It was 25 years ago, and we are still grateful to everyone who donated time and money to help us preserve the Tower and save it from demolition.
Thanks to the businesses and banks that allowed us to put donation jars on their counters, and thanks to all the Griffith residents who put money in the jars! Thanks to all the Historical Society members, who volunteered every step of the way, and of course, thank you to all the people and businesses who donated money towards this gigantic project!
It was really a town-wide effort, and is a monument to the spirit of Griffith!
The man who said those words almost every night on the radio was a man named Paul Harvey. When he took notice of Joe Miller, he was the most-listened-to radio broadcaster in America, heard by 25 million people every day.
From his studios in Chicago, Illinois, Harvey would every day diligently sift through news reports available to newspapers and radio broadcasters. He was looking for compelling stories that might have been overlooked by other media outlets.
In early January, 1947, he found such a story, and it happened just 25 miles away in Griffith, Indiana.
Harvey’s programs were carried by 1,200 radio stations, plus an additional 400 stations of American Forces Radio. Famous well into the 1980’s, he had a popular syndicated newspaper column and a TV program.
Here’s the rest of Joe’s story, Paul Harvey’s tribute to Griffith’s own, Joe Miller, was broadcast on January 8, 1947.
A fear that is universal to all of us, but must have run deeper for men like Joe Miller, who worked in Griffith’s 30-ft-tall Elgin Joliet and Eastern Railway interlocking tower.
You can imagine Joe’s terror that evening in early January, 1947, when smoke began pouring from the tower’s automatic switching controls. With more than 20 years a towerman, he immediately tried to put the fire out himself.
When that failed, and with no other way to alert the nearest depot, he ran down the tower stairs, knowing he was losing time with every step.
When the firemen arrived, all volunteers, Joe returned with them to the tower room despite Fire Chief Robert McFarland’s efforts to restrain him.
“I have go up there,” he told the Chief. “I’m the only one who knows how to shut off the controls that will flag oncoming trains to stop.” So, Joe Miller went back into the smoky tower room again and did what he had to do. He again went down that long string of stairs and was taken to the local doctor’s office.
He was coughing hard and often, and the doctor called Highland to use their Pullmotoran. But even that, an early type of ventilator to assist with breathing difficulties, didn’t help.
Sadly, the time spent in the tower room inhaling smoke and chemical fumes from burning burning electrical wires had vanquished Joe’s lungs and heart.
In the tradition of railroad men for generations, Joe Miller had done his duty, and gave his life heroically in doing so. Newspaper articles praised his bravery and dedication to saving lives.
One newspaper ran an editorial suggesting Joe be nominated for a Carnegie Hero Award. Named after philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, it is presented “to individuals in the United States and Canada who risk death or serious physical injury to an extraordinary degree saving or attempting to save the lives of others.”
Joe Miller did not receive that award, but he did receive notice from a man that some might say was equal in fame to Mr. Carnegie.
The upper room of the Griffith Centennial Tower Museum is dedicated to Mr. Miller’s memory as the Joseph Miller Tower Room.
You know you’re reeeeeally in need of cash when you take money from school kids. But that’s what we did 25 years ago, and we did it twice.
To be honest, we were honored to do it. Because, in both of the cases, the students wanted to give us money for the tower and they worked to do it.
Seventh-graders, in the then Griffith Junior/Senior High School, held a walkathon from the school to our Historical Park and back, earning us more than $500. And the Beiriger Elementary School students held a Penny War for us.
Come to find out every year back then, the Beiriger Student Council voted on one project to support. In the year 2000, they chose our Griffith Tower.
“We felt saving the tower was important to the town,” said Student Council president Ashley Korak, when interviewed for a newspaper article. “With so few towers left, we want to preserve ours.”
Note: When Ashley said those words, there were 177 towers still in operation in North America. Twenty-five years later, there are fewer than 50.
