Basic Information
- Type of Place
- Independent City or Town
- Metro Area
- Politics c. 1860?
- Don’t Know
- Unions, Organized Labor?
- Moderately Strong
Sundown Town Status
- Sundown Town in the Past?
- Possible
- Was there an ordinance?
- Don't Know
- Sign?
- Don’t Know
- Year of Greatest Interest
- Still Sundown?
- Surely Not
Census Information
| Total | White | Black | Asian | Native | Hispanic | Other | BHshld | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | ||||||||
| 1870 | ||||||||
| 1880 | ||||||||
| 1890 | ||||||||
| 1900 | ||||||||
| 1910 | ||||||||
| 1920 | ||||||||
| 1930 | ||||||||
| 1940 | ||||||||
| 1950 | ||||||||
| 1960 | ||||||||
| 1970 | 15896 | 2 | 20 | |||||
| 1980 | ||||||||
| 1990 | 27257 | 1367 | ||||||
| 2000 | 30560 | 6987 | 460 | 100 | 2950 | |||
| 2010 | 35246 | 15673 | 421 | 70 | ||||
| 2020 |
Method of Exclusion
- Violence Towards Newcomers
Main Ethnic Group(s)
- Unknown
Group(s) Excluded
- Black
Comments
A Merrillville resident writes,
%u201CIn my area surrounding Gary, many communities became unofficial sundown towns. In fact, in Gary itself, the Calumet River was a dividing line between Gary and its suburb Glen Park which was a part of the city. But the rule was no Blacks in Glen Park after dark. The area outside of Gary is still quite segregated. The town of Whiting I was told was the same. No Blacks allowed anytime.
In Merrillville, a Black family lived there during the war. They tried to burn them out but they stayed. Until 1957, the only Black to attend and graduate from Merrillville, Beverly Wells, was from that family.
Merrillville school population is now approaching 30% Black. Of course, Gary population is now 95% Black. In East Chicago, the harbor separated Indiana Harbor into two areas with high schools in both areas, one for hispanics and one for whites.%u201D