Hammond is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. It's located right next to Lake Michigan and is part of the larger Chicago metropolitan area. Hammond is special because it's the only city in Indiana that shares a border with Chicago.

In 2020, about 77,879 people lived in Hammond, making it the eighth-largest city in Indiana. The city was first settled in the mid-1800s and is one of the oldest cities in northern Lake County. Hammond stretches from Lake Michigan in the north down to the Little Calumet River in the south. It also runs from the Illinois state line in the west to Cline Avenue in the east. Many railroads and highways, like the South Shore Line and Borman Expressway, pass through the city.

Some cool places in Hammond include the parks around Wolf Lake and the Horseshoe Hammond casino. Hammond has always been an industrial city, but it's also home to a campus of Purdue University and many interesting historic areas.

Discover Hammond, Indiana

A Look at Hammond's Past

Hammond, circa 1908

The first European settlers arrived in the Hammond area around 1847. They were mostly German farmers looking for new land. Before them, the area was a busy crossroads for Native American tribes and explorers.

Hammond started to become an industrial city in 1869. This happened when the George H. Hammond Company opened a meat-packing plant. The city was officially formed on April 21, 1884. It was named after George H. Hammond, a butcher from Detroit.

Hammond is one of the oldest cities in Lake County. Only Crown Point is older, started in 1834. George Henry Hammond was a pioneer in using refrigerated railcars. These cars helped transport fresh meat without it spoiling. He built a large meat-packing plant in northern Indiana in the early 1870s. By 1875, his company was selling almost $2 million worth of meat each year!

In the mid-1880s, Hammond's company was processing over 100,000 cattle annually. They also owned 800 refrigerated cars. After George Hammond passed away in 1886, his company became less important. It was later bought by larger meatpackers from Chicago.

Trolley service, run by the Hammond Whiting & East Chicago Electric Railway Company, operated from 1893 to 1940. A sad train accident, known as the Hammond circus train wreck, happened near the city on June 22, 1918.

Downtown Hammond used to be a big shopping area. It had stores like Sears and J. C. Penney. The largest stores were Goldblatt's and E.C. Minas. The E.C. Minas store was open for 90 years, from 1894 to 1984.

During World War II, the Pullman Standard Car Company built M4 Sherman tanks in Hammond. The Woodmar Mall opened in 1954 in the Woodmar neighborhood. It had a large Carson Pirie Scott and Co. store.

In 1960, Hammond's population reached its highest point with 111,698 residents. Like many industrial cities, Hammond saw its population drop in the 1970s and 1980s. However, Hammond's economy was more varied than nearby cities. It relied on light manufacturing, transportation, retail, banking, and healthcare. In 1981, a barrier was built on 165th Street due to a disagreement with Gary, Indiana.

Today, major manufacturing companies in Hammond include Unilever (soap), Atlas Tube, and Cargill (food processing). There are also large oil storage facilities and railroad yards. The Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad has its main office here. The Empress Casino opened in 1996 and was replaced by the Horseshoe Hammond casino in 2001.

In 2006, it was decided to tear down most of the Woodmar Mall. Plans were made in 2016 for a $12 million sports complex on the old mall site. The Carson's store, the last part of the mall, closed and was torn down in 2019.

Where is Hammond?

Hammond is located on land that was once part of an ancient lake called Lake Chicago. Much of the city's land used to be sand dunes and wet areas. Most of the city has sandy soil with a top layer of black dirt.

The city covers about 23.8 square miles (61.7 square kilometers). About 22.7 square miles (58.9 square kilometers) is land, and 1.08 square miles (2.8 square kilometers) is water.

Hammond's Neighborhoods

Lakefront
Marina District
Five Points
Robertsdale
Water Gardens
North Hammond
Pulaski Park
Downtown Hammond
Central Hammond
South Hammond
Woodmar
Schleicher
Hessville

Lakes and Rivers

Grand Calumet River (part of it)
Lake George
Lake Michigan (part of it)
Little Calumet River (part of it)
Oxbow Lake
Wolf Lake (part of it)

Neighboring Cities and Towns

In Illinois:

In Indiana:
- East Chicago
- Highland
- Munster
- Whiting

People of Hammond

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1880	699	—
1890	5,284	655.9%
1900	12,376	134.2%
1910	20,925	69.1%
1920	36,004	72.1%
1930	65,559	82.1%
1940	70,183	7.1%
1950	87,595	24.8%
1960	111,698	27.5%
1970	107,983	−3.3%
1980	91,985	−14.8%
1990	84,236	−8.4%
2000	83,048	−1.4%
2010	80,830	−2.7%
2020	77,879	−3.7%
2023 (est.)	76,193	−5.7%
U.S. Decennial Census 2020 Census

In 2020, Hammond had 77,879 people living in the city. There were 29,486 households. About 23.4% of residents were under 18 years old. About 13.2% were 65 or older.

The city's population is diverse. About 39.2% of people were White, 26.0% were African American, and 40.2% were Hispanic or Latino (who can be of any race).

