Marktown Historic District
About this property
Marktown is an urban planned worker community in East Chicago, Indiana, United States, built during the Progressive Era in 1917 from marshland to provide a complete community for workers at The Mark Manufacturing Company. The Marktown Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. The community of Marktown was founded by Clayton Mark, a pioneer maker of steel in the United States. The renowned architect hired to design the community, Howard Van Doren Shaw, created a unique design in which the streets serve as walkways and the cars are parked on the sidewalks, as noted in Ripley's Believe It or Not!. Shaw previously designed Mark's estate in Lake Forest, Illinois. Only 10% of the original design was built, as the building of the community was terminated due to the aftereffects of World War I and the sale of the Mark Manufacturing Company. The industries in East Chicago expanded to the borders of Marktown, surrounding the historic residential island with one of the densest industrial complexes in the world. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and was listed as one of the seven wonders of Northwest Indiana. Marktown is regarded as an important cultural resource of architectural and historical significance. In the words of the Marktown Revitalization Plan commissioned by the city of East Chicago in 2008, "Marktown is significant as it is a major work by a significant American architect, Howard Van Doren Shaw, for its association with the driving economic force of industry that served as an identity of the region, and is representative of the planned industrial community movement of the late 19th and early 20th century." As late as 2011, all of the originally constructed homes in Marktown still stood. However, since then some properties have been bought by BP and demolished. The homes are being evacuated due to air pollution and concerns regarding safety in the vicinity of the expanding crude tar sands processing facility. In 2022, East Chicago began a Marktown Neighborhood Housing Study to consider renovations of the historical district.
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Marktown Historic District listed on the National Register?
Marktown Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 20, 1975.
What type of historic resource is Marktown Historic District?
Marktown Historic District is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Marktown Historic District?
The period of significance for Marktown Historic District is recorded as the listed era.
Can I research the history near Marktown Historic District?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Marktown Historic District will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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