Gary, Indiana (pop. 69,093), is a leading steel-producing center of the United States. It is often called the Steel City. Gary is one of the largest cities in Indiana. The city lies on Lake Michigan, in the state’s northwest corner. Gary is part of the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metropolitan area.
In 1906, the United States Steel Corporation began to build a steel plant on the site of what is now Gary. That same year, the company established a town there for the steelworkers and their families. The firm named the town for Judge Elbert H. Gary, chairman of the board of directors.
Gary covers 51 square miles (131 square kilometers). Indiana University has a campus in Gary. Purdue University has one nearby. The economy of Gary is based on the steel industry. The Gary Works of the United States Steel Corporation is one of the world’s largest steel plants. It can produce millions of tons of steel a year. Three other large steel plants are in the region. Gary and the nearby cities of East Chicago, Hammond, and Whiting are part of the Calumet region, one of the nation’s most highly industrialized areas. Freight railroads and major highways pass through or near Gary. The city has an airport, and harbors on Lake Michigan and on two nearby rivers also serve the area.
Gary has a mayor-council form of government. The voters elect the mayor and the nine council members to four-year terms.
The Miami and Potawatomi peoples lived in what is now the Gary area during the 1600’s, 1700’s, and 1800’s. Marshes and sand dunes covered the site, and few European Americans settled there before 1900. In 1906, the U.S. Steel Corporation filled in the marshes and leveled the dunes. The company built a plant on the site, which lay about midway between eastern coal fields and northern iron ore mines. Coal and iron ore are among the main raw materials used in making steel. Gary was incorporated as a town in 1906. The steel mill began operating in 1909 and attracted other industries and thousands of workers, including Black Americans, European immigrants, and Hispanic Americans. By 1960, Gary had become an industrial center with about 180,000 people.
During the 1960’s, Gary’s population dropped because many white people moved to the suburbs. By 2020, African Americans made up about 80 percent of the population.
In 1967, Gary voters elected the city’s first Black mayor, Richard G. Hatcher. Hatcher took office at the start of 1968. A Democrat, he was reelected mayor four times and served through 1987. His administration improved housing conditions in Gary and helped obtain federal job training programs. See Hatcher, Richard Gordon.
During the 1960’s and 1970’s, the city and its industries worked to reduce air pollution caused by smoke from factories and steel mills. The amount of impurities in Gary’s air dropped about 60 percent from 1966 to 1975. However, pollution from steel mills and other industries has continued to be a serious problem. In 1982, the Genesis Convention Center opened in downtown Gary. From 1980 to 1990, the city’s population decreased by 23 percent, a rate of loss larger than that of any other major city in the United States. Gary’s population fell by another 41 percent from 1990 to 2020. In 1996, two gambling casino boats began operating on Gary’s Lake Michigan shore. This activity provided many jobs for Gary citizens.
