes 79 miles of state highways, 679 miles of improved county roads, and 291 miles of unimproved or earth roads. LaPorte has a total road mileage of 1,209 miles, of which 80 miles are state highways, 440 miles of improved county roads, and 689 miles of unimproved or earth roads.
THE DUNES HIGHWAY — On December 6, 1918, Henry M. Miles, city engineer of Michigan City, read a paper before the Streets and Highways Committee of the Gary Chamber of Commerce, in which he set forth the needs of “Trunkline Highways.” In this paper Mr. Miles declared that a national highway should be constructed along the south shore of Lake Michigan between Gary and Michigan City which would eliminate all grade crossings and shorten the distance between the two cities 13 miles, and to the Illinois state line 16% miles. Such a highway had been the dream of many progressive citizens of the Lake and Calumet Region, as the section it would traverse is full of historic interest and would make accessible the beautiful shore of Lake Michigan and be a gateway to the Dune Wonderland. Its construction had been dismissed as not feasible on account of physical difficulties, with the resulting cost, as the road must be built for miles through impassable swamps under water nearly the entire year. Mr. Miles in his paper showed clearly that the physical difficulties could be overcome at a cost very much less than had been considered possible and that the road through its many attractions was
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certain to be traveled by more people than any other link in our national highway system.
Gary has become great because her citizens are quick to act when once their interest is aroused, and A. M. Hess, now postmaster in Gary, who was chairman of the Commercial Club Committee on Good Roads, immediately issued invitations to prominent citizens of Hammond, Whiting, East Chicago, Michigan City and other places in the three counties to meet and consider the subject. The meeting was held at the Commercial Club in Gary, and Mayor Hodges welcomed the visitors and expressed the hope that favorable action would be taken towards promoting the building of the highway. Among those who addressed the meeting were W. H. Loutit, president of the West Michigan Pike Association, and F. L. Loutit, president of the Sheridan Drive Association of Chicago, both of whom called attention to the great benefits to be derived from the building of the new road, which would be a link in the trans-continental route as well as in the proposed 700-mile highway along the shore of Lake Michigan, connecting the Sheridan Drive system with the West Michigan Pike system, which follows the east shore of Lake Michigan to the Straits of Mackinac. The meeting resulted in the formation of the Dunes Highway Association, with A. S. Hess of Gary, president; W. E. Jewell of East Chicago and George Johnson of Michigan City, vice presidents; C. B. Campbell of East Chicago, treasurer; and Walter K. Greenbaum of Michigan City, secretary.
President Hess promptly appointed the following committee of engineers to make a preliminary survey of the route: Henry M. Miles, of Michigan City; A. P. Melton, Ralph Rowley, F. O. Hudson and W. P. Cottingham, of Gary; Ray Seeley, William Bridge and Roy Pierce, of Hammond; C. K. Wallace, of East Chicago; and County Surveyor E. C. Dunn, Jr. On May 22, 1919, the engineers submitted their report, having lost no time in making the survey, although it was spring and seven miles of the route was covered with water from one to six feet in depth. The engineers recommended the location of the highway along the line it was subsequently laid out and built. They also recommended the right of way to be 100 feet, with a 40-foot concrete roadway. A vigorous propaganda for the construction of the road was promptly launched, and as a result the state highway director stated the project would receive due consideration. In August, 1919, President Hess received notice that the State Highway Commission had tentatively designated Dunes Highway as a state road, as recommended by the Dunes Highway Association through the report of its engineering committee. In January, 1920, State Highway Director Wright and President Hess went over the route, accompanied by Chief Engineer Gray of the State Highway Committee, but further action was delayed on account of a change in the state administration. President Hess was informed that if an increase was made in the state
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highway tax, the Dunes Highway could be built in 1922. A campaign to increase the state highway tax immediately followed. Resolutions were passed by commercial clubs and civic bodies generally in Northern Indiana, and appeals were made to commercial organizations throughout the state to favor the increased tax, and, under this pressure, the Legislature in 1921 passed the bill which had been drawn under the instructions of President Hess of the Dunes Highway Association.
Every effort was now put forth by the association to have construction started at the earliest date, and in September, 1921, State Engineer Gray, accompanied by Mr. Moore of the Federal Aid Department, made the final survey. On March 19, 1922, the General Construction Company of Gary was awarded the contract to build the western section of the highway, and the Chicago Heights Coal Company the eastern section. About eighteen miles were included in both contracts. The specifications called for a twenty-foot roadway of reinforced steel and concrete and a five-foot embankment or berm on each side of pavement. The eastern section followed the old Detroit stage road between Bailey Town and Michigan City and had no engineering difficulties, so it was quickly constructed. The deep swamps in the western section caused many difficulties. The giant dredges and scoops were moved on caterpillar tractors mounted on rafts and frequently one of them toppled over into deep water and had to be retrieved by derricks and cranes. But engineering ability and perseverance conquered all obstacles and the road, with exception of two overhead crossings, was finished in 1922 and formally opened for traffic in November, 1923, a great celebration being held in honor of the occasion.
The Dunes Highway is a shining example of the “Go Get ’Em” spirit which animates the citizens of the Lake and Calumet Region, and hence the story is given in detail to show that not only do the citizens know how to do things, but they exercise push and perseverance in their undertakings and thus accomplishment becomes a certainty. It is doubtful if there was a more needed highway in Indiana than the Dunes Highway, and every prediction made as to its importance has been fulfilled. The increase in real estate values in the vicinity of the highway is many times its cost of $1,000,000, while its convenience and saving in travel is immeasurable. Tourists have an opportunity of visiting and admiring the beauties of the Dunes, and the predictions on the volume of tourist travel have been greatly exceeded.
