Ursula Bielski - Haunted Gary

Published by Haunted America

A Division of The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2015 by Ursula Bielski

All rights reserved

First published 2015

e-book edition 2015

ISBN 978.1.62619.561.5

Library of Congress control number: 2015946492

print edition ISBN 978.1.62585.095.9

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For all the Gary faithful, who bring ideas in and entertain them royally, for one of them may be the king.
Mark Van Doren

I walked down towards the end of the road
And in the fog a woman appeared.
She said, Dont you worry my friend, Ill take care
Take my hand, Ill take you there.
O, Take me to a place without no name
Michael Jackson
A Place with No Name

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

People often say, I couldnt have done it without you with flippancy, meaning that someone was helpful in some small or big way. But when I say that there are two people I could not have done this without, I mean it absolutely literally.

For those who dont live or work there, going into Gary, Indiana, for any reason is not something that is generally done. As a researcher, I have spent much time researching, lecturing and hosting tours in the very worst neighborhoods of Chicagosome of the deadliest in the worldincluding Englewood, an enclave that was once home to serial killer H.H. Holmes and today has one of the highest murder rates of any area on earth. But Gary is a different story. Gary is Gary, Indiana, and even Chicagoanswith very rare exceptionsimply do not go there.

As soon as I announced this project, however, two people who have been my dear colleagues for years sent me instant messages saying, We will help you with whatever you need. Len Miller and J.C. Rositas are both lifelong residents of Northwest Indiana, and Miller is a Gary cop. To say that I felt angels had been dispatched to help me tell Garys ghost stories would not be exaggerating.

And so they generouslyso generouslyescorted me to some of the most harrowing places in the city, from the frigid ruins of St. Marys Mercy Hospital to the lawn of the House of 200 Demons, the story of which rocked even the mainstream media in 2014. They are so smart, so sweet and so kind, and I was thrilled that they were always accompanied by Lens delightful and equally smart daughter, Toria dyed-in-the-wool historian and investigator like her dad. I cannot thank the three of them enough, not only for being my guides but also for being truly wonderful and loyal friends.

In the city of Gary, too, I must wholeheartedly thank former Gary chief of police Wade Ingram for allowing us to investigate St. Marys Mercy Hospital, and Brandon Crofton, another wonderful officer who helped so much by looking out for us and sharing his own experiences during our investigation of the Small Farms area. I am deeply thankful to Stephen McShane of the Calumet Regional Archives for helping me find the photos I needed and for being so accommodating to my schedule. Many thanks, too, to John B. Stephens, for the beautiful contemporary photos he captured for this book. John has one of the most appreciative eyes for things many dont find beautiful, and I think you will agree that his photographs capture the true magic that still lives even in the rubble of the Magic City. He and his partner in paranormal investigationDavid Scotthave been great supporters of my work, and I am grateful to be their associates and friends.

My good friend Bill Swinford is someone I met delving into the history of Chicago ghost stories, and he turned out to have a deep love for the Region as well. His frequent messages to me, full of fascinating facts and tales of Gary, steered me toward stories I may have missed if not for his help, and I continue to be so grateful for the friendship of this tremendous local historian.

I was thrilled that my closest friend, Clarence Goodman, offered to read this book as I wrote it, and I cannot thank him enough for his very helpful criticism and ridiculously kind accolades. Im grateful for the support of another superb historian, Chicagophile and writer, Laura Mazzuca Toops, who was to be a partner on this project before our busy schedules sabotaged the plan.

Of course, I must thank my wonderful daughters, as always, for being so patient with me as I wrote this book and for being a big part of my own personal connection to the Indiana Dunes. I cherish the hours we spend traveling through the Dunes together, and I hope you will always remember themand discover the equal but different beauty of Gary with me someday.

To my friends Wanda and Michael Spudic, Marcia Soyster and Barb Spitler, who made a home for me in Northwest Indiana and introduced me to so many people and places I love so muchyou are my lifelong pals, even though the stretches between our times together have grown too long. I hope that, in this book, you see reflected the love for the Regions history and ghostlore that all of you ignited in me.

Finally and overwhelmingly, I thank God for letting me help people tell their storiesand believe in ghosts.

INTRODUCTION

GHOST HUNTING IN THE FORMER MURDER CAPITAl OF AMERICA

Its the crumbling capital of what they call the Region: the northwest part of the state of Indiana that skirts Lake Michigan to the north and borders Chicago to the west. They say that if youre from Indiana and want to know whether youre from the Region, ask yourself if there is corn around and whether you are within one mile of a person of African American or Mexican descent. If the answers are no and yesin that orderthen you are. But today, not even those dyed-in-the-wool residents of the Region quite know what to make of Gary, the name of which for years made most people think of the The Music Man and smooth-talking salesman Professor Harold Hill. Hill claimed to be from Gary at the time of its glorious inception. Gary was a model city, by all accounts, so when he declared Trouble in River City, Iowa (with a capital T, no less), folks felt he knew what he was talking about.

Ironically, it was Gary on which the trouble actually felland with a gusto reserved for only a particular brand of American city: the industrial, instant city that grew dangerously fast and whose people could not possibly foresee that the progression that had built it would eventually kill it. To say that Gary, Indiana, is haunted by the kinds of ghosts in this book seems not quite right. Gary is haunted all right, and its certainly been called both a ghosts town and a ghost townbut the city is haunted first and foremost by the living.

A worldwide symbol of the triumph of industry for more than half a century, the so-called Magic City was in its glory days a model of the marriage of industry and community, a towering presence overlooking the waters of Lake Michigan along the stunning Indiana Duneland, a perfect place to work and live and raise a family. Today, Gary has become the poster child for what happens when technological advancement kills the need for human labor.