Griffith History Museums, Operated by the Griffith Historical Society
Thanks again, to photographer Max Crosby, for filling our Depot Museum and Historical Park with his incredible photos of magic moments on theย rails.ย We loved your dynamic images and the amazing turnout you brought with you.
Thank you to Griffith Daisy Troop 15620, Cub Scout Pack 622, and Boy Scout Troop 623 for providing refreshments!
It was a wonderful weekend!
Check out more of Max’s work:
https://youtube.com/@peremarquette1223?si=3VYUDQFa2D7fRJnt
Introducing our new Monarch Waystation:
๐Griffith Junction Butterfly Stop! ๐ฆ
We are so grateful to the Lake County Master Gardeners for the financial support and to the Griffith Tri Kappa members for creating and maintaining this absolutely lovely and meaningful addition to our Historical Park, which not only beautifies our park for us and our human visitors, but for an amazing array of pollinators and other winged visitors!
Whether you’re biking or driving by, stop by the Griffith Historical Park to have a seat in the shade, play a game of checkers, and watch the trains and butterflies!
๐ค๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฅ๐ก๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฌ! ๐๐ซ๐ค
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ’๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ’๐ด ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ!
These Griffith High Math Club Officers helped their club build a computer in 1963. We wonder how big it was or how many functions it could perform.
If you’re in this photo or know who is, tell us how you feel about your smartphone today!
An Appeal to Griffith Historical Society, Inc. Members,
Every now and then an opportunity arises where we can contribute to the education of young students in Griffith. We have that moment this coming September.
All Griffith third-grade students since 2022 participate in a week-long Historical Society activity entitled, The ElmerJ Program, which provides historical information about our town as part of the schoolโs Social Studies curriculum.
The students see/hear an in-class PowerPoint presentation about the founding of Griffith, complete with photos and maps. This is followed by a school bus trip to our Historical Park, where each class receives a guided tour of our Depot, railcars and Tower.
While the presentation and tours are done at no cost by Historical Society members, there is a fee for the bus and for the two paperback books pertaining to Griffith history that are part of the program.
Last year, 8 classes โ 161 third graders โ participated, and the school anticipates a similar number this year. The cost last year for the book and the bus came to $7, but these costs may rise some this year.
To make sure that no student misses out on learning about their town, we are trying to fund the cost for all students through extra donations from our Members.
If you’d like to help, please, can you send a donation to:
Griffith Historical Society, Inc.
201 N. Griffith Blvd. #3
Griffith, IN. 46319
Or through our online donation link (click here).
Thank you,
Martha Gatlin, Director
Read about last year’s field trip here.
๐ค๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฅ๐ก๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฌ! ๐๐ซ๐ค
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ’๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ’๐ด ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ!
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.
๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฅ๐ก๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฌ!
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ’๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ’๐ด ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ!
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐จ ๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ โ๐๐’๐ฌ
Students built and operated what was called a โHamโ radio, which originally was developed as an emergency broadcast system. Students could talk across town, around the world, into space for fun, or in times of need: all without the Internet or cell phones.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฐ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ’๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ “๐๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ด 100” ๐๐น๐ฉ๐ช๐ฃ๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ต๐บ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
Happy 4th of July from the Griffith Historical Society!
Our Hess Express Barrel Train has been a proud 4th of July parade participant for almost 10 years! 
And thanks to Strack & Van Til for donating candy for the parade!! 
Come down to the Griffith Historical Park to view a specialย photographyย display,ย โMoving Freight Along the Great Lakes”,ย from 1 to 4 p.m., on June 15th and 16th.ย ย
The work showcases the railroads of the Great Lakes Region in action, moving freight forward to destinations all over the country.
Max Crosby, the photographer, has loved trains for longer than he can remember, and is passionate about capturing magic moments on the rails. He is talented, knowledgeable and has a wonderful eye for new and fresh compositions.
The photographs, a sample shown below, will be displayed colorfully and dynamically, along with descriptions throughout our iconic sleeper car. Guests can linger, experiencing trains, history, and pondering what it REALLY takes to move freight among the Great Lakes.
Our Grand Trunk Western Depot will be open, as well as our Road Caboose and Tower (which is celebrating its 100th birthday!)
Griffith Daisy Troop 15620 will have cookies and lemonade for sale on Saturday.
On both weekend days, Cub Scout Pack 622 and Boy Scout Troop 623, will be on hand selling hot dogs and chips, and pop on Sunday. Picnic tables will be available.
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.
๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฅ๐ก๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฌ!
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ’๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ’๐ด ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ!
๐๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ, ๐ธ๐ฆ’๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ
๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐ฌ๐ค๐๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ
๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ค๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข ๐ ๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ท๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฝ-๐ธ๐พ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ป๐๐๐๐ ๐๐, ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ท๐ท๐ถ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.
Griffith History Museums 