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
How does a group of โnot the youngest of peopleโ raise thousands upon thousands of dollars in just 7 months?
First of all, we bought a banner that said HELP US SAVE AND MOVE OUR TOWER!
Then we called on the Griffith Fire Department and asked them to put up the banner for us. The idea was everyone would see our message while waiting for trains to pass at our crossing.
This was in the year 2000. The internet and social media were in their infancies. So, how did one get the word out beyond our town?
We called the newspapers, who graciously published stories and photos about our efforts.
The very next day, the president of the Griffith Saving Bank called and gave us $1,000.
We were on our way!
Next, we wrote letters to any and all local, state and federal foundations, including the Lily Endowment.
Donald Trump had a casino boat in Griffith, so we contacted him. He gave us $100.
In the end, though, most donations came right from our town.
The schools stepped up. Beiriger held a Penny War that earned over $500.
The Griffith Junior/Senior High School had a walk-a-thon from their schools to our Historical Park and back. They raised over $500 for us.
We even had the honor to be written up in a newspaper column by Bo Kane, who grew up in Griffith and had a grandmother who lived right by.
Town organizations sent donations, and stores and businesses contributed to our cause.
Many of them put out Save The Tower mugs for us, so people we didnโt even know could donate to us.
Towns people who once worked for railroads or had a railroading heritage were very generous.
And friends from out of town, the Blackhawk Railway Historical Society, procured a $5,000 National Railway Heritage Grant for us.
The support we got from everyone was overwhelming and we will be forever grateful to them.
We were especially so on July 20th, 2000, when Dillabaugh, Inc. did what seemed impossible and moved a three story bright tower.
Out onto Broad Street at 9 oโclock, across the tracks and onto our property by lunchtime, standing above the new foundation at quitting time.
And the box of soap that was on a shelf in the upper room never moved. It was still in place when the boards were later removed and the building was opened up!
A historic job done by everybody involved, well done and ahead of schedule.
There is a truth beyond doubting that railroad companies really donโt like when two trains collide. Especially in bygone times when they were just getting started and money was tight.
So, wherever two sets of rail lines crossed each other, known as an interlocking, a small cabin on stilts was built to control train movement. It was up high to provide a clear view of the tracks. Anย employee would manually activate the grade crossing signals and gates before automatic detection was available or installed.ย (Check out the photos below!)
Griffithโs junction had five sets of rail lines interlocking at one place, hence the need for a larger brick building.
An interlocking tower was outfitted with machinery that linked the tower to sets of moveable tracks, called โswitch tracks,โ and a man that operated it. Through the use of levers linked to these tracks, the Operator, often called the Towerman, could control their position.
By carefully coordinating these switch tracks, the Operator was able to ensure an oncoming train was safely guided onto the right track to avoid a collision.
At one time, there were 5,000 railroad towers, in North America. Today, there are fewer than 50 towers still operating. Most of the rest have been torn down due to advancements in technology.
Our tower also faced demolition 25 years ago, but then Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railway general manager, Mel Turner, asked if we wanted the building. Of course, we said, โYES!โ
We’ll continue to unfold more of this story here on our site, culminating in a Celebrate Our Tower Day, at the Griffith Historical Park, August 10th. ย
So, be sure to stay tuned, to use a well-known phrase of days gone by.
(And click the DONATE button now to help support upkeep of the Tower and rail-cam!!)
The tale of the Tower, and indeed a great deal of Griffith Historical Societyโs history, reads like a storybook, hence the title.
Do you know what ๐จ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐ฎ is? Beyond an amazing Griffith ice cream parlor? I use the world a lot when talking about how we developed and grew.
Serendipity in the dictionary is described as: ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐.
Serendipity in real life:
The chance meeting of four people who went on to spearhead the saving of the last Griffithโs depot from demolition. (See our first โSociety Sagaโ in our spring newsletter or on our website for that story.)
The time the land we hoped to expand on, that was $20,000 when we first asked to purchase it, dropping to $8,000 when we absolutely, positively, 100% had to purchase it.
And we must mention how I was serendipitously connected to the General Superintendent of the Elgin Joliet & Eastern railroad when I called asking for key chains and paper engineer hat to give away to kids.
That man, Mel Turner, ended up giving us the Tower some five years later.
You know how you immediately click with someone? That was me and Mr T (though I never called him that to his face).
We talked for nearly an hour: about our getting the land and our future plans for it; about his railroadโs plans for tearing down our Tower, and could we have the equipment in the upper room, which was a yes.
From time to time, I would write him, filling him in on everything we were doing, and asking about the Tower. I found those old letters recently, and it was as though I was writing to a friend. I can only help wondering what he thought of my rambles. In mid-December, 1999, Mr. Turner came out to the Park during our Santa event, with his beloved dog, Buddy. Our Tower, he told us, was being closed down at the end of the year. And, he said, he was giving us the Tower!
The whole building!! And $30,000, to help with the move!!!
And we had until July 30th to get the Tower off their land.
๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐! We are looking for YOUR help!!
Mrs. Sue Guy and the Griffith Historical Society are embarking upon a fun project about the history of Wadsworth Elementary School and Mrs. Elsie Wadsworth herself, but we need information from YOU!
If you have photos, memorabilia, stories, information about the school or the teacher, we are asking you to share with us!
You can comment right here on this post, email us at [email protected], or organize a time to meet with us. If you have digital copies of photos, you can email them or share them here. If you have physical items you would like to share, we can copy anything into our computer and return the original to the owner.
Thank you in advance for your help and support, Griffith!!
๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฅ๐ก๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฌ! 
Griffith History Museums 