Clickety Clack!  A Camera Down the Tracks

Come down to the Griffith Historical Park to view a special photography display, “Moving Freight Along the Great Lakes”, from 1 to 4 p.m., on June 15th and 16th.  

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.

First Barrel Train; Last Franklin Museum Day

📅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

Santa in the Caboose!🎅🚃

🎅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!

3rd graders Tour Historical Park

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.

Upcoming places to find us! Ride the Barrel Train and get your Griffith Souvenirs!

Find us!!
Friday Sept 8 – 9am – 1pm at Strack and Van Til in Highland
Friday Sept 8 – 5pm – 7pm at Central Market 🚂
Saturday Sept 9 – 1pm – 4pm at Griffith Public Safety & Community Day in Central Park! 🚂
Friday Sept 15 – 5pm – 7pm at Central Market
🚂

🧲We have Limited Editon Griffith Magnets!! 🚂🚃🚃🚃 for 💲5️⃣
👕 Or get your own Historical Society t-shirt!Super soft, Bella Canvas tri-blend! 👕 We have V-necks and crew necks available!💲2️⃣0️⃣
🎫 We also have 50/50 Raffle tickets!! Everyone loves a raffle!💲2️⃣ each or 3️⃣ for 💲5️⃣!! 🗳Drawing is on November 15th.
🚂 When we’re at Central Park, we’ll have the Barrel Train!! Grab your ticket to ride! $3️⃣ per kid! All aboard!!

All sales and proceeds go directly to the upkeep of the Depot Museum, Train Park, Railroad Webcam, and Griffith History Preservation!!

Get your Griffith souvenirs at Rock N Rail!

Visit our tent at Rock N Rail!!!(Just north of Vegas Vegas) to get your Griffith souvenirs!!

We have Limited Editon Griffith Magnets!! 🚂🚃🚃🚃 for 💲5️⃣

👕 Or get your own Historical Society t-shirt!Super soft, Bella Canvas tri-blend! 👕 We have V-necks and crew necks available!💲2️⃣0️⃣

🎫 We also have 50/50 Raffle tickets!! Everyone loves a raffle!💲2️⃣ each or 3️⃣ for 💲5️⃣!! 🗳Drawing is on November 15th.

All sales and proceeds go directly to the upkeep of the Depot Museum, Train Park, Railroad Webcam, and Griffith History Preservation!!

SUNDAYS AT THE DEPOT – AUG 6 – PURPLE HEART DAY

Have you ever wondered about how the Purple Heart military award got its name?

Or how the award even came to be? Hint. It’s way older than you think.

August 7th is National Purple Heart Day, so come on down to the Griffith Historical Society’s first Sunday at the Depot event on August 6th at the Griffith Historical Park, 201 S. Broad Street. 

Griffith resident, Karen Kulinski, will be on hand from 1 to 4 p.m. to answers these questions and more. Karen is the author of to beautifully illustrated, THE MEDAL WITH A HEART, which tells the tale of how the Purple Heart came to be. Books will be available for purchase.

For more info on Karen and her books: www.karenkulinski.com

Santa Is Coming to Town!

We are planning to bring back Santa in the Caboose this year!

However, we are making some changes to the event. To limit the number of people gathered in the close quarters of our small transfer caboose, we will not be taking nor printing photos.

Parents will still have a private visit with Santa, but now, for a donation, parents can take their own photos and even videotape their child’s Santa visit.

We also are bringing back our Holiday Bake Sale for the weekend, too!

Santa in the Caboose dates are Saturday, December 10th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, December 11th, noon to 4 p.m.