The Penny War worked like this: Each grade was given a big jar into which students deposited pennies into their particular jars every day for a week. All the jars were kept in the school foyer, and at the end of the week, a total $518.72 from all the jars was given to the tower.
The 5th graders donated the most pennies, with the 6th grade coming in 2nd place, and the 3rd graders taking 3rd.
Griffith Historical Society President Delores Smessaert, in the photo here, thanks all the students. “So much work needs to be done in this 76-year-old building,” she went on, “and your donation will go a long way in helping us install a new heating system.”
How does a group of “not the youngest of people” raise thousands upon thousands of dollars in just 7 months?
First of all, we bought a banner that said HELP US SAVE AND MOVE OUR TOWER!
Then we called on the Griffith Fire Department and asked them to put up the banner for us. The idea was everyone would see our message while waiting for trains to pass at our crossing.
This was in the year 2000. The internet and social media were in their infancies. So, how did one get the word out beyond our town?
We called the newspapers, who graciously published stories and photos about our efforts.
The very next day, the president of the Griffith Saving Bank called and gave us $1,000.
We were on our way!
Next, we wrote letters to any and all local, state and federal foundations, including the Lily Endowment.
Donald Trump had a casino boat in Griffith, so we contacted him. He gave us $100.
In the end, though, most donations came right from our town.
The schools stepped up. Beiriger held a Penny War that earned over $500.
The Griffith Junior/Senior High School had a walk-a-thon from their schools to our Historical Park and back. They raised over $500 for us.
We even had the honor to be written up in a newspaper column by Bo Kane, who grew up in Griffith and had a grandmother who lived right by.
Town organizations sent donations, and stores and businesses contributed to our cause.
Many of them put out Save The Tower mugs for us, so people we didn’t even know could donate to us.
Towns people who once worked for railroads or had a railroading heritage were very generous.
And friends from out of town, the Blackhawk Railway Historical Society, procured a $5,000 National Railway Heritage Grant for us.
The support we got from everyone was overwhelming and we will be forever grateful to them.
We were especially so on July 20th, 2000, when Dillabaugh, Inc. did what seemed impossible and moved a three story bright tower.
Out onto Broad Street at 9 o’clock, across the tracks and onto our property by lunchtime, standing above the new foundation at quitting time.
And the box of soap that was on a shelf in the upper room never moved. It was still in place when the boards were later removed and the building was opened up!
A historic job done by everybody involved, well done and ahead of schedule.
There is a truth beyond doubting that railroad companies really don’t like when two trains collide. Especially in bygone times when they were just getting started and money was tight.
So, wherever two sets of rail lines crossed each other, known as an interlocking, a small cabin on stilts was built to control train movement. It was up high to provide a clear view of the tracks. An employee would manually activate the grade crossing signals and gates before automatic detection was available or installed. (Check out the photos below!)
Griffith’s junction had five sets of rail lines interlocking at one place, hence the need for a larger brick building.
An interlocking tower was outfitted with machinery that linked the tower to sets of moveable tracks, called “switch tracks,” and a man that operated it. Through the use of levers linked to these tracks, the Operator, often called the Towerman, could control their position.
By carefully coordinating these switch tracks, the Operator was able to ensure an oncoming train was safely guided onto the right track to avoid a collision.
At one time, there were 5,000 railroad towers, in North America. Today, there are fewer than 50 towers still operating. Most of the rest have been torn down due to advancements in technology.
Our tower also faced demolition 25 years ago, but then Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railway general manager, Mel Turner, asked if we wanted the building. Of course, we said, “YES!”
We’ll continue to unfold more of this story here on our site, culminating in a Celebrate Our Tower Day, at the Griffith Historical Park, August 10th.
So, be sure to stay tuned, to use a well-known phrase of days gone by.
(And click the DONATE button now to help support upkeep of the Tower and rail-cam!!)
The tale of the Tower, and indeed a great deal of Griffith Historical Society’s history, reads like a storybook, hence the title.
