๐ฆJoin us to celebrate the return of the monarchs, as they migrate up from the south! ๐๏ธSunday May 24, 2026 ๐ฐ๏ธ 1 – 4 pm
๐ซ Visit the Griffith Depot & Train Museums (everything will be open to view!) and enjoy our Monarch Waystation garden! ๐ฆLearn about Monarchs, their amazing migration, & how they’ve become endangered. Jeanette Bobos, the retired Master Gardner who planted our garden, will be on on hand to share her knowledge. ๐Learn about adding native plants to your garden. ๐ปBuy plants that help butterflies, especially monarchs! Weโll have a small selection of milkweed plants & other native plants.
๐บ๐ธ ๐๐’๐ซ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ญ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ง๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ง๐ง๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ซ! โฆโฆโโ โโ โฆโฆ(๐๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ป๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ?) โค๏ธ๐ค๐Griffith Historical Society’s America 250 Committee worked with Imagine Griffith and citizen volunteers to plant red, white and blue flowers throughout downtown Griffith. The flowers were provided courtesy of the Parks Department. ๐บ๐ธWe hope you enjoy them this summer as we continue to celebrate America’s 250th birthday!
๐Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas from the Griffith Historical Society! ๐ Thank you to everyone who braved the cold and came out to Santa in the Caboose!! From our volunteers to those of you who visited and left a donation, we couldn’t do it without you! ๐As a non-profit, volunteer-run organization, all of your donations go directly to the upkeep of the Train & Depot Museums and the Town History Museum at the Franklin Center. We appreciate you and your support!
Mark your calendars for this year’s ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐! ๐ โ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐, ๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ 13: 10 ๐.๐. ๐๐ 3 ๐.๐. โ ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐๐, ๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ 14: ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ 3 ๐.๐. ๐ธ Give a donation to see Santa (our 28th annual!) and support the upkeep (and heating!) of the Historical Park! ๐ธ Take as many personal photos & videos as youโd like! ๐ช Be sure to shop our Holiday Bake Sale and holiday stocking stuffers as well! *๐๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ป๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐ป๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฐ๐ด, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด!
๐๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐ ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ณ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐บ๐! โ ๏ธWe are planning something spooky and fun for 2026 and we could use your help! ๐ปCan’t fit all those Halloween items into the garage? Consider donating them to us! ๐ฆEmail [email protected]!
It’s a busy weekend for the Historical Society!! ๐Friday – LAST Barrel Train at Central Market for the Season! ๐Saturday – Barrel Train at Safety Day at Central Park! ๐๏ธSaturday – The TOWN HISTORY Museum at the Franklin Center will be open! ๐ค๏ธSunday – Visit the Depot and Train Museums! Tour guides will be available. Parents of Beiriger 3rd Graders – come see what your kids learned this week!
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.
Harveyโs programs were carried by 1,200 radio stations, plus an additional 400 stations of American Forces Radio. Famous well into the 1980โs, he had a popular syndicated newspaper column and a TV program.
Hereโs the rest of Joeโs story, Paul Harveyโs tribute to Griffithโs 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 Griffithโs 30-ft-tall Elgin Joliet and Eastern Railway interlocking tower.
You can imagine Joeโs terror that evening in early January, 1947, when smoke began pouring from the towerโs 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 McFarlandโs efforts to restrain him.
โI have go up there,โ he told the Chief. โIโm the only one who knows how to shut off the controls that will flag oncoming trains to stop.โ 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 doctorโs 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, didnโt help.
Sadly, the time spent in the tower room inhaling smoke and chemical fumes from burning burning electrical wires had vanquished Joeโs 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 โto 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.โ
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 youโre reeeeeally in need of cash when you take money from school kids. But thatโs 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.
โWe felt saving the tower was important to the town,โ said Student Council president Ashley Korak, when interviewed for a newspaper article. โWith so few towers left, we want to preserve ours.โ
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. โSo much work needs to be done in this 76-year-old building,โ she went on, โand your donation will go a long way in helping us install a new heating system.โ
Griffith History Museums 