219 Area Code 🌍☎️

Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, located approximately 25 miles southeast of downtown Chicago along Lake Michigan's southern shore and serving as the western gateway to Indiana Dunes National Park. Founded in 1906 by U.S. Steel Corporation as a company town named after lawyer and Steel Corporation chairman Elbert Henry Gary, the city was home to Gary Works, North America's largest steel mill complex. Gary's population reached 69,093 at the 2020 census, making it Indiana's eleventh-most populous city, but has declined 61 percent since 1960 due to steel industry restructuring and offshore manufacturing job losses. The city holds significant African-American historical importance, becoming the first Midwest city to fully integrate its public schools in 1945, electing the nation's first Black mayor Richard Hatcher in 1968, and hosting the first National Black Political Convention in 1972. Gary is known as the birthplace of the Jackson family, home to professional baseball team the Gary SouthShore RailCats, and served by Gary/Chicago International Airport and the South Shore Line rail connection to Chicago's transit system. Merrillville is a town in Ross Township, Lake County, Indiana, in the Chicago metropolitan area, with a population of 36,444 at the 2020 census, making it the most populated town in Indiana since January 1, 2015. Located at the intersection of U.S. Route 30 and Interstate 65, the town occupies former Potawatomi woodland and was founded as McGwinn Village in 1834, later renamed Merrillville after brothers Dudley and William Merrill in the 19th century. The area was officially incorporated as the town of Merrillville in 1971, with much of its growth driven by white flight from Gary during that period. Covering 33.26 square miles with the Lincoln Highway (U.S. Route 30) running through it, Merrillville serves as a major shopping and retail trade hub for Northwest Indiana. Notable historical sites include the Morgan-Skinner-Boyd Homestead and John Wood Old Mill, both listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Portage is the largest city in Porter County and the third largest in Northwest Indiana, located in Portage and Westchester townships on the border between Porter and Lake counties, with a population of 37,926 as of the 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by Native Americans, including the Wea tribe and later the Potawatomi, before European settlers arrived in the early 1800s, with Samuel Putnam Robbins and Jacob Blake among the first settlers. The Michigan Central Railroad, completed in 1852 and connecting Detroit to Chicago, transformed Portage from a farming community to a transportation hub in the 1850s-1860s, followed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1874, enabling efficient shipment of agricultural products and sand to Chicago. The city experienced minimal growth between 1880 and 1950 (averaging 64 people annually) despite industrialization in nearby Gary and Hammond, but the economy was revitalized by World Wars I and II and post-war demand for automobiles and appliances. Three early communities - McCool, Crisman, and Garyton - merged to form modern Portage, which experienced rapid population growth in the post-World War II era driven by strong steel mill production.