Griffith History Museums, Operated by the Griffith Historical Society
📅First and Last of the Season!!
Friday:
🗣The Hess Express is back!
🚂Come ride the barrel train at Central Market!
🕰4:30 ‐ dusk (weather permitting)
Saturday:
🏃🏽♀️Last chance to check out our museum rooms at Franklin Center!
(Until September, that is!)
🏫Saturday, May 18th
🕰11 am – 3 pm
🚪Enter door G
𝗚𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗛 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗦 𝟭𝟬𝟬!
𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜. 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝟐𝟓 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝟷𝟿𝟻𝟶’𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚣𝚘𝚗. 𝙿𝚘𝚜𝚝-𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚆𝚊𝚛 𝙸𝙸 𝙱𝚊𝚋𝚢 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙷𝚘𝚖𝚎s 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚟𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜’ 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝐆𝐈 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬.
𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚑’𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝟺,𝟺𝟶𝟶. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚕𝚒𝚗 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜!! 𝙰 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚡𝚒𝚖𝚞𝚖.
𝙸𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 $𝟓𝟖𝟗,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕. 𝙸𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢’𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 $𝟼.𝟿 𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚘𝚗!
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟗𝟓𝟒.
𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴.
𝐄𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲!
📸Griffith Historical Society members work on putting together a two-sided Display Board showing photos and info from Griffith High School’s 100 years.
➡From left to right are Debby Hoot, Karen Kulinski, Martha Gatlin, and Nancy Stout.
🏫When the board is finished, it will be taken to the High School and put on display there!
💻We’ll work on sharing digital copies here and our Facebook page as well!
𝗚𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗛 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗦 𝟭𝟬𝟬!
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜!!
𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴.
𝐄𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲!
𝙵𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟗𝟑𝟎𝐬. 𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗. 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚕𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚍, 𝚝𝚘𝚘.
𝚃𝚠𝚘 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍, 𝟏𝟐 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬, 𝚙𝚕𝚞𝚜 𝟺 𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚐𝚢𝚖𝚗𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚞𝚖. 𝙰𝚗𝚍, 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍, 𝚝𝚘𝚘!
𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚕𝚒𝚗 𝙷𝚒𝚐𝚑 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕.
𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝟸𝟶 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚑’𝚜 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚆𝚊𝚛 𝙸𝙸.
𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬!
𝗚𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗛 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗦 𝟭𝟬𝟬!
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜!!
𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴.
𝐄𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲!
𝙸𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝚍𝚒𝚍. 𝙱𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝟷𝟿𝟷𝟷, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗’𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝, 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 $𝟗,𝟎𝟎𝟎 — $𝟸𝟼𝟼,𝟶𝟶 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢’𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢. 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚜, 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜. 𝙱𝚒𝚐 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜, 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝟏 𝐭𝐨 𝟖.
𝐈𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫!
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐝, 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚍𝚊𝚢.
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚑, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚊 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙿𝚃𝙰 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜, 𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜.
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 watchman’s 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 town’s 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, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
🎅𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲!🚃
Join us!!
🎄Saturday, Dec 9 (10am – 4pm) & 🎄Sunday, Dec 10 (Noon – 4pm)
❄️Give a donation, enjoy a private visit with Santa
❄️Take photos & video, we’ll take a family picture for you
❄️Our Holiday Bake Sale in our Depot, plus:
❄️ Daisy Troop 15620, with stocking stuffer snacks
❄️Brownie Troop 35647, with ornaments/decorative candle jars
❄️Cub Scout Pack 622 & Boy Scout Troop 623, with hot dogs, & hot chocolate, and holding a clothing drive for Sojourner Truth House in Gary!
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-1850’s 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.
Left: GHS Secretary, Karen Kulinski, talks to students about our Pullman Troop-sleeper railcar.
Right: Railroad history comes alive when a train passes by.
For the second year in a row, we hosted Griffith Public School students as part of our ElmerJ Program, wherein we work with schools as they teach town history, part of the 3rd grade Social Studies curriculum.
The program involves a presentation on Griffith History to the classes in their classroom, and a tour of the Historical Park. This year eight classes participated, with 161 students.
Students receive books on Griffith history written for young people, as well as primary source stories about early Griffith and other historical information.
We are grateful to members Nancy Stout, Karen Kulinski, Debby Hoot, John and Valerie Wotkun, Fran Evans, Marthann Gatlin, Claudia Powell, Victoria Fane, Toni Rickert, Belinda Stark.
Special thanks goes out to Officer Alex Ascolani, from the Canadian National Railroad Police, for providing Operation Lifesaver coloring books and coming out to the Park to talk to the children about train safety.
We are also grateful to the Griffith Park Department for bringing picnic tables up to our Park for us to use.
Griffith History Museums 