Getting your first car is usually an unforgettable part of the high school experience, as well as the adventures with friends that come along with it. Then, as now, fueling up is part of the experience.
34-cent per gallon gas in the 1970s is equivalent to about $2.86 in 2023 dollars.
On Memorial Day we honor those service men and women who ‘gave all,’ fighting to keep America free.
Memorial Day began on May 30th, 1868, as โDecoration Day,โ ย a way to honor American soldiers who died in the Civil War by decorating their graves with flowers each spring. It continued as a an informal patriotic holiday until was expanded after World War I to honor fallen service men and women from all American wars. It became a federal holiday in June, 1968.ย
Chauncey Depew Walters, 22, was the first soldier from Griffith to die in World War I. Chauncey was one of 10 brothers, all but one of them born in Griffith. All the brothers worked on the railroads.
The Griffith American Legion named their post in honor of him after the war. After Word War II and a move to a larger building, the Legion changed their name to Griffith Post 66 to honor veterans from both wars.
๐ธGriffith Historical Society members work on putting together a two-sided Display Board showing photos and info from Griffith High Schoolโs 100 years. โกFrom left to right are Debby Hoot, Karen Kulinski, Martha Gatlin, and Nancy Stout. ๐ซWhen the board is finished, it will be taken to the High School and put on display there! ๐ปWe’ll work on sharing digital copies here and our Facebook page as well!
In the olden days, a train equipped with a wedge plow in front of the engine cleared snow from the tracks. Clearing snow from around railroad depots, towers, and other outbuildings, like the Griffith watchmanโs shanty shown here, was done by railroad workers with shovels, as in this photo. In truth, most of what was done in the early days of railroading was done by hand. Tracks were all laid by hand. Heavy wooden ties and steel rails were carried by two men, using special equipment, and put into place on the trackbed. Then, the men used a spike maul, similar to a sledge-hammer, to attach the rail to the ties by driving huge nails, called spikes, into the wood. Tunnels though mountains were built by hand, too, by men like John Henry, the legendary steel-driving man. A steel-driver pounded out holes in the mountain, into which blasting powder was poured and lit with a fuse. Not one of the tools any of these men used had an electrical cord at the end of them.
In days gone by, putting up the townโs Christmas decorations right after Thanksgiving was a yearly event in Griffith. Members of the Community Spirit organization and the Griffith Fire Department are pictured here in the 100 block of South Broad Street. Lighted garlands were strung across Broad for several blocks. It gave the town an especially festive holiday look, reminiscent, some folks said, of Bedford Falls, the town in the movie, โIt’s a Wonderful Life.โ
Mat Beiriger, Scottie Schweitzer and Mat Theis pose for a photo amidst a bountiful fall harvest. Farmers were the first to come to the Griffith area in the mid-1850โs when land here was cheap, but needed to be drained before it could be used. Under all the water, they found rich, fertile land on which to plant their crops.
๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฅ๐ก๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฌ! 
Griffith History Museums 