The traffic has become so great and accidents so frequent that the State Highway Commission now realizes it should have fully adopted the report of the engineers of the Dunes Highway Committee and made the roadway forty feet in width instead of twenty feet. It is certain the highway must be widened shortly, as it can not take care of the traffic which is increasing far beyond the predictions of its most enthusiastic
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promoters. It being the shortest line on the south shore of Lake Michigan and an air line from Gary to Michigan City, it gets all the local travel to and from Chicago and also the cross-country tourist travel, as it joins the Lincoln Highway at Bootjack on the east and via Broadway in Gary on the west. It passes through Bailey Town and near historic Bailey Homestead, and every mile of its length of twenty-five miles is full of historic landmarks.
In addition to those previously mentioned who rendered great aid and assistance in bringing the project to success were Tom Cannon, whose articles in the Gary Post-Tribune in favor of the project aroused great interest, and John O. Bowers, who not only contributed free right-of-way on his own property, but helped to secure additional right-of-way from others. It was Mr. Bowers’ suggestion to the engineers in charge of the surveying corps which caused the location of the road on the south side of the South Shore Railroad tracks, thus avoiding many railroad crossings and allowing ample opportunity for future widening of the road. The Inland Steel Company and the Consumers Company each cheerfully donated a mile of right-of-way. Others whose efforts were a great aid in securing the construction of the road were Ingwald Moe, H. R. Misener, Capt. H. S. Norton, Robert II. Moore, Harry Call, J. Glenn Harris, W. F. Hodges, M. E. Crites, Z. B. Campbell, H. V. Armstrong, James W. Shaw, John Faulknor, Perry PI. Stevens, C. M. Reed, Charles M. Mackey, and Herman C. Couter.
LAKE NAVIGATION — Lake navigation was an important factor in the development of the Lake Region. It was the usual method of travel during the early pioneer days between Chicago and Michigan City, and some of the most important necessities for the colonists came by some of the early lake schooners, and wheat and other products were shipped from both Michigan City and Chicago, being hauled overland to these two ports. In fact the lake route was the only avenue to distant markets until the arrival of the railroads. Prior to the advent of the railroads some canal projects received serious consideration as an aid in transporting products from the settled interior territory to various lake ports. The Wabash River Improvement Association was organized for the construction of a ship canal from Michigan City to the Wabash River, and this project, if realized at that time, would have connected Lake Michigan by waterway with the Gulf of Mexico, as the plans included extensive development of the Wabash River channel. Another very early projected waterway was the Erie and Michigan Canal, the course of which was down Elkhart River, then into the Big St. Joseph to South Bend, then down the Kankakee to Grapevine Creek, then up Grapevine Creek to its source in Michigan, then across six miles to Trail Creek to Michigan City. Toledo was to be the eastern terminus. Some work was done on this project, but its promoters were unable to finance it. A number of other companies were
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organized with charters giving them the right to build canals and railroads, and the powers granted in some of these charters were taken advantage of by some of the later railroad companies in building across the Lake Region to Chicago.
The growth in lake navigation in the past fifty years has bordered on the phenomenal, and Indiana Harbor and Michigan City are important open ports in the Lake Region. In addition are the private harbors of the United States Steel Corporation at Gary, and the Buffington Harbor of the Universal Portland Cement Company, 'the latter harbors being devoted almost exclusively in caring for the tremendous lake freight business of the two corporations. The Michigan City harbor and its development is fully described in the history of Michigan City. The port of Indiana Harbor is the largest public harbor in Indiana and one of the most important on the Great Lakes. In some years its tonnage exceeds in volume the tonnage of the port of the Chicago River. The port of Indiana Harbor is used by the large steel companies at East Chicago and Hammond and is the headquarters of the Great Lakes fleet of the Standard Oil Company of Indiana, and in addition it is now caring for the lake transportation business of the Sinclair Refining Company, Roxana Petroleum Corporation and the Bartles-McQuire Oil Company, which in the past few years have established refineries on its shores. In 1925 2,000,000 tons of iron ore were received at Indiana Harbor, and 4,424,000 barrels of gasoline and 433,000 barrels of oil were shipped that year. The port is further referred to in the story of the industrial development of East Chicago.
CALUMET SEAWAYS ASSOCIATION — The much mooted question of diversion of water from the Great Lakes found many divergent opinions as to the proper solution, but like the famous Virginia statesman who, when they proposed to remove the tariff on peanuts, declared that tariff after all was a question of local determination, so the great question of water diversion was very properly threshed out first by those most vitally concerned, and in this instance what was apparently rather a small question became in its greater significance a matter of concern to the prosperity of the entire nation. The mere diversion of water for sanitation or drinking purposes has until lately been a mere incidental question, but in its greater ramifications it indeed became a stupendous question, epochal in the issues it involves. The Lake Region of Indiana has attracted the attention of the entire world as a growing industrial empire, one that will be in the ascendancy as the greatest center of manufacturing in the world within the next few years, so that Indiana as a whole is vitally concerned in the question of water diversion.
The Chicago Drainage Canal, which carries water from Lake Michigan to the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, was originally built for sanitary
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purposes. Water was first turned into the canal in 1900, and this very logical sanitary measure was regarded as quite a natural right and was not protested for more than twenty years. The permit for the withdrawal of water was issued by the secretary of war, acting under authority of an act of Congress approved on March 3, 1899. The permit allowed the use of 8,500 cubic feet of water per second. It achieved its purpose of diverting sewage through this waterway, and was not protested until a late day, when the assertion was made that this diversion lowered the lake level. The states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio brought an action to restrain this water diversion, and one of the amazing results of this movement was that the attorney-general of Indiana joined hands with the protesting states, in spite of the fact that this issue largely involved the welfare of this state.
