HOME TOURS GALLERY AERIAL VIEWS COMMUNITY LINKS Marktown Preservation Society 405 Prospect Street East Chicago, Indiana 46312 Paul Myers, Preservationist Tel. (219) 397-2239 Fax (219) 397-3130 Call for information or to request a tour.

Marktown is an oasis. Walking down its narrow tree-lined streets shelters you from the reality that you are surrounded by steel mills and oil refineries. Architect Howard Van Doren Shaw carefully scripted the vistas looking down the streets, and the views out windows overlooking gardens. The result is almost like a movie set. The human, intimately proportioned homes and the narrow streets have a distinctly English feel. The village was built in 1917 as a planned community to house workers for the burgeoning steel mills. World War I halted the plan to construct a utopian community, complete with stores, schools and a church. Had it been built, it would have followed the model of Market Square in Lake Forest, Illinois. The irony is that the heavy industry that encapsulated Marktown has served to protect it from the ravages of urban decay. Each major war brought a new mill. World War II brought the Rolling Mill. With the Korean War came the Tin Mill, further surrounding Marktown. Observe the aerial photos for the progression of the steel mill construct. Also note as Lake Michigan is filled in to provide land for the Indiana Harbor Works. Today, the Marktown Historic District is a living community, building on the past as it strives for regeneration. Thanks to the vision of the residents of Marktown working together, and the efforts and leadership of East Chicago Major Pastrick, Marktown is once again "rising from the mist".

Marktown Preservation Society 405 Prospect Street East Chicago, Indiana 46312 Paul Myers, Preservationist Tel. (219) 397-2239 Fax (219) 397-3130 Call for information or to request a tour. Marktown's National Register nomination states "...Marktown presents a living lesson in history and culture from the pioneer growth period of the Calumet Region. This region, which is America's industrial heartland, is quite young compared to other great regions of this nation. Sometimes in such areas the concern for history is lost. But here there is the opportunity to preserve the Marktown community as a living and useful landmark of genuine architectural and cultural significance for the Calumet Region, the State and the Country. The Marktown area is an important cultural resource which should be restored to accurately present the intentions of the original design.

Marktown Preservation Society 405 Prospect Street East Chicago, Indiana 46312 Paul Myers, Preservationist Tel. (219) 397-2239 Fax (219) 397-3130 Call for information or to request a tour.

Contemporary Marktown In relation to former LTV Steel Indiana Harbor Works Composited Aerial Image Note Indiana Harbor in the top right of image, and the Indiana Harbor Canal to the lower right. The blast furnaces are along the canal. Various steel mills fill the man-made peninsula. Several of the buildings are 1/4 mile in length. Photo is courtesy of Brian Rulifson. www.rulifson.com Click on above image for a full page view Indiana Harbor Note upside-down "Y" shaped Indiana Harbor Canal. The steel mill complexes extend out into Lake Michigan. Ispat Inland Steel is on the right side of Indiana Harbor. ISG (formerly LTV) in on the left side of the harbor/canal. Lake Michigan was vital for Great Lakes ore boats to bring raw materials to feed the hungry blast furnaces. BP Whiting Refinery is just above the canal. Marktown is sandwiched in between the refinery and the steel mills.

Marktown Preservation Society 405 Prospect Street East Chicago, Indiana 46312 Paul Myers, Preservationist Tel. (219) 397-2239 Fax (219) 397-3130 Call for information or to request a tour.

Post 1936 - Pre-WW II Note Marktown in bottom center of the photo. At this point the Tin Mill and the Rolling Mill had not yet been built. Also see that Lake Michigan had not been filled in to build the "Works". To the upper left of Marktown, evidence of the recently removed Market Square fountain. One can clearly see the area Marktown was designed to have occupied had it been completed. Pre-WW II Marktown still has not been hemmed in by heavy industry... yet. This photo is a great view of the Whiting refinery. Note the progress on the construction of Indiana Harbor Works.

Marktown Preservation Society 405 Prospect Street East Chicago, Indiana 46312 Paul Myers, Preservationist Tel. (219) 397-2239 Fax (219) 397-3130 Call for information or to request a tour.

Post-WW II Marktown now has the Rolling Mill to the right. For every major global conflict, another steel mill is built. Nice view of the blast furnace to the upper right. Open Hearth furnaces are seen in the upper left. Pre-Korean War The Tin Mill construction is just starting in this photo. Of note in the upper right: several ore boats in the canal unloading.

Marktown Preservation Society 405 Prospect Street East Chicago, Indiana 46312 Paul Myers, Preservationist Tel. (219) 397-2239 Fax (219) 397-3130 Call for information or to request a tour.

1960s View of LTV Indiana Harbor Works Note Marktown in the upper left hand corner. Whiting refinery is in the upper right hand corner. The Tin Mill is above Marktown and Rolling Mill is to the left. Overview of Indiana Harbor Works in the lower left quadrant.