Historical Images of Porter County

Main Street Looking East
Chesterton, Indiana

Date: 1906
Source Type: Postcard (undivided back)
Publisher, Printer, Photographer: Arthur E. Nickel (#33309-R)
Postmark: December 29, 1906, Chesterton, Indiana
Collection: Steven R. Shook
Remark: This image, looking east, represents present day Broadway Avenue and its intersection with Calumet Avenue seen in the distance. Arthur E. Nickel's Drug Store can bee seen to the right - in the building that is of wood frame construction rather than brick. The Club Cigar Store is the dark brick structure on the far right side of this image.

The Diddie Building is the building on the right with the second floor window having a rounded top an a large window on the first floor. J. A. Johnson & Brother would purchase the Diddie Building in 1907 and would make architectural changes to the building for the purposes of operating a large department store.

In the distance is an awning with "The Acorn" printed on it. This was a tavern, which was later named "The Saratoga."

The three story building north of and adjacent to Diddie Building is the Central Hotel - not to be confused as the Central House Hotel that was located one block south of the Central Hotel, which later became known as the Arthur E. Nickel Drug Store. The Central Hotel was a wood frame building with a brick facade; it was razed by fire in 1908.

The Central Hotel was originally located in "City West," a lost townsite that was along Lake Michigan and located southwest of the present day pavilion at the Indiana Dunes State Park. The hotel was built in 1836 to accommodate stage passengers, land speculators, and City West lot buyers. The structure was moved from City West to Chesterton on skids pulled by oxen teams over snow by David Hopkins in 1850. In 1854, all of the remaining structures in City West were destroyed by a fire that was caused by an electrical storm.

Hopkins leased the hotel property to others, who ran a business called the Central House Hotel. At 2:00 am on Tuesday, April 7, 1908, the Central House Hotel was destroyed by a fire that originated on the second floor. The Johnson Brothers store, adjacent to the hotel, suffered $5,000 in damages, while Bartel's Hardware also suffered significant damage from the fire. At that time of the structure's demise, Gust Lawson was the owner of the hotel.

The Central House Hotel served as Chesterton's primary hotel for 54 years, and was the last remaining vestige of City West.

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Image and related text prepared by Steven R. Shook