EAST CHICAGO, Ind., city located in Lake County, on the southeasterly shore of Lake Michigan, 19 miles from the central busi ness district of Chicago,. but only two miles from the east line of Chicago's city limits. It contains three railway stations, known on the maps as East Chicago proper, or as called locally, °The West Side; Calumet, one mile east of the old town; and Indiana Harbor, on the lake front.
In 1853 title to the land where the city is now built passed from the United States gov ernment to the State of Indiana. The following year State patents were given at the rate of $1.25 per acre. During the year I::: the city of East Chicago was laid out, the town starting two and one-half miles inland from Lake Michi gan, it being the idea that the development toward and at the lake would be rapid when once started, owing to natural advantages. It was incorporated as a town in 1889 and char tered as a city in 1893. Thepanic of 1893 retarded the progress, so the first 10 years' growth was slow and fraught with difficulties. The population in 1900 was 3,400. In 1901 the development of that part of the city known as Indiana Harbor was commenced. Owing to the unlimited rail and water shipping facilities and other natural advantages this development has been phenomenal and with its growth the older section of the city has kept pace. The city has the following excellent transportation facilities: The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern; Pitts burgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago; Chicago, In diana and Southern; Baltimore and Ohio; Wabash, Pere Marquette and The Chicago Lake Shore and South Bend trunk lines, all of the above passing through the city; and the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern; Baltimore and Ohio Chicago terminal ; and the Indiana Harbor Belt Railway lines encircling Chicago and terminating at this point. In addition to the rail facilities the lake shipping facilities are unsurpassed. A harbor 350 feet wide and 22 feet deep, protected by the most modern breakwaters, forms the entrance to the Indiana Harbor Ship Canal, which has been completed from the lake south to the Calumet River to a width of 200 feet and a depth of 21 feet. In addition thereto, a branch of the canal extends west to Lake George; so there is a total of 10 miles of dockage within the city limits which can be reached by the largest vessels on the lake.
This canal connects with the Calumet River so when the latter is improved it will increase the available deep water dockage to 22 miles, and upon completion will give the city one of the best and mcst extensive commercial harbors in the country. At no other point on Lake
Michigan is it possible for three belt railroads to come into direct connection with navigation. These three belt railroads cross every trunk line entering Chicago, and inasmuch as Chicago freight rates apply to and from this city, it enjoys the best shipping facilities that can be had at any point. In addition to the shipping facilities and trunk line services mentioned, there are three interurban and street car systems in operation in the city and this affords ample accommodation for local transportation. There are 44 industries in full operation, employing 15,000 men, with an annual pay-roll of over $15,000,000. In addition to the plants now in operation, one $5,000,000 plant has been con structed and approximately $12,000,000 more has been spent in additions and improvements. In 1917 it was estimated that there would be em ployed 5,000 additional men, with a corre sponding increase in pay-roll and popula tion. The manufactured articles consist of iron and steel products taken from the raw material and finished to a complete state, embracing everything of iron and steel manufacture from a small bolt to the largest locomotive; also, fire brick, soap, chemicals, liquid air, conduits, hay and cotton presses, auto trucks and cements. The city has seven banks, eight public schools, five parochial schools, four public parks, 20 churches, three public libraries, 50 miles of paved streets, 70 miles of cement walks, 45 miles of sewerage, 35 acres in parks, 350 ornamental light pools, four newspapers, a fine city hall and one of the largest electric power plants in Indiana. There are 105 daily trains to and from Chicago. Over $4,000,000 is invested in bascule bridges across the canal and the city is directly connected with the immense coal fields of Illinois and Indiana and cheap fuel oil supply. The per cent increase in population during the decade ending in 1910 was 559, the largest per cent increase of any city in the United States.
The city is the hub of the great Calumet dis trict in Indiana, and the centre of a population of 120,000 people. Adjoining on the northeast is beautiful Lake Michigan, on the west the city of Whiting, on the west and south the city of Hammond and on the east the city of Gary, all of these cities being within a radius of five miles from the centre of East Chicago, which thus forms a natural hub for the entire Calumet district. The government is vested in a mayor and a council of six members. Pop. 30,000.