Lake Station, Indiana
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Lake Station is a city in
Lake County, Indiana Lake County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. In 2020, its population was 498,700, making it Indiana's List of counties in Indiana, second-most populous county. The county seat is Crown Point, Indiana, C ...
, United States. The population was 13,235 at the 2020 census.


History

Initially, the site of modern Lake Station was the starting point of two
indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
trails leading to
Fort Dearborn Fort Dearborn was a United States fort, first built in 1803 beside the Chicago River, in what is now Chicago, Illinois. It was constructed by U.S. troops under Captain John Whistler and named in honor of Henry Dearborn, then United States Secre ...
.Workers of the Writers' Program of the Works Project Administration, 1939. ''The Calumet Region Historical Guide'', p.117. Later it became an early stagecoach depot stop, as the Fort Dearborn-Detroit Stagecoach Route passed through the site during the wet season. The location became known as Lake Station as far back as 1851 when it began to serve as a
depot Depot may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Glacier (disambiguation) * Depot Island (disambiguation) * Depot Nunatak * Depot Peak Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in Chicago, United States * Of ...
, the western terminus of the
Michigan Central Railroad The Michigan Central Railroad (reporting mark MC) was originally chartered in 1832 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan, and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in th ...
(on what would later become its
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
to
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
line). This was the first train station in Lake County. The Michigan Central Railroad built a park and railroad shops around its two-story depot. A year later, in April 1852, George Earle mapped out and platted a town of about on the site, continuing its name of Lake Station. Being a bedroom community, Lake Station welcomed Abraham Lincoln to its Audubon Hotel, perhaps on more than one occasion, according to oral history. But
George Pullman George Mortimer Pullman (March 3, 1831 – October 19, 1897) was an American engineer and industrialist. He designed and manufactured the Pullman (car or coach), Pullman sleeping car and founded a Pullman, Chicago, company town in Chicago for t ...
, who tried to negotiate for land in Lake Station for his proposed railcar company, never struck a deal and set up shop on the south side of Chicago instead. Prior to its current location in
Crown Point, Indiana Crown Point is a city in and the county seat of Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 34,884 per the 2023 American Community Survey. The city was incorporated in 1868. On October 31, 1834, Solon Robinson and his family became ...
, the county seat was located on what is now the west end of Lake Station in a section called
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, although it was a separate settlement at the time. The name of Lake Station was officially changed to East Gary in 1908 in an attempt to lure executives from the nearby
US Steel The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...
plant in
Gary, Indiana Gary ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 69,093 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it Indiana's List of municipalities in Indiana, eleventh-most populous city. The city has been historical ...
into creating a
suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
community. With another name change in 1977, primarily to disassociate itself from the urban decay and crime of Gary, the city reverted to its historical designation of Lake Station. In September 2015, the mayor of Lake Station, Keith Soderquist, and his wife, Deborah Soderquist, were found guilty of conspiracy, wire fraud, and filing false income tax returns. Keith's daughter, Miranda N. Brakley (married name Barnitt), a court clerk, was found guilty of embezzlement and filing bad bankruptcy papers. Under state law, a mayor convicted of a felony forfeits his elected office. The Soderquist's served time in correctional institutions, while Ms. Brakley (Barnitt) served time in house arrest. The Soderquist's and Barnitt are still residents of Lake Station, Indiana.


Geography

According to the 2010 census, Lake Station has a total area of , of which (or 98.45%) is land and (or 1.55%) is water. The city lies on the Calumet Shoreline, which is seen today as a sand ridge.


Major highways

*
Interstate 65 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south Interstate Highway System, interstate highway in the central United States. As with most primary interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between th ...
*
Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...
*
Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...
*
Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...
*
U.S. Route 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 American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the United States Numbered Highway System. While it ...
* U.S. Route 20 * Indiana State Road 51


Lakes and rivers

*Grand Boulevard Lake *
Deep River (Indiana) Deep River is a river that flows northeast to the Little Calumet River in Lake County in northern Indiana in the United States.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed Septemb ...


Surrounding cities

*
Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...
* Gary *
Portage Portage or portaging ( CA: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a '' ...
* Town of New Chicago


Demographics


2010 census

As of the
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 ...
of 2010, there were 12,572 people, 4,577 households, and 3,067 families residing in the city. 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 5,137 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 79.7%
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 ...
, 3.6%
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 ...
, 0.5% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 11.7% from other races, and 4.1% 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 28.0% of the population. There were 4,577 households, of which 35.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.4% 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, 17.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 7.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 33.0% were non-families. 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.28. The median age in the city was 35.4 years. 26.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.2% were from 25 to 44; 26.7% were from 45 to 64; and 10.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.0% male and 50.0% female.


2000 census

As of the
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 ...
of 2000, there were 13,948 people, 5,041 households, and 3,528 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 5,328 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 86.23%
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 ...
, 0.77%
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 ...
, 0.50% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.05%
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 ...
, 9.31% from other races, and 2.85% 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 20.61% of the population. There were 5,041 households, out of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% 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, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.0% were non-families. 23.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.24. In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.1% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $36,984, and the median income for a family was $41,454. Males had a median income of $35,761 versus $22,659 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 city was $15,319. About 10.6% of families and 14.6% 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 21.3% of those under age 18 and 10.0% of those age 65 or over.


Economy

Major employers include Sun Engineering, and Pro-Chem-Co. Lake Station's busiest rail line is
CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...
's Porter Subdivision. The
Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad The Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern Railroad is a short line railroad offering service from Tolleston, Indiana to Crestline, Ohio, United States over the former Fort Wayne Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Operations commenced in 2004 as a divi ...
also runs through Lake Station. The Joliet Line of the
Michigan Central Railroad The Michigan Central Railroad (reporting mark MC) was originally chartered in 1832 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan, and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in th ...
once ran through Lake Station; the Fairview Walkway, a
rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...
, now occupies the abandoned rail line.


Arts and culture

Lake Station also plays host to some events such as the Fuzz Follies, which is a car show that takes place in Riverview Park every year since 1984. Since 2004 The Heritage Days Festival has also taken place in Riverview Park. Both events are usually in June. The city's newest event held for the first time in September 2009 is Septemberfest, which is held around Labor Day weekend. Lake County Public Library operates the Lake Station - New Chicago Branch, which also serves New Chicago.


Parks and recreation

*Four Winds Park *Columbus Park *Riverview Park *Miller Park *Mock Park *Deep River Outdoor Recreation Center *Johnson Park *Bicentennial Park *Warrick Park *Riley Park


Government

The mayor of Lake Station since January 1, 2020, is Bill Carroll.


Education

Lake Station Community Schools serves most of Lake Station. Some portions are served by River Forest Community School Corporation. The Lake Station Community Schools district consists of two elementary schools, Virgil I. Bailey and Alexander Hamilton, and one combined junior and senior high school
Thomas A. Edison Junior-Senior High School Thomas A. Edison Junior-Senior High School is a seven-year (6-12) public junior and senior high school of the Lake Station Community School Corporation in Lake Station, Indiana. The school serves most of Lake Station. Demographics The demograph ...
. The River Forest Community School Corporation serves the West End of Lake Station (approximately one-third of the city). River Forest High School, River Forest Junior High School, John I. Meister Elementary School, and Henry S. Evans Elementary School are all within the city limits of Lake Station (as the result of the city's 1972 annexation of previously unincorporated parts of Hobart Township).


References


External links

* {{authority control Cities in Indiana Cities in Lake County, Indiana Northwest Indiana 1852 establishments in Indiana Populated places established in 1852