Without permission from the Indiana Legislature, which is the custom in such matters, the attorney-general of Indiana petitioned for leave to intervene and filed a brief on behalf of the State of Indiana, supporting therein the contention of Wisconsin. Aside from the momentous question of diversion of water for highway purposes, a review of the benefits accruing to certain Lake County cities from the diversion through the Chicago Drainage Canal would indicate that the attorney-general had not properly measured his stand in the matter. The Lake County cities of East Chicago, Gary and Hammond are pierced by the Calumet River flowing west through each of them. The river crosses the state line, turns north, and flows into Lake Michigan at South Chicago, about two miles west of the Indiana line.
The river has now an artificial outlet, the Sag Canal, built by the Chicago Sanitary District to connect with the main drainage canal and drain the wastes of the Calumet Region down the Mississippi River. The cities of Hammond, East Chicago and Gary discharge their sewage into the Calumet River. Across the Illinois line the sewage is taken by the Sag Canal down the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. Of course the Sag Canal was built primarily for the drainage of the South Chicago district in Illinois, but incidentally it performs an enormously valuable service for the Indiana cities without cost to them. The splendid report of the United States Public Health Service issued last year states that the sewage from 58,500 people in Indiana flows into the Chicago Drainage Canal through the Sag Canal, and that ultimately Indiana sewage from 162,800 people would go the same way. For more than twenty years doctors and sanitarians have been seeking to divert all sewage from Lake Michigan.
In the argument presented before the Rivers and Harbors Committee of the Sixty-eighth Congress, Doctor Geupel stated that the health of the Indiana cities, Hammond, East Chicago, and Whiting, depended to a great extent on the elimination of the Calumet River water from Lake Michigan;
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he also gave it as his opinion that inasmuch as the Calumet-Sag channel was constructed for 2,000 feet of water per second, it should be allowed to divert this amount of water. Other noted authorities who took the same attitude were Doctor King, of the Indiana State Board of Health; Dr. W. A. Buchanan, the veteran health officer of the City of Hammond; and others. The United States Public Health Service in 1925 and 1924, cooperating with the Indiana State Board of Health, stated that the pollution of Lake Michigan by sanitary sewers and industrial wastes is such as to render the sources of water supply now used by Hammond, Whiting and East Chicago unfit for that purpose. Every sanitary authority in tweny-five years took that stand on the sewage problems of Lake County, Indiana.
In spite of all this, Attorney-General Gilliom of Indiana in his brief supported the Wisconsin injunction suit, which would stop water diversion from Lake Michigan and make clean water almost an impossibility for the Calumet Region. The lowering of the lake level has been variedly attributed to one cause and another. Secretary Hoover in his speech at Hammond in August, 1926, stated that the question was one of great complexity, and that the Chicago district could not be held responsible for the climatic cycle which was responsible for some shrinkage in the lake level, and also attributed part of the shrinkage to the increased flow through the St. Claire River from Huron to Erie. The climatic cycle referred to was established through statistics which demonstrate that from the earliest records the water of Lake Michigan has risen and fallen in cycles of twenty-five years. Another contributing cause to the lowering of the lake level was the excavation of vast amounts of gravel in the St. Claire River.
To arouse public opinion of Indiana as a protest against the inconsistent stand of the attorney-general of this state, directors of the Whiting Chamber of Commerce in 1925 authorized Henry S. Davidson, chairman of the Waterways Committee, to issue a call for a conference looking toward an organization to promote the interests of the two proposed water highways, the Lakes-to-the-Gulf Highway and the Outlet to the Sea by way of the St. Lawrence River. The first meeting was held on February 2, 1925, at which time the concrete organization of the Calumet Seaways Association was effected and the first officers chosen. They were as follows: Henry S. Davidson, president; H. R. Packard, secretary; Dr. O. E. Bransky of the Whiting Chamber of Commerce, Dr. H. M. Evans of the Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce, R. G. Conde of Hammond, Frank N. Gavit of the Gary Commercial Club, George E. Hershman of Crown Point Chamber of Commerce, Senator W. F. Hodges of the Gary Chamber of Commerce, J. G. Ibach of the Munster Chamber of Commerce, William H.
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Kleppinger of East Chicago, Olaf Langeley of Highland, and O. A. Ludlow of LaPorte, and Charles J. Robb of Michigan City, vice presidents.
On the organization of this body proper measures were taken to foster legislation, both national and state, that would not only secure these benefits but also place Indiana on record as an ardent champion of these waterways and incidentally in support of the great industrial region in the northern part of this state. The course of procedure involved the education of the public to the issues at stake, and there eventuated several distinct campaigns — each with a definite purpose. The first movement was in the Lower House of the National Congress, and the Calumet Seaways Association were in the forefront to create the necessary propaganda to assure the passage of the “Lakes-to-the-Gulf” Highway measure through the House.
In December, 1925, Frank N. Gavit, Joseph B. Kyle, and Henry S. Davidson journeyed to Washington and labored in behalf of the measure, which was then in the Senate. On the successful passage of the Senate, the next step was to correct Indiana’s false position in the matter. A petition was sent to the State Legislature of Indiana with the result that a resolution was passed asking Attorney-General Gilliom to withdraw his opposition to the national measure and thus eliminate the only apparent dissenting element that intruded itself against Indiana’s interests. A campaign of education was formulated to present the matter to everyday minds not only of this state but bordering states as well, and to this end delegates visited Michigan and other states which were opposed to the measure in an effort to demonstrate the overwhelming importance of these highways to the states immediately adjacent and also the country at large.