Hammond's Economy

Hammond has many businesses that provide jobs for its residents. Here are some of the largest employers:

#	Employer	# of employees
1	Franciscan Health Hammond	2,500
2	School City of Hammond	2,485
3	Horseshoe Casino	1,866
4	City of Hammond	875
5	Walmart	785
6	Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad	759
7	Lear Seating Corporation	615
8	Contract Services Group	300
9	Unilever	255
10	Morrison Construction Company	250
11	Cargill	240

Arts, Culture, and History

Hammond has several places listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These are important buildings and areas that show the city's history.

Historic Places to See

Morse Dell Plain House and Garden
Forest-Ivanhoe Residential Historic District
Forest-Moraine Residential Historic District
Forest-Southview Residential Historic District
Glendale Park Historic District
Hohman Avenue Commercial Historic District
Indi-Illi Park Historic District
Northern States Life Insurance Company
Pullman-Standard Historic District
Roselawn-Forest Heights Historic District
Southmoor Apartment Hotel
State Bank of Hammond Building
State Street Commercial Historic District
George John Wolf House

Public Libraries

The Hammond Public Library is located at 564 State Street. It has a special room called the Suzanne G. Long Local History Room. This room is great for learning about the city's past.

Sports in Hammond

Hammond has a history with sports, especially baseball and basketball.

Famous Sports Teams

In 1972, the Hammond Little League team played in the 1972 Little League World Series. They were defeated by the team from Taipei, Taiwan.
The Hammond Rollers was a basketball team founded in 2006.
The Hammond Ciesar All-Americans (1938–41) and Hammond Calumet Buccaneers (1948–49) were professional basketball teams. Famous players like Lou Boudreau and John Wooden played for the Ciesar All-Americans.

The Hammond Pros Football Team

The Hammond Pros was one of the very first professional football teams in the United States. They were a founding member of the American Professional Football League in 1920. This league later became the National Football League (NFL) in 1922.

During their four years, the Hammond Pros had six of the NFL's first nine African-American players. The NFL's first African-American head coach, Fritz Pollard, coached the Pros. Interestingly, the Hammond Pros never played a home game in Hammond itself.

Schools and Learning

All schools in Hammond are part of the School City of Hammond. This is a school district that operates independently from the city government.

In June 2021, two junior/senior high schools, Donald E. Gavit and George Rogers Clark, were permanently closed.

High Schools

Area Career Center
Hammond High School
Morton High School
George Rogers Clark High School (Closed 2021)
Gavit High School (Closed 2021)

Middle Schools

George Rogers Clark Middle School (Closed 2021)
Henry W. Eggers Middle School
Gavit Middle School (Closed 2021)
Scott Middle School

Elementary Schools

Columbia Elementary School
Edison Elementary School
Benjamin Franklin Elementary School
Warren G. Harding Elementary School
Joseph Hess Elementary School
Washington Irving Elementary School
Thomas Jefferson Elementary School
Kenwood Elementary School
Lafayette Elementary School
Lincoln Elementary School
Maywood Elementary School
Morton Elementary School
Frank O'Bannon Elementary School
Lew Wallace Elementary School

Charter Schools

Hammond Academy of Science and Technology (for grades 6–12)

Private Schools

Bishop Noll Institute (high school)
City Baptist High School
Hazel Young Academy
Montessori Children's Schoolhouse
St. Casimir (elementary school)
St. John Bosco (elementary school)
St. John the Baptist (elementary school)

Catholic schools in Hammond are managed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gary. St. Catherine of Siena, a Catholic elementary school, closed in 2009.

Colleges and Universities

Calumet College of St. Joseph
Kaplan University
Purdue University Northwest

Getting Around Hammond

Borman Expressway

Most of Hammond's streets are set up in a grid, similar to Chicago's streets. The state line helps with numbering east-west streets.

Major Highways

I-90 – Indiana Toll Road, with exits at:
- Indianapolis Boulevard – U.S. 12/20/41
- Calumet Avenue – U.S. 41
- Cline Avenue – State Road 912

I-80/94 – Borman Expressway, with exits at:
- Calumet Avenue – U.S. 41 North
- Indianapolis Boulevard – U.S. 41 South/State Road 152
- Kennedy Avenue
- Cline Avenue – State Road 912

Public Transportation

The South Shore Line is a commuter train that runs from Chicago to South Bend, Indiana. It has a station on Hohman Avenue in Hammond.

Amtrak, the national passenger train system, offers daily service. Its Wolverine train stops at the Hammond–Whiting station. This train travels between Chicago and Pontiac, Michigan.

The closest commercial airport is Chicago Midway International Airport, about 25 miles away in Chicago.

Bus services were once provided by the Hammond Transit System. These services were stopped in 2012 due to a lack of money. However, some Pace and GPTC bus routes still stop at Hammond's Dan Rabin Transit Plaza.

Healthcare and Utilities

Hammond used to have a hospital called Franciscan St. Margaret Health. It was located on Stateline Road. The hospital closed in December 2022.

Utilities

Former State Line Generating Plant in Robertsdale

Electricity and Natural Gas: Most of Hammond's electricity and natural gas comes from NIPSCO.
Water: The Hammond Water Department provides water service to most people in the city. It is a state-owned utility run by the city government.

Famous People from Hammond

Sister City

Galați, Romania (since 1997)

Hammond, Indiana facts for kids

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