Do you know what 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙮 is? Beyond an amazing Griffith ice cream parlor? I use the world a lot when talking about how we developed and grew.
Serendipity in the dictionary is described as: 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗮𝘆.
Serendipity in real life:
The chance meeting of four people who went on to spearhead the saving of the last Griffith’s depot from demolition. (See our first “Society Saga” in our spring newsletter or on our website for that story.)
The time the land we hoped to expand on, that was $20,000 when we first asked to purchase it, dropping to $8,000 when we absolutely, positively, 100% had to purchase it.
And we must mention how I was serendipitously connected to the General Superintendent of the Elgin Joliet & Eastern railroad when I called asking for key chains and paper engineer hat to give away to kids.
That man, Mel Turner, ended up giving us the Tower some five years later.
You know how you immediately click with someone? That was me and Mr T (though I never called him that to his face).
We talked for nearly an hour: about our getting the land and our future plans for it; about his railroad’s plans for tearing down our Tower, and could we have the equipment in the upper room, which was a yes.
From time to time, I would write him, filling him in on everything we were doing, and asking about the Tower. I found those old letters recently, and it was as though I was writing to a friend. I can only help wondering what he thought of my rambles. In mid-December, 1999, Mr. Turner came out to the Park during our Santa event, with his beloved dog, Buddy. Our Tower, he told us, was being closed down at the end of the year. And, he said, he was giving us the Tower!
The whole building!! And $30,000, to help with the move!!!
And we had until July 30th to get the Tower off their land.
In this space, we’re going to share with your the story of how the Griffith Historical Society came to be. But first, we’ll share the meaning of the word ‘saga.’ It’s an old word that historical society people like to throw around. It just means ‘a long story. Since we’ve been around for going on 42 years, you know the word fits. Now, onto the story of us. Take one town elder, Ray Anderson, walking his dog, Herman. Add in three young women – Kathy Anderson (no relation,) Marthann Hanrath, and Donna Gonzalez – walking for exercise. You see, Ray mentioned to the ladies that the last railroad depot in town was scheduled for demolition. “They’re demolishing our heritage,” Ray told the ladies. Later that day, Ray told his son, Howard, the same tale. Then Howard contacted Marthann and said, “Let’s save our heritage.” Now sagas, because they are long, are often made up of a whole lot of smaller stories. And what happened next, and beyond, with Ray and Howard and the ladies, we will tell you in upcoming newsletters and posts. But first we want you to meet Herman the Dog. Herman never left Ray’s side. Like when he was walking and encountered the ladies. Even when Ray attended Griffith Lions Club meetings. Because of his devotion to his master, Herman was made an honorary Lion. He is the first canine to be so honored. Herman’s certificate of membership is shown here.
🏆 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀! 🏀 Today, our very own 𝟭𝟵𝟮𝟴 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿, 𝗥𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝘀, is being inducted into the 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗲!
From the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame 23rd Women’s Induction Class Program:
𝗥𝗨𝗧𝗛 (𝗛𝗨𝗧𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗦) 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗞𝗘𝗥, 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝟭𝟵𝟮𝟴 The late Ruth (Hutchins) Parker, a 1928 graduate of Griffith, was a prolific scorer in her era, setting a record of 120 points in an 126-4 victory over Merrilville on Feb. 4, 1928. That was after she scored 106 points on a 53-of-64 shooting in a 115-10 win over Ross on Jan. 28, 1928. As a senior, the Purple Pantherettes of coach C.L. Wilson went 17-0 and outscored opponents by an average of 30.2 points, 41.9 to 11.7. These numbers were amassed when six-player rules were used for girls’ basketball – three forwards and three guards on each side of center line, no crossing the center line, two-dribbles maximum and a player had three seconds to pass or shoot the ball. After high school, Hutchins played basketball in an independent league, once scored 159 points in a game and later worked in the railroad industry. She married Ralph Parker, and they were parents to three children. The one-time scoring star passed away at 46 on March 29, 1956.
Griffith History Museums 