Great credit is due the members of the Calumet Seaways Association for their successful efforts and aid in the passage by Congress of the Rivers and Harbors Bill, containing an appropriation the expenditure of which will bring to a successful conclusion the Lakes-to-the-Gulf project. They were a driving force of great consequence and not the least of their efforts was their contribution in allaying sentiment against the project based on a false foundation created by selfish, hostile interests.
REALIZATION OF A DREAM — A waterway joining the Great Lakes with the Mississippi Valley was one of the earliest dreams of the pioneer settlers and the realization of this project was early consummated through the short distance existing between connecting streams. Eighty years ago the Illinois and Michigan Canal connecting the waters of the Great Lakes with the waters of the Mississippi was opened to navigation. Twenty-six years ago the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal was opened—the first and most difficult link in an enlarged waterway from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, and provided solely by the people of the City of Chicago
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at a cost of $30,000,000. Nineteen years ago the people of Illinois voted to amend the Constitution of the state and issue $20,000,000 in bonds to construct a waterway from the end of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship 'Canal to the head of navigation on the Illinois River at LaSalle.
This work has been under construction and would have been completed some time ago if the Federal Government had not interposed objection to the withdrawal from Lake Michigan of the volume of water necessary to provide an adequate channel. For a number of years powerful influences have made every effort to prevent the realization of this project, now assured, and with a channel sufficient to float barges of 2,000 tons capacity, drawing nine feet of water, from the lakes to the gulf.
In this transportation project the people of the Lake and Calumet Region have a vital interest, as it will provide water transportation facilities with the coal fields in the states bordering on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, and should mean an annual saving of a very large amount in the transportation charges for fuel so necessary to the industries in the region. It will also mean a great saving in the transportation charges of food supplies and make possible water transportation for the iron and steel products of the district to warehouses in important centers of trade on the lower Mississippi for distribution throughout the South and Southwest, and water transportation by way of the gulf to distant points. It has been estimated that the saving in freight rates on such items as coal, galena, bauxite, sulphur, lumber and corn used by the industries in the Calumet Region will reach $2,000,000 yearly. Secretary Hoover stated that the building of the Lakes-to-the-Gulf waterway will raise the value of each bushel of grain grown in the Central West from 5 to 7 cents per bushel, with a corresponding increase in other products. The route of the proposed waterway follows the Calumet River 10 miles, the Sag Canal 16 miles, the Main Drainage Canal 10 miles, the Illinois River 273 miles, and thence down the Mississippi to the gulf.
OCEAN PORTS — Another water transportation project of the most vital importance to the Central West and certain to be achieved in the near future will make the lake ports ocean ports for deep draught vessels and cause the most astounding changes in the growth and prosperity of the Midwest states and bring the important world markets and the rich and populous Eastern coast markets at the door of the great wheat and corn belts, the iron and lumber resources of Michigan and Minnesota, and the great coal deposits of the Mississippi and Ohio valleys. The Canadian Government has developed the St. Lawrence River east of Montreal and sea-going vessels drawing thirty feet of water now dock in Montreal harbor. One hundred and fifty-one miles of the St. Lawrence River between Montreal and Lake Ontario has sufficient depth to float boats draw-
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ing thirty feet, and it would be only necessary to develop thirty-two miles of the river for ocean-going vessels to dock at Lake Ontario ports.
Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and Lake Erie now have deep water connections, and the Canadian Government will soon have completed the Welland Canal around Niagara Falls and the deep water development of the thirty-two miles in the St. Lawrence River above mentioned would provide a direct water route for ocean -vessels of deep draught from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the most important ports on the Great Lakes. The cost of the development of the thirty-two miles of the St. Lawrence River is estimated at between $250,000,000 and $300,000,000, a sum of no considerable importance in these days of large financial expenditures, and this amount includes the purchase and installation of sufficient machinery to generate 1,500,000 hydro-electric H. P.
Another project to provide transportation for ocean-going vessels is the route across the State of New York from Oswego to the Hudson River and then to New York City and many important claims have been made for this all-American route, but the many advantages of the St. Lawrence River route makes the decision in its favor seem inevitable. An ocean outlet for deep draught vessels from the lake ports to the seaboard would enable manufacturers in the Central States industrial areas now enjoying through their favorable location important manufacturing advantages, to have direct ocean commerce with distant markets which advantages are now denied them and the effect of which would greatly increase the industrial development, population and wealth of many of the present lake cities and create new and important centers of trade. In 1926 approximately 125,000,000 tons of freight were handled on the Great Lakes, five times the amount which passed through the Panama Canal and they are the greatest inland water transportation areas in the world. With direct ocean connection for deep draught vessels the tonnage would manifold and necessitate enlargement of present harbor facilities and the creation of new harbors at favorable locations. The people of the Middle West would enjoy every advantage in freight shipments now possessed by other sections of the country with the most far-reaching effect on every line of industry.
The creation of direct lake-to-ocean travel by deep draught vessels carries startling possibilities for the Lake and Calumet Region and should be a most potent influence in still further promoting its already astounding industrial development.
