Gary, Indiana: A Centennial Celebration

by Kendall F. Svengalis

Rising from the barren sand dunes and scrub vegetation of northwest Indiana in 1906, the city of Gary rapidly emerged as the largest American city founded in the 20th century and the home of the world's largest steel mill. Born in the boardroom of financier J. P. Morgan, and named for U.S. Steel's chairman of the board, Elbert E. Gary, Gary was the largest company town ever conceived and executed by American free enterprise. This lavish full-color pictorial and narrative history tells Gary's compelling story in rich and captivating detail, utilizing over 650 rare archival photographic and postcard images, maps, aerial photographs, and illustrations, many never before appearing in print. Gary native and historian Kendall Svengalis paints a vivid and fascinating portrait of the city's birth and formative era when an enormous infusion of capital, entrepreneurial spirit, and the muscle of thousands of recent European immigrants and American blacks combined to construct both a city and a massive steel plant. This massive, 455-page, over-sized volume, tells Gary's story in twenty chapters, each detailing an aspect of Gary's rich history and its neighborhoods. The book concludes with a fascinating case study of the author's Lithuanian pioneer family whose saga led them from the Suvalkai province of western Lithuanian to Gary in 1908.

About the Author Kendall F. Svengalis is the retired Rhode Island State Law Librarian, adjunct professor at the University of Rhode Island, and author of the award-winning Legal Information Buyer's Guide & Reference Manual, the nation's leading consumer guide to legal information. He has maintained a lifelong interest in the history of Gary and Northwest Indiana.

455 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Robert Ordway]

I love how

[Steven Shook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kendall F. Svengalis has put together a superb publication concerning the history of Gary, Indiana. From the city's genesis in 1906 through its 1950s heyday. This is one of the best organized regional/local history books that I've ever read; topical areas are well-defined and the visuals are clearly printed and fully described.

Anyone who remembers Gary "as it was" will love this book. It's a bit pricey, but it's printed on high quality paper stock and hardbound. This will very likely be a very highly valued book when it goes out-of-print.

It would be interesting to see a companion book with contemporary comparative photographs taken from the exact locations of the images shown in Svengalis' book. It would truly show the urban decay that unfortunately took place in the Great City of Gary. One of my favorite books in my personal library.