Sundown towns. Let’s talk about it. Lake County, Indiana is number 104 on the list.
The question here is Why did Gary become home for so many of our ancestors here? Well, Gary is what happened because of the sundown infrastructure.
If you’ve watched my videos on Atlanta or Chicago, you know the sundown pattern. just like how we ended up on the south side of Chicago, that’s the same reason why Gary became home for so many of our ancestors.
So, let’s start with crown point, the county seat.
—
That’s Lake County.
Now keep that story in your mind.
Listen, the county seat, and the stories to be told there are interesting…but safety after dark stretches across the county–, Merrillville, Crown Point, Glen Park, Whiting, honkey town, and Gary.
—
If you’ve ever been near Gary in lake county Indiana…you can smell it.
Don’t come for me, y’all. You know You can.
It’s The smell of industry. The smell of steel.
The smell of money. And that smell is exactly why Gary exists.
6:10 How Gary Started
Gary was founded in 1906 built for industry and labor. So the workers came. Thousands of us came. Sure enough, As our population increased in lake county, our ancestors were boxed in to Midtown and the central district in Gary to find safety after dark.
—
1:40
Around THE 1920s the Klan came to lake county in crown point, the county seat. Because of course. It’s Indiana. They were Klan Number 72. They were Farmers, Politicians, Government workers and preachers in lake county. They helped shape lake county. That terrifying. And while our population in Gary continued growing…other communities in lake county sent a different message.
In lake county Indiana, Until the 1950s…Black people reportedly weren’t welcome in places like Whiting after dark. They used to have minstrel shows there in the 20s. Reports say, we could work there but had to leave before the sun went down. We had to walk through the honky town neighborhood to find safety after dark. Could you imagine. And Glen Park and horace mann was off limits, too.
Boxing us in in Gary, The Federal officials described Midtown, one of our districts, as declining. Undesirable. it had Too many Negroes.
The neighborhood was already about 80 percent Black at the time,
10:45 by 1950 was one of America’s most divided cities
Policy and customs in lake county worked and
Over time, the majority of our ancestors were left in Gary. segregated boundaries hardened Indiana, and our ancestors were packed south of the River.
Because policy worked exactly as intended.
4:50 south side for blacks and Mexicans
There’s no way I could talk about lake county without talking about 1958…Michael Jackson was born in Gary.
Then came a turning point in lake county Indiana. In 1968, Gary elected it’s 1st Black mayor. Mr. Richard Hatcher. Our communities celebrated. But it was an exit sign for the whites in Gary.
White flight really took off.
14:50 population drop
—
1971, lake county Indiana Merrillville became its own town on Gary’s southern edge.
Chile, coincidentally, thousands of whites left Gary and moved to Merrillville. Now I’ve looked into this, and many scholars call it a very clear case of white flight. Lake county was reorganizing itself. As White residents left Gary, the Businesses followed, and so did the dollars. Much of it flowed into Merrillville.
—
After white flight to merriville, Eventually our families started moving into Merrillville too.
There was better housing and Better schools.
The same reasons white families moved there.
And then, check this out, the whites started moved again. Further south like Crown Point and down. The whites just keep flighting in lake county Indiana.
So let’s go back to the question.
Why did Gary become home for so many Black families?
Because too many other places made it clear we weren’t welcome after dark.
And In lake County Indiana, Segregation created the boundaries, terror locked us into those boundaries, and violenceade sure we knew exactly where we didn’t belong. The sundown infrastructure pushed us out and boxed us in and Gary was the destination.
So, if you’ve ever heard of a place where people say…that place is not really safe after dark, drop it in the comments and I’ll me you there. So until next time.
Rina Free 
Leave a comment