CHICAGO SOUTH SHORE AND SOUTH BEND RAILROAD — In addition to the many other transportation advantages, the shore cities of the Lake and Calumet Region receive splendid fast service through the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railroad with its high speed electric line, with
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steel passenger motor cars., including deluxe power observation cars and dining cars on special limited trains. The history of the road goes back to 1906, having its origin in the Chicago and Indiana Air Line Railway Company, a high speed electric railway line projected between Chicago and New York and spoken of in the East as the Chicago-New York Air Line Railway. It was a time of tremendous activity in traction building all over the country, and the promoters had difficulty in obtaining capital, but construction of the line was begun at Gary to be abandoned a short distance east of that city in the Sand Dunes. The Air Line Company was afterwards succeeded by the Chicago, Lake Shore and South Bend Railroad Company, but again difficulty was encountered in obtaining the necessary capital. In May, 1906, the Chicago, Lake Shore and South Bend Railway Syndicate was formed to acquire the securities of the road and the South Bend Construction Company was organized to construct the line. J. B. Hanna of Cleveland, Ohio, prominent in electric railroad construction at that period, was at the head of the construction company and though beset with many difficulties which seriously threatened the progress of construction he was able by June 5, 1907, to build the line as far as New Carlisle, and in March, 1908, a fleet of five model interurbans equipped with baggage, smoking and passenger compartments and with the most improved sanitary plumbing, the cars costing $18,000 each, were placed in service and on July 1, 1908, were in regular operation between South Bend and Michigan City. The line to Gary was completed shortly after and on September 6, 1908, train service was established between South Bend and Hammond. From September 6. 1908, to April 4, 1909, passengers to Chicago were transferred to the Lake Shore Steam Railroad at Calumet, but after April 4th trains were operated over the tracks of the Kensington and Eastern Railroad, now leased by the South Shore line, and at Kensington transfer was made to the Illinois Central trains for down town Chicago.
Through service for a short period was maintained at extreme high speed but a number of accidents made necessary a slower schedule. In October, 1910, a second track from Gary to Hammond was completed, eliminating four regular sidings between these points and a short time later the double track was extended to Kensington. Automatic light type block signals were installed at dangerous crossings and by 1913 these were also in service between Michigan City and Gary. Through service was inaugurated to down town Chicago on June 2, 1912, through an arrangement with the Illinois Central Railroad, whose steam engines hauled the through trains from Kensington. During 1913 and for several years thereafter, due to relocation of its tracks in East Chicago, the installation of sewers and the uneven settling of the road bed, trains were operated with great difficulty and these unsatisfactory conditions did
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not tend to increase passenger traffic. The many difficulties under which the company labored and its high operating expenses left nothing for dividends to stockholders, but beginning with 1916 came an era of prosperity. Freight service was inaugurated in August of that year between South Bend and Chicago and with additional equipment for freight service the volume of traffic materially increased. During this year the Hercules Powder Plant in Aetna were in receipt of large war orders and traffic between Gary and Aetna showed an enormous increase, amounting in one month alone to nearly five thousand passengers. Its freight business continued to expand, being stimulated before Indiana became dry territory through the transportation of all kinds of liquors from Chicago and after the Indiana dry law went into effect a heavy week end traffic resulted from all points along the line to Chicago. The longest train ever operated by the railroad was on Decoration Day, 1917, and consisted of two motor cars and sixteen trailers. The company profited greatly during the strike of the switchmen in the Chicago yards of the steam railroads and the freight business reached capacity proportions as a large portion of all shipments from Chicago to points in Central and Southern Indiana were moved over its lines. The construction of paralleling hard surface roads, increased use of the private automobile and inroads made by competitive freight trucks and passenger motor coaches operating over intercity routes, all contributed to the decline in traffic and earnings which the company began to experience in 1922. For a period of eight months in 1924 the salaries of all officers and employees except those in train service were reduced 10 per cent and every effort was made to keep the company from a receivership. A general reduction in the number of officials and all classes of employees took place, but as the traffic did not improve and the company were without sufficient funds, a general deterioration took place in the condition of the road and its equipment and its value reduced about 50 per cent.
In the late summer of 1925 the South Shore line and the Gary Railways Company jointly organized the Shore Line Motor Coach Company of Gary to take over the operations of the latter company’s 220 route miles of inter-city bus lines in the Calumet district and between Michigan City and Western Michigan points. On March 1, 1926, the company no longer able to maintain its credit or meet its obligations, passed into the hands of Charles Currie, general manager, who was appointed receiver by the court, and Charles W. Chase, now vice president of the railroad, was appointed general manager for the receiver. The road was sold at public auction on July 14, 1925, to the present management and its name changed to the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railroad. Beginning on August 3, 1925, an extensive program of rehabilitation was entered into in the belief that the property could be converted into a sys-
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tem which would be a credit to the territory served, and this program has been going on steadily since that date with some additional new construction. So far $4,330,000 has been expended for replacements, improvements and additions and this expenditure includes 15 track miles of new 100 lb. steel rail between Kensington and Hammond to replace the old 70 lb. rail and permitting higher speed on this section of the line with greater safety and comfort for passengers. The entire roadbed from Kensington to South Bend was improved and 1,600 cars of cinder ballast used and 80,000 new ties laid with heavier rail installed at many points. Twenty-five new steel motor passenger cars were purchased at a total cost of $1,712,120. The power current system was changed from alternating to direct current, more efficient and economical for high speed operation. Four new 80 ton freight locomotives have been purchased and freight and passenger stations improved and remodeled. Automatic block and other signals have been completely rebuilt and a new bridge over the Lincoln Highway at New Carlisle constructed, eliminating one of the most dangerous grade crossings on the road. Two all-steel deluxe parlor observation cars and two dining cars have been purchased and are the finest cars ever built for an electrically operated railway, costing in the aggregate about $200,000. Illuminated stop signals have been erected at many highway crossings and electrically operated gates installed at three of the heaviest traveled grade crossings. One of the latest improvements to the South Shore line service was the inauguration on December 19, 1926, of half hour service during the day between the Chicago loop and Gary, giving the people of Gary, East Chicago and Hammond a choice of 69 trains daily to and from Chicago. It is understood that the remaining 70 lb. rails will be gradually replaced by 100 lb. new rails and additional safeguards provided to permit higher speed and service with safety over the line east of Hammond. There has certainly been a remarkable improvement in the physical condition of the property the past year under the management of Mr. Chase and also in the service, and it is deserving of its rapidly increasing patronage. It is such a vital transportation factor in the Lake and Calumet Region it is accorded extended reference in this history.
