Griffith, Indiana
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Griffith is a town in
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...
and St. John townships in Lake County,
Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
,
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It is a part of the
Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities. ...
. The population was 16,420 in 2020. The town's population is currently declining at a rate of 0.69% annually. Griffith is the town with the 11th largest population and 17th largest town by area in the State of Indiana.


History

The Griffith State Bank, E.J. and E. Griffith Interlocking Tower and Griffith Grand Trunk Depot are listed in the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. In 2018, citizens of Griffith voted by a margin of 98% to 2% to leave Calumet Township, in part because of the high property taxes they pay to the township, which also includes Gary, relative to the services received. The town is now part of North Township.


Geography

Griffith is above sea level. The town's boundaries encompass part of the ancient Calumet shorelines of
Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...
. Griffith has a total area of , all land. Griffith borders the town of
Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...
to the west, the city of Hammond to the northwest, the city of Gary to the northeast, the town of Schererville to the south, and unincorporated Calumet Township to the east.


Education

Griffith Public Schools, which covers most of the city, operates four local public schools (one high school, one middle school, and two elementary schools). * Griffith Senior High School (9-12) *Griffith Middle School (6-8) *Beiriger Elementary School (3-5) *Wadsworth Elementary School (K-2) St. Mary Catholic Elementary & Junior High School is located in Griffith. Residents who live in the southeastern section of Griffith within the St. John Township are serviced by schools that belong to the Lake Central School Corporation. That district's comprehensive high school is Lake Central High School.


Demographics


2020 census

As of the 2020
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
, there were 16,420 people, 4,544 families in 6,791 households in the town. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 7,260 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 69%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 14.7%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 3% Native American, 2.1% Asian, 8.3% from other races, and 5.6% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 14.9% of the population. Of the 6,791 households, 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 7% were cohabiting couples, 29.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 21.3% had a male householder with no wife present. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.95. The median age in the town was 37.8 years. 18.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.6% were between the ages of 18, and 24; 29.9% were from 25 to 44; 26.9% were from 45 to 64; and 14.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 49.6% male and 50.4% female.


2010 census

As of the 2010
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
, there were 16,893 people, 6,668 households, and 4,559 families residing in the town. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 7,070 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 75.8%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 16.9%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.3% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 3.9% from other races, and 2.4% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 13.3% of the population. Of the 6,668 households, 34.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 17.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 31.6% were non-families. 26.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.06. The median age in the town was 39 years. 19.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.8% were from 25 to 44; 27.4% were from 45 to 64; and 15% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 47.6% male and 52.4% female.


2000 census

As of the 2000
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
, there were 17,334 people, 6,728 households, and 4,749 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 6,990 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 84.01%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 10.11%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.35% Native American, 0.81% Asian, 0.04%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 2.86% from other races, and 1.83% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino made up 8.43% of the population. Of the 6,728 households, 33.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.3% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.4% were non-families. 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.10. In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.5% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males. The median income for a household in the town was $50,030, and the median income for a family was $57,090. Males had a median income of $44,817 versus $27,036 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the town was $21,866. About 2.7% of families and 3.9% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 3.9% of those under age 18 and 3.1% of those aged 65 and over.


Transportation

Gary/Chicago International Airport in Gary is Griffith's nearest commercial airport. *05C - Griffith-Merrillville Airport, (generally known locally simply as “Griffith Airport”) is a smaller airport within the boundaries of the Town of Griffith. Cline Avenue runs through Griffith north to East Chicago. Interstate 65, The Borman Expressway, The
Indiana Toll Road The Indiana Toll Road, officially the Indiana East–West Toll Road, is a controlled-access toll road that runs for east–west across northern Indiana from the Illinois state line to the Ohio state line. It has been advertised as the "Main ...
US 30 and
US 41 U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway System, United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part i ...
are all short drives from Griffth. The closest Amtrak station is in Dyer, while the closest South Shore Line station is in East Chicago. Broad Street, the major north–south road through Griffith, used to be designated Indiana State Route 73. It was what has come to be called a " feeder road," connecting
US 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6) or U.S. Highway 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the Grand Army of the Republic, American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the United States Numbere ...
at the north end to US 30 at the southern end, and at the southern end of the downtown area crossed over the six intersecting rail lines' 13 tracks, creating what was known for a time as the busiest railroad crossing in the country. SR 73 was the shortest state route in Indiana, and was the only Indiana state route to exist in only one town. Technically, a part of it straddled the border between St. John township and Schererville, but since the entire right of way did not reside in either, that part which did lie entirely within the borders of any designated area, were only in Griffith, and hence the appellation stuck. As the railroad traffic decreased and truck traffic increased US 30 was moved south to its present divided 4 lane route, and the old road became known as "Old US 30," Joliet Road, and SR 330. Also,
US 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6) or U.S. Highway 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the Grand Army of the Republic, American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the United States Numbere ...
was removed from its route along Ridge Road at the northern terminus of SR 73 to the Borman Expressway. Its importance diminished and its major connections removed, the Indiana legislature felt that a road that lay entirely within a single town (or at least did not have a portion that sat entirely in another town), should not be provided state funding as its primary source of upkeep. As such, SR 73 was decommissioned as an Indiana state route on September 26, 1969.


References


External links


Town of Griffith, Indiana website
{{authority control Towns in Lake County, Indiana Towns in Indiana Populated places established in 1853 1854 establishments in Indiana