Tolleston is a neighborhood and former town in west-central

Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the ...

. It is situated south of

Ambridge Ambridge may refer to: * Ambridge (''The Archers''), a fictional place in the UK radio programme, ''The Archers'' * Ambridge, Indiana, a former neighborhood, now part of Ambridge Mann, Indiana, US ** Ambridge station, a former railway station in A ...

, west of Midtown, east of Westside and north of

Black Oak Black Oak may refer to: Places in the United States * Black Oak, Arkansas * Black Oak, Daviess County, Indiana * Black Oak, Lake County, Indiana, a neighborhood of Gary, Indiana * Black Oak, Missouri Other * Black Oak Arkansas Black Oak Ar ...

. Tolleston is the site of two large city parks (MC Bennett Park and Tolleston Park), a historic cemetery, and the oldest church north of the

Little Calumet River The Calumet River is a system of heavily industrialized rivers and canals in the region between the south side of Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Gary, Indiana. Historically, the Little Calumet River and the Grand Calumet River were one, the ...

. The neighborhood's borders are defined by the Norfolk Southern tracks on the north, Grant Street on the east, 25th Avenue on the south, and Clark Road on the west. As of 2000, Tolleston had a population of 14,289, and was 97.5% African-American. Tolleston is primarily residential, with commercial districts along 11th and 15th Avenues. The housing stock of Tolleston consists chiefly of single-family homes, which as of 2000 had a 92% occupancy rate. The neighborhood was served by the Tolleston Branch of the Gary Public Library which is now closed and is served by the Tolleston Station post office. Distinctive subdivisions within Tolleston include Tarrytown, running for ten blocks north-to-south between Clark Road and Whitcomb Street, and Small Farms at the neighborhood's southern end. Small Farms is the site of some of Gary's most expensive homes.

History

Tolleston was platted in 1857 by George Tolle. The Tolleston post office was established in 1860, and a Lutheran church in 1868; by 1870 the town contained approximately 80 families. The early population consisted chiefly of German immigrant farmers and railroad workers. In the late 19th century, sand mining and ice harvesting became the chief local industries. Prior to the founding of Gary in 1906, it was the principal settlement in the region, and Tolleston's Gibson Hotel was used as a base by the officials of

US Steel United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries ...

planning the new city. Tolleston was incorporated as an independent town on September 4, 1906, to prevent annexation by Gary. It was annexed nonetheless in 1910, as a byproduct of an annexation dispute between

East Chicago East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,698 at the 2010 census. The city is home of the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwater harbor characterized by industrial and manufacturing act ...

and Gary. As a neighborhood of Gary, it was exclusively white until the early 1950s, when legal segregation in Gary ended; it was almost entirely African-American by 1985. Tolleston is the birthplace of astronaut

Frank Borman Frank Frederick Borman II (born March 14, 1928) is a retired United States Air Force (USAF) colonel, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, businessman, and NASA astronaut. He was the commander of Apollo 8, the first mission to fly around the Moo ...

, for whom the nearby Borman Expressway is named. Tolleston is the home of architecturally significant St. Augustine's Episcopal Church. Custom designed by renowned Modernist architect Edward D. Dart in 1958, the historically Black Episcopal church garnered two architecture awards. St. Augustine's Episcopal Church listed on the National Historic Register in 2013. It is located at the corner of Ellsworth Street and 19TH Avenue. Tolleston is also the home of St. John's (Evangelical) Lutheran Church, located on the corner of 10th Avenue and Taft St. Originally a German Lutheran congregation, St. John's has baptismal dating back to 1863 and Church Board minutes from 1870. It is the oldest congregation in the Calumet region.

References

*Dart, Susan (1993). Edward Dart Architect. . *“ Like Praying Hands.” Chicago Sunday Tribune Magazine 27 Dec. 1959: 16. Print. *“St. Augustine’s Episcopal Presents Unusual Form.” The Post Tribune 14 May 1960: 7.Print. * * {{Authority control Neighborhoods in Gary, Indiana Former municipalities in Indiana