GARY RAILWAYSThe present Gary Railways was incorporated August 15, 1925, as a result of the consolidation of the Gary and Valparaiso Railway Company, Gary Connecting Railroad and Gary and Hobart Traction Company with the Gary Street Railway Company. The latter company was an outgrowth of the receivership for the various electric railway lines operating in Gary, Hammond, East Chicago, Valparaiso and LaPorte. The original street railway franchise in Gary was granted to Frank Gavit in an ordinance approved by the Board of Trustees on July 6, 1907. It provided for tracks on Broadway, Fifth Avenue and
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Eleventh Avenue—the tracks on Broadway to extend from Fourth Avenue to the Little Calumet River; on Fifth Avenue from the east city limits to the west city limits; and on Eleventh Avenue from Broadway to Grant Street which was then the west boundary of the city. Unexpected difficulties were encountered in the construction of the line which was then known as the Gary and interurban Railway Company and the terms of the original grant were extended for three months to enable the company to commence operation. In May, 1908, the first car was placed in service between Fourth Avenue and the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks at Twenty-first Avenue, the street being paved as far south as the Wabash Railroad. Construction of the Eleventh Avenue line to Grant Street followed it and was extended in 1909 through Tolleston on Ninth Avenue and in January, 1910, the line was completed to Hammond, a franchise having been granted to the company by the City of Hammond. The West Fifth Avenue line first terminated at Fillmore Street and later the line was extended to Cline Avenue and on to Indiana Harbor, service being instituted between Gary and Indiana Harbor early in 1912. The original franchise in 1907 and a second contract between the city and the company executed in 1912, carried specific requirements as to fares and the paving of the company’s right-of-way. The agreement included five cent fares with transfers, and tickets at the rate of twelve for fifty cents. After five years of operation tickets were to be sold at the rate of eight for twenty-five cents and the city was to receive compensation to the extent of 5% of net profits. The increasing cost of labor and material and other necessities of operation induced by the war and diminishing traffic resulting from the increasing use of private automobiles made necessary a change in the contracts with the city relative to rates of fares and the present rate of eight cents or fourteen tickets for one dollar was agreed upon between the city and the company. Track construction on South Broadway from the Little Calumet River to Forty-fifth Avenue and west on Forty-fifth Avenue to the west city limits at Grant Street was undertaken by the Gary and Southern Railway under a franchise granted by Lake County officials in 1911. The Gary and Hobart Traction line now a part of the local railway system joins this line at Broadway and Thirty-seventh Avenue and was operated under a franchise awarded to J. C. Cavender on August 25, 1911. The interurban line extending east on Eleventh Avenue from Broadway which later was extended to the City of Valparaiso was operated at that time by the Gary Connecting Railway Co. under a franchise issued July 23, 1912. Each of the three interurban lines had contracts with the Gary and Interurban Railway for the use of its tracks in the downtown sections of Gary and local business on Broadway as far south as Forty-first Avenue was taken over by the Gary and Inter-
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urban from the Gary and Southern Line on July 15, 1912, but later the Gary and Interurban began handling local traffic through to Forty-fifth Avenue. In August, 1913, the Gary and Interurban Railway obtained an additional franchise for extensions on Nineteenth Avenue, Twenty-fifth Avenue, Thirty-ninth Avenue and Taft Street, although none of these extensions were made as the city’s subsequent development failed to justify the laying of tracks over the routes first selected. A too rapid development of the various lines with intense jitney competition brought about a receivership of the Gary and Interurban system in October, 1915, through which the system was segregated into five parcels, the lines in Gary and Hammond constituting one unit and the Indiana Harbor line another. Later through combining these units the Gary Street Railway System was formed having a rolling stock at this period of thirty cars. To meet the intense competition and to prove its ability to handle the traffic needs of the city, the new company in 1919 placed in operation eight one-man, light weight safety cars with three minutes headway on Broadway to Twenty-sixth Avenue which so completely met the traffic situation that by ordinance the city council prohibited all jitney competition. Increasing employment in the American Sheet and Tin Plate Company brought about the building of an extension on Buchanan Street from Fifth Avenue to the Grand Calumet River in 1918 and on the north side of the river a track was built by the Steel Corporation and leased to the Railway Company. With the increasing demand for service the system expanded and thirty-two new cars were placed in service. Roadbeds were greatly improved and additional trackage laid where needed. In 1924 modern light-weight attractive one-man cars were introduced on the Gary and Valparaiso line. A new substation was erected on East Fifth Avenue and supplementary local bus service inaugurated in rapidly growing sections. In 1925 comprehensive inter-city motor coach service was established between Gary and Chicago, and on other routes in the Calumet region and Southwestern Michigan with 200 miles of travel. The motor coach service was conducted by a subsidiary organization, the Shore Line Motor Coach Company. In 1925 one-man interurbans were placed in operation between Gary and Hobart and increased and rapid service maintained. Recently new light-weight cars were put in operation on the Indiana Harbor and Hammond routes and one mile of second track laid on Eleventh Avenue through Tolleston. With a greatly increased population in the territory in which service is furnished, the company has demonstrated its ability to meet transportation needs and it is said by authorities on local and interurban electric railways that the Gary Railways furnish the best service and is the best managed electric railway system in the State of Indiana, and one of the leading systems in the United States. Since
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the receivership and reorganization and the elimination of local jitney and bus competition, the mileage of the Gary Railways System has increased 50%, its car equipment 250%, its power equipment more than 200%, its car mileage over 100% and the number of passengers carried have increased approximately 100%. The company now owns 100 passenger cars all of which are in service during the rush hour periods. More than $2,100,000 has been spent in rehabilitating and modernizing the system and nearly all of its cars are of the latest and most improved design and operating over a right-of-way with 90-lb. steel rails, steel ties with a concrete foundation and pavement, and with block signal protection and other modern safeguards. The Gary Railways was a pioneer in the field of coordinated bus and street car transportation and in the use of steel ties and concrete paving for its right-of-way. It has three peak loads daily during each of which nearly 10,000 workmen are carried to and from the great steel mills—trail trains being operated during this period and approximately 60,000 passengers are carried in an average day. During 1926 the system carried a total of approximately 18,000,000 passengers. Its record since reorganization shows it has fully deserved the confidence placed by the proper authorities in its ability to furnish adequate service and its anticipation of and preparation for future transportation needs is fully shown in its improvement plans in the past two years.
