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!
Want to volunteer for the event? Email us at [email protected]!
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]!
๐๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ – ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ง
๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ค ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ!
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!
๐๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ – ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ง
๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ ๐
๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐
๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ฌ
๐ฃ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช
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
๐๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ – ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ง
๐ฃ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช
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.
๐๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ – ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ง
๐ฃ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช
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:
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.
Tale to be continuedโฆ
Mr. Turner and Santa in the Caboose
We all like to see ourselves in the paper! We were excited to see something familiar in Monday’s edition of the Times of Northwest Indiana!
We’re celebrating this 101-year-old Tower this summer!
Follow us for more Tower stories, photos, video, and a touching tribute by a renowned radio broadcaster, to come!
Plus a Sunday Celebrating the Tower in August! Date TBA
If you’re a subscriber, check out the Times article here: https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/article_c2cfc388-2eaf-4f80-a165-95dca1ddde51.html
๐๐๐น๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐&๐ ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ง๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
The building is now on the National Register of Historic Places and the Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures.
We made this video in 2003 as an entry for a prize from the show “The View” but it’s a great summary of what we’re about and why we do what we do!
More about the Tower: https://ghsinc.org/the-tower/
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐!
Come down to the Griffith Historical Park and visit the ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐บ๐!
Get to know us and learn a little bit about the history of the railroads and the town that came to the tracks.
โข 1 – 3 pm
โข 201 S Broad Street
โข At the tracks, on the corner of Broad Street and Avenue A
Griffith History Museums 