In 1981, the city council of

Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. First settled in the mid-19th century, it is one of the oldest cities of northern Lake County. As of the ...

, constructed a barrier or dike where 165th Street meets the border of

Gary Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran *Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;Unit ...

, to keep toxic flood water out. Originally intended as temporary, the barrier sparked years of controversy between then mostly- White Hammond and mostly- Black Gary. The barrier remains there to this day.

History

In June 1981, excessive rainfall caused flooding in the Calumet Region of Indiana and Illinois.Hutton, Carole Leigh (June 15, 1981).
Floods Kill 2: Scores Homeless
. ''The Times'' (Munster, Indiana). p. 1. The Little Calumet River overflowed onto streets and

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

. Parts of Gary, Hammond, and other areas were evacuated. The floods swept through two industrial landfills and caused toxic water to flow into the residential Hessville area of

Hammond Hammond may refer to: People * Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist * Hammond (surname) * Justice Hammond (disambiguation) Places Antarctica * Hammond Glacier, Antarctica Australia *Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in South ...

.EPA Starting Probe on 'Chemical Flood'
. ''The Times'' (Munster, Indiana). June 24, 1981. p. 2. The toxic water caused basements and streets to flood, and about 30 people suffered chemical burns. In order to stop the flooding, Hammond officials built a sand dike on 165th Street, under Cline Avenue, along the Hammond-Gary border. 165th Street is one of at least four roads connecting the two cities. Several days later, the City of Hammond built a concrete wall across 165th Street to reinforce the sand dike, which had been eroding from people driving motorcycles and four-wheel drive vehicles over it.Finn, Thomas (July 2, 1981).
Dump Flow Results Are Near
. ''The Times'' (Munster, Indiana). p. 3. Hammond's air pollution control director said the wall was a temporary solution and would be removed when the danger of chemical runoff ended. To Hammond officials and citizens, the majority of whom are were white, the hill was a win-win. In 1988, Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Sr. said, "After seven years, people on this side just like the idea of the street being closed. There is less truck traffic and less crime." In his campaign, Hammond City Council President Robert Golec promised to keep the wall and suggested making it permanent. The citizens and officials of Gary, the majority of whom are African American, saw it as a symbol of racism and called for it to be removed almost as soon as it went up. Mayor

Richard Hatcher Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'str ...

called it "an insult to every citizen in Gary" and ordered city workers to tear down the wall six months after its construction. This led to Hammond workers reconstructing the wall entirely on Hammond property. During his successful campaign for Gary Mayor in 1987, Thomas Barnes promised to remove the wall 30 days after his inauguration. In 1989, the federal government called for Hammond and Gary to develop an alternative to the wall or face reduced transportation funding. Alternatives were developed by engineers of both cities, but Hammond refused to cooperate due to the perceived high cost and impracticality of a new infrastructure project. There was also disagreement about who would pay for the new project; one of the cities or the Federal government. The furor appeared to have ceased in the 1990s as discussions of an alternative to the barrier stopped and Gary changed leadership. Sometime in the 2010s, the dirt hill was replaced by a brick wall that remains to this day.

Hammond–Calumet City barrier

A curb opposed by Calumet City, Illinois, was built by Hammond in 2006, north of 166th Place in order to restrict vehicular traffic between the two towns. Calumet City sued but lost its legal battle to block construction. In 2008, Mayor

Thomas McDermott Jr. Thomas Matthew McDermott Jr. (born March 4, 1969) is an American attorney and politician from the state of Indiana serving as the 20th mayor of Hammond, Indiana. He took office on January 1, 2004, the first elected government office he has held ...

built a 4-foot by 2-foot wall south of the earlier one that leads up to the little Calumet River, ostensibly for flood control. "It's a quality of life issue," Mayor Thomas McDermott told the '' Chicago Tribune'' at the time. "A lot has been made of race. It has nothing to do with that. It has to do with traffic." Calumet City Mayor Michelle Markiewicz Qualkinbush told the ''Tribune'' in 2006, "It's unfortunate it's come to this. These two communities have co-existed side by side for many years. They'll be here many more years after we're gone, and this, it just sends a bad message."

References

Northwest Indiana . Hammond, Indiana Gary, Indiana Lake County, Indiana Chicago metropolitan area Borders of the United States {{DEFAULTSORT:Gary-Hammond barrier