NORTHERN INDIANA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY — This widely known company is a gas, electric light and power utility, furnishing service in Lake, Porter, LaPorte and twenty-two other counties of Northern Indiana from the Illinois state line on the west to the eastern border. It was created on January 28, 1926, by a change in the name of the Calumet Gas and Electric Company and was chosen in order to identify the company with the greatly increasing area of its operations. In June, 1926, the new company serving a total of eighty-four communities mostly with electricity, absorbed by merger the Northern Indiana Gas and Electric Company whose principal revenue was derived from gas sales in the thirty-six communities in which its gas and electric properties were operated. The object of the consolidation was to create a single, strong company capable of developing and financing its properties to better advantage than two smaller ones. The Calumet Gas and Electric Company, the predecessor of the Northern Indiana Public Service Company, was organized under the laws of Indiana in 1912 as the Calumet Electric Company, the incorporators being identified with the Commonwealth Edison Company, the Public Service Company of Northern Illinois and other companies under the management of Samuel Insull and associates. The headquarters of the company, whose president was Charles W. Chase, now president of the Gary Railways and vice president of the Northern
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Indiana Public Service Company, was located in the old Security Building in Gary. The principal purpose for which the Calumet Electric Company was formed was to supply and distribute electrical energy to the local and interurban railways operating in and about the City of Gary which included the Gary and Interurban Railway, Gary and Hobart Traction Company and Gary and Valparaiso Railway Company. From the Blue Island, Illinois, steam generating station of the Public Service Company of Northern Illinois, electrical energy was brought over a 12,000-volt transmission line and distributed voltages suitable for street car operation through substations of the company located at West Gary, East Gary, Goodrum and Wilkinson. Additional power was purchased by the Calumet Company from the Northern Indiana Gas and Electric Company at Hammond. In addition to furnishing energy to the various street railways operating in and near Gary the company also supplied the town of East Gary and an amusement park on Clark Road near Tenth Avenue in Gary. All of the company’s substations were interconnected with transmission lines to insure greater dependability of the power supply. In 1917, the first big extension of service was made in the form of a 33,000-volt transmission line seventeen miles long and leading into the City of Crown Point constructed for the purpose of transmitting power from Chicago generating stations for the use of the Interstate Public Service Company which at that time furnished electricity in that community. From this high voltage line several miles of local distribution lines were subsequently built to serve the village of Merrillville and later the distribution system was generally expanded to supply Crown Point, a number of farms in that vicinity and the communities of Cedar Lake, Lowell and New Chicago. On January 18, 1924, the company was reorganized and its name changed to Calumet Gas and Electric Company. Its operations were greatly enlarged by the construction of many miles of rural transmission lines in Lake and Porter counties and by the purchase of fourteen independent public utility companies serving approximately fifty communities throughout Northern Indiana. Among the new properties acquired were the Elkhart Gas and Fuel Company, Knox Electric Light and Power Company, Monterey Light and Power Company, North Judson Electric Company, Plymouth Electric Light and Power Company, LaGrange County Light and Power Company, Valparaiso Lighting Company, Consumers Electric Company, DeMotte Utilities Company, Hanna Light and Power Company, Kankakee Valley Electric Company, Kingsbury Light and Power Company, Union Electric Company, and Wanatah-LaCrosse Electric Company. In the spring of 1924 the Calumet Power Company was organized by the Insull interests to build a great superpower line of 55,000 horse power capacity from the Illinois-Indiana line near Munster, Indiana, to Aetna. That summer saw the
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erection of a mammoth electric distribution center at Aetna and the inter-connection of the superpower line with transmission lines of the Calumet Gas and Electric Company and Northern Indiana Gas and Electric Company at many points in the northern half of Lake and Porter counties. When this new line was placed in service in February, 1925, power from the big generating stations in Chicago and the Northern Indiana Company’s plants at East Chicago was made available over a wide area in Northern Indiana. With power transmission over this line, the Northern Indiana Gas and Electric Company served the cities of Hammond, Whiting, East Chicago and Indiana Harbor while the Gas and Electric Company extended service to the new plant of the Gary Tube Company. Following the purchase of the Calumet Power Company by the Calumet Gas and Electric Company in July, 1925, the big superpower line was extended from Aetna to Michigan City and the voltage increased to 132,000. Since that time the line has been extended east almost to South Bend where it interconnects with a similar system reaching into seven states and with a 106,000 horsepower generating station near Mishawaka. In the fall of 1924, a 33,000-volt transmission line was completed from Aetna to Valparaiso and a new automatic substation erected at the latter place. Plans for the erection of an 80,000 horsepower generating station at Michigan City to provide increased power in a large adjacent region and for the operation of electric trains were announced by the company in November, 1925. The Northern Indiana Gas and Electric Company was incorporated under the laws of the State of Indiana in March, 1909, and was a consolidation of the South Shore Gas and Electric Company, Indiana Harbor and East Chicago Electric Company and Michigan City Gas