The Busy Corner...aint busy no more.

 

 

it looks like a depressed area, but note the infill...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

yeah, i know it's a Charles Scheeler ripoff....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marktown:  "This unique neighborhood was designed by Chicago architect Howard Van Doren Shaw in 1917 for industrialist Clayton Mark. It has been referred to as "the Brigadoon of Industrial Housing,rising out of the mists of industry every few years."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of nice open space in the plan:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...surrounded by heavy industry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marktown has one of the best online presences I've seen for a neighborhood.  Historic info and older pix (including old aeriels), maps, floor plans, tours, and a community newsletter.  This area was just a portion of what was orginally

planned. 

 

Visit the Marktown website for an in-depth exploration of this neighborhood.

 

Wow! Travelin' on the gritty side! Great photos.

 

For a neighborhood in the shadows of heavy industry, Marktown looks relatively tidy and orderly. The houses standing shoulder-to-shoulder, right up against the sidewalk, look like Pennsylvania's old towns.

^You are correct, looks like fairly new streets, walks, period lighting, and playground equiptment.

 

What a truely mindboggling place. I have to say the architecture seems unique and some looks somewhat European; its not your run-of-the-mill midwest housing, not to down play that however. The infill is encouraging.

 

Just another excellent thread we can add to your list...

Nice!

Yeah, Marktown is really interesting.  Check out that link..it gives the history and orginal site plans.  The interesting thing is this all pretty much intact. 

 

For some reason I've always been interested in this "Calumet Region"....

... few years ago I read up on this area, mostly on Gary, but also on the rest of the region..it turns out the WPA Federal Writers Project actually had a regional guide out on the Calumet Region as part of their American Guides series...and if you thought the WPA state guides where detailed, you should read this regional guides.  So that was a real gold mine of info....and that was how I found out about Marktown.

 

Incidentally Indiana Harbor (AKA as East Chicago) has one of the oldest Latino (Mexican, orginally) communities in the US, dating from the 1920s. 

 

Also, for the railfans here, Indiana Harbor is also the name of a railroad.

 

 

pix link

track maps

 

...those drawbridges on the pix where Indiana Harbor Belt lines, I think.

 

The pictures are great. Marktown was a great place to live and raise your children.  Everyone owned there own home and had pride in ownership.  Generation after generation stayed and kept a nice home and raised their family.  Once people starting dying and moving away, a few slum landlords bought up the property and rented the homes or left them empty and never put a dime back into them,  back taxes are owed on many of the properties.  It's a shame how much damage a few greedy people can do to a entire community. 

 

I read that Harlem NY had the same problem with slum landlords buying up the brownstones and renting for outrageous rent.  If you buy a house in Harlem, you must live it the home.  It worked in NY, it can work in East Chicago.

I read that Harlem NY had the same problem with slum landlords buying up the brownstones and renting for outrageous rent.  If you buy a house in Harlem, you must live it the home.  It worked in NY, it can work in East Chicago.

 

Part of the problem.  However, the biggest slum lord in Harlem is Columbia University. 

 

It is not a requirement for you to live in your home if you buy a home in Harlem.  However, there were a few programs that require the owner to occupy the property for the first 5/7 years of ownership, although I am pretty sure those were phased out in 2001.

For a neighborhood in the shadows of heavy industry, Marktown looks relatively tidy and orderly. The houses standing shoulder-to-shoulder, right up against the sidewalk, look like Pennsylvania's old towns.

 

They do and this one is reminiscent of the old Cuyahoga: