Marktown facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Marktown Historic District
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Houses on Park Street
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 Location in Indiana
Location in the United States
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| Location | Bounded by Pine, Riley, Dickey, and 129th Sts., East Chicago, Indiana |
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| Area | 40 acres (16 ha) |
| Built | 1917 |
| Architect | Howard Van Doren Shaw |
| NRHP reference No. | 75000025 |
| Added to NRHP | February 20, 1975 |
Marktown is a special neighborhood in East Chicago, Indiana, United States. It was built in 1917 as a planned community for workers. This means it was designed from scratch to be a complete town for people working at The Mark Manufacturing Company.
The Marktown Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. This means it's recognized as an important historical place in the country.
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Discovering Marktown's Past
Marktown was created by Clayton Mark, a person who was important in making steel in the United States. He hired a famous architect named Howard Van Doren Shaw to design the community.
How Marktown Began
Howard Van Doren Shaw came up with a very unusual design for Marktown. In this design, the streets were actually used as walkways for people. Cars were meant to be parked on the sidewalks! This unique idea was even featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!. Shaw had also designed Clayton Mark's large home in Lake Forest, Illinois before this project.
A Unique Design and Its Challenges
Even though the design was amazing, only about 10% of the original plan for Marktown was ever built. Construction stopped because of the effects of World War I and because The Mark Manufacturing Company was sold. Over time, many factories and industries grew up around Marktown. This made the historic neighborhood an island surrounded by one of the busiest industrial areas in the world.
In 1975, Marktown was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was even called one of the "seven wonders" of Northwest Indiana. Experts believe Marktown is very important because of its unique architecture and its connection to the history of industry in the area. It shows how planned communities were built in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Marktown Today: A Historic Community
As recently as 2011, all the original homes built in Marktown were still standing. However, since then, some properties have been bought by a company called BP and torn down. Some homes are being emptied because of concerns about being so close to expanding industrial facilities.
In 2022, the city of East Chicago started a study to look into fixing up the historic Marktown neighborhood. This study will help decide how to renovate and preserve this special place for the future.