and Electric Company. In June, 1910, the company purchased the South Bend and Mishawaka Gas Company through which it acquired the Plymouth Lighting Company. By virtue of these purchases the company controlled the entire gas and electricity supply business of Hammond, East Chicago, Indiana Harbor, Whiting and Michigan City and the entire gas business of South Bend, Mishawaka and Plymouth together with adjacent territory. On February 2, 1916, it acquired the properties and franchises of the General Service Company and Indiana Lighting Company, thereby obtaining control of gas utilities in Fort Wayne, Bluffton, Decatur, Lafayette, Crawfordsville, Logansport, Wabash, Frankfort, Lebanon and adjacent territory. It also gave them control of the electric and heating plant at Lafayette and the waterworks at Crawfordsville. Like that of the Calumet Gas and Electric Company, the electrical distribution system of the Northern Indiana Gas and Electric Company was interconnected with other utilities in the Chicago district at an early date and an adequate and dependable supply of power was assured at all times. At the end of 1917, the company was serving
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73,004 gas customers and 14,274 electric customers but six years later in 1923 when it came under the control of the Midland Utilities Company of Chicago there were 91,861 gas customers and 33,016 electric customers. The company owned at the end of the year 1923, a total of 490 miles of electrical distribution lines and 1,013 miles of gas mains. Electric generating stations were owned and operated at East Chicago and Lafayette and gas manufacturing plants at Hammond, Michigan City, South Bend, Plymouth, Peru, Lafayette, Crawfordsville, Frankfort and Fort Wayne. During this period Samuel Insull was president of the Northern Indiana Gas and Electric Company and the headquarters were then and are now on Hohman Street in Hammond. With the consolidation of the Northern Indiana Gas and Electric Company and the Calumet Gas and Electric Company, the Northern Indiana Public Service Company became one of the largest electric and gas utilities in the Middle West. At the close of 1926, electric light and power service was being supplied to 105 communities, gas service to 28 communities, water service to 2 communities and heat service to 1, the total estimated population in the communities served being 602,900. Service was furnished to 122,556 gas customers and 64,300 electric customers. More efficient service to customers and greater operating economies have resulted from the consolidation which permits the standardization of equipment and service throughout the territory and makes it possible to interconnect the system profitably with the transmission lines of neighboring companies. This superpower development and the construction of many miles of smaller transmission lines have enabled the company to assure 24-hour electric service of a metropolitan character in many communities of Northern Indiana which was impossible when they were served by isolated plants. The section of the State of Indiana stretching along Lake Michigan from the Illinois to the Michigan state line is a natural location for the big electric generating stations of the future greater Chicago district. The matchless industrial development in this region, the abundance of water for condensing purposes in the operation of generating stations, and the proximity of vast coal fields, make the shores of Lake Michigan the logical location for such super-generating stations as the 1,000,000 kilowatt plant now under construction near the state line in Hammond. Approximately one-fifth of the stupendous electricity output of this world’s largest power plant will be bought at wholesale by the Northern Indiana Public Service Company. The first unit of the new superpower plant is expected to be in operation in 1928. A constantly increasing industrial development and a steadily growing population in the territory served, with consequently larger demands for gas and electricity, makes necessary a constant expansion on the part of the company. During the past three years there has been constructed a new five-and-one-half million cubic foot gas manu-
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facturing plant at Fort Wayne; the erection of modern large-capacity gas
storage holders at Fort Wayne, South Bend, Michigan City and Elkhart; the
completion of a new $250,000 general office building in Hammond and another
handsome office building in Michigan City; construction of a 20,000
horsepower electric distribution station at Michigan City and eight electric
substations of smaller capacity along the right-of-way of the Chicago, South
Shore and South Bend Railroad. More than $11,000,000 was invested in these
properties for extensions and improvements in 1925 and 1926 alone and the
policy of properly caring for the present needs and anticipating future
wants has enabled the company to render the most excellent service to their
customers and at a very reasonable rate.
NAVIGATION OF
HISTORY OF THE LAKE AND CALUMET REGION OF INDIANA
FOREWARD
AN APPRECIATION
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I - Geology and Topography
CHAPTER II - The Mound Builders
CHAPTER III - Days of Indian Occupancy
CHAPTER IV - Early Explorations
CHAPTER V - Border Warfare
CHAPTER VI - Lake and Calumet Region Becomes Part of United States
CHAPTER VII - After Wayne and Greenville - Tecumseh and the Prophet
CHAPTER VIII - Indian Peace
CHAPTER IX - Early Settlements and Pioneers - County Organization
CHAPTER X - Townships - Towns - Villages
CHAPTER XI - Pioneer Life
CHAPTER XII - The Lake Michigan Marshes
CHAPTER XIII - Agriculture and Livestock
CHAPTER XIV - Military Annals
CHAPTER XV - The Lake and Calumet Region in the World War
CHAPTER XVI - The Newspapers
CHAPTER XVII - The Medical Profession
CHAPTER XVIII - The Bench and Bar in the Lake and Calumet Region
CHAPTER XIX - Churches
CHAPTER XX - Schools
CHAPTER XXI - Libraries
CHAPTER XXII - Social Life
CHAPTER XXIII - The Dunes of Northwestern Indiana
CHAPTER XXIV - Banks and Banking
CHAPTER XXV - Transportation and Waterways
CHAPTER XXVI - Cities
CHAPTER XXVII - Industrial Development
CHAPTER XXVIII - Chambers of Commerce
Transcribed by Steven R. Shook, December 2022