The U.S. Steel Gary Works on the southern shore of Lake Michigan was called “the industrial wonder of the world,” and for a very long and prosperous time that is what it was.
Created from swamps and sand dunes, this massive project began in 1906. By December 1908 the blast furnaces were producing iron, and soon a city was growing nearby.
Gary was named for Elbert H. Gary, chairman of the board of United States Steel Corporation and the driving force behind the steel plant and the city, which bore his name but was also called the “Magic City” and “The City of the Century.”
On this and the following pages you will visit this era, courtesy of Steve McShane, the archivist/curator of the Calumet Regional Archives of Indiana University-Northwest.
It was a time of big dreams and glorious optimism. We all know what happened later.
