Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 167, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 July 1911 — Gary’s Birthday Last Friday; Truly, a Magic City. [ARTICLE]

Gary’s Birthday Last Friday; Truly, a Magic City.

Forty-three voters organized the town government of Gary five years ago last Friday. Thomas Knotts was the first president. The only buildings in Gary at the time were a schoolhouse, a jail, a cottage used as the steel corporation’s offices, the postoffice and the town hall. All the residents lived in tents and shacks. Mr. Knotts, who had just re--signed from the Hammond police department, lived in a tar paper shack. In a few~ months hundreds were added to the population, and a town was transformed into a big city as if by magic.