IT WAS ANCHORED ONE TIME. “The Magic City”The largest steelworks in the country, with thousands of employees.
However, as Gary’s population plummeted due to crime and job losses, Gary was given a less favorable nickname. “Murder Capital USA”.
11
11
11
Gary’s current population is 69,000. This is almost three times the number of people who lived in Gary in 1960 when it reached its peak, when there were 178,000 people living in the city at Chicago’s edge.
About 20% of the buildings in the city are thought to have been abandoned. Over a third of them are also believed to be in some form of decay.
The city that gave birth to Michael Jackson is littered with stunning buildings in disrepair. These are testaments to Gary’s former glory.
Gary’s story of decline has been told over and over again in the so-called “” “Rust Belt”A large area of the United States’ northern and middle-western regions once powered the entire world.
The City of the Century is a place where fortune has fallen so dramatically that it’s hard to find another.
Gary, like many American cities, emerged almost instantly from the swamp in early 20th century.
It was established in 1906 at the southern shores of Lake Michigan, 28 miles from Chicago. Its name is a tribute to Elbert Henry Gary who was the founding chairman of United States Steel Corporation.
Gary’s largest employer was the steel works, which attracted thousands of workers from all parts of the country.
Many hopeful immigrants found that Gary’s streets weren’t as gold-paved as they had hoped.
Instead, they lived in cramped barracks if lucky and tents or shacks otherwise.
Pubs and bars flourished and there was one tavern per 88 Gary residents by 1910.
Around 16,000 people worked in the 12 hot blast furnaces at the country’s largest steel plant, by the 1920s.
Gary’s population doubled between 1920-1940.
‘WHITE FLIGHT’
Originally, most of the city was made up of Eastern European immigrants. But, as part of The Great Migration, it began to attract black workers from south.
Joe Jackson, Michael Jackson’s father, raised his nine children in Gary in a small home.
However, the city’s racial tensions increased after the Second World War and Gary’s population plummeted in the 1960s for the first time ever in its history. “White Flight”.
“When the jobs left, the whites could move, and they did. But we blacks didn’t have a choice,” 78-year-old Walter Bell told The Guardian in 2017.
When Richard Hatcher, one of the nation’s first African American mayors, was elected to office, it led to a massive exodus.
A decline in fortunes of the steel industry also led to whites fleeing the city for the suburbs.
We used to be America’s capital of murder, but nowadays there are very few to kill.
Gary resident
The US steel industry reached an all-time high in 1969 with 32,000 workers.
However, the industry fell apart due to lack of innovation and lower-cost steel-making alternatives from overseas.
The first layoffs were made in 1971. Tens of thousands of steelworkers lost their jobs over the next decade.
“We had expected some layoffs but now it seems like this thing is going to be a lot rougher than we had expected,”Andrew White, the chief of the local union, said The New York TimesAt the time.
The Gary works employed a mere 7,000 workers in 2005. In the same time, almost 80,000 people had been displaced in the area in just 35 years.
Businesses closed down and crime rose as a result. The city was named “The City” in 1994. “Murder Capital USA”By the Chicago Tribune.
11
11
11
With so many people moving out of the city, the murder rate is now lower.
One Gary resident said it this way: “We used to be the murder capital of the US, but there is hardly anybody left to kill. We used to be the drug capital of the US, but for that you need money, and there aren’t jobs or things to steal here.”
Today, 36 percent of Gary’s residents still live in poverty.
The striking City Methodist Church is one of Gary’s many ruined buildings. It stands on the corner Broadway/5th Avenue.
2019 All Things InterestingReports claimed that graffiti had begun to cover the church, giving it the nickname “The Abandoned Church”. “God’s Forsaken House”.
GARY REBORN
The city leaders tried to reverse the decline of the population and create new jobs to replace the steelworks.
The authorities announced that they would be selling several houses in the area for $1 each, or 83p.
The Dollar House Program is also known as the lottery-based program. However, not all applicants could apply.
In order to be eligible, prospective owners had to rehabilitate the home within one year, occupy it for a minimum of five years, and have a minimum annual income of around $35,000 (£28,800).
Lakia Manley, Gary’s Community Development Division, promoted the scheme: “This would allow the person to get a property for a dollar, put their own sweat equity into the home by doing the necessary rehab work to bring the property up to code and live in the property for five years before they can do anything as far as rent or sell the property.”
Business InsiderGary, the name of Gary “the most miserable city in the US”In 2019, the scheme received hundreds of applications, but not many people realized that $1 homes were available. “fixer-uppers”In dire need of extensive repairs.
The city hosts an annual tribute in honor of Michael Jackson. Authorities have also sought to capitalize on their urban blight to earn income from Hollywood.
Gary has been used as a filming site for several blockbuster movies with large budgets. “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”The remake of “A Nightmare on Elm Street”.
Many believe that Gary can turn its fortunes around despite its recent troubles.
Meg Roman, who runs Gary’s Miller Beach Arts & Creative District, told Curbed: “People have a thought about what Gary is, but they’re always pleasantly surprised.
“When you hear Gary, you think steel mills and industry. But you have to come here and open your eyes to see there are more things.”
You can also take historical preservation tours of the city’s ruined buildings to see Gary’s former-glamorous architecture.
In 2019, Gary’s Mayor Jerome Prince won the election. As quoted by ABC7 ChicagoHe was open-minded about the challenges he faced.
“You have to roll up your sleeves to do everything humanly possible to correct, that is what I am prepared to do, and that is what I am asking you to join me in doing,”He stated.
He also spoke about Gary’s people and said: “In many ways, they have been convinced that they can’t succeed, it is our responsibility to turn that narrative, and to show them that we support them and that by trying and with a little effort and commitment and dedication they too can succeed.”
11
11
11
11
11