Hammond, Indiana

Hammond (IPA: ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. It is part of Chicagoland. The population was 83,048 at the 2000 census.

Geography

Hammond is located at (41.611185, -87.493080).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 64.3 km² (24.8 mi²). 59.3 km² (22.9 mi²) of it is land and 5.1 km² (2.0 mi²) of it (7.85%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 83,048 people, 32,026 households, and 20,880 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,401.4/km² (3,630.0/mi²). There were 34,139 housing units at an average density of 576.1/km² (1,492.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 72.35% White, 14.57% African American, 0.41% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 9.32% from other races, and 2.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21.04% of the population.

There were 32,026 households out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.9% were married couples living together, 16.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% were non-families. 29.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.23.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.3% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,528, and the median income for a family was $42,221. Males had a median income of $35,778 versus $25,180 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,254. About 12.0% of families and 14.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.7% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.

Neighborhoods of Hammond, Indiana

*Central Hammond:*Glendale Park:*Harrison Park:*Jacob's Square:*East Hammond
*Hessville
*North Hammond
*South Hammond:*Forest-Ivanhoe :*Indi-Illi Park:*Columbia Center:*Schleicher :*Woodmar
*Robertsdale

Infrastructure

Transportation

Borman Expressway

Most of Hammond's streets are laid out in a grid pattern similar to Chicago's streets. The street numbering and lot numbering is similar to Chicago's, with Madison Street in Chicago being the reference point for north-south street numbering. Hammond is different from most cities and towns in Lake County, as it does not have its street numbers and addresses based on the Gary, Indiana system.
*I-90 - Indiana Toll Road, exits::*Indianapolis Boulevard - U.S. Route 12/U.S. Route 20/U.S. Route 41:*Cline Avenue - Indiana State Route 912:*Calumet Avenue - U.S. Route 41
*I-80/94 - Borman Expressway, exits::*Calumet Avenue (U.S. 41 North):*Indianapolis Boulevard (U.S. 41 South, Indiana 152):*Kennedy Avenue:*Cline Avenue (Indiana 912)
*The South Shore Line, a Chicago to South Bend, Indiana commuter rail line, has a station in Hammond. It is operated by NICTD.
*Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides twice-daily service in both directions, operating its Wolverine through the Hammond-Whiting stop between Chicago and Pontiac, Michigan, just north of Detroit.

Medical centers and hospitals

The largest hospital in Hammond is St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Center, North campus, founded in the late 1800's as St. Margaret's Hospital.

Utilities

*electricity - Nearly all of the electricity used in Hammond is produced by Nipsco, a NiSource company.
*natural gas - Nearly all of the natural gas used in Hammond is produced by Nipsco, a NiSource company.
*water - Water service for nearly all consumers of water in the city is provided by the Hammond Water Department, a state owned utility that is operated by the civil city government.
*telephone :*SBC (now at&t) supplies land line telephone service to nearly all households in the city:cellular phone services are provided by:::*Cingular (now at&t)::*Nextel::*Sprint::*U.S. Cellular::*T-Mobile::*Verizon Wireless
*Internet - broadband services are provided by:::*Comcast - cable::*SBC - DSL (now at&t)::*Wide open West - cable
*cable television companies operating in Hammond include:::*Comcast::*Wide Open West

History of Hammond, Indiana

former Lake County court house
SW corner of Rimbach ST and Hohman AVE
(demolished)

Hammond was incorporated on April 21, 1884. On June 22, 1918, the Hammond circus train wreck occurred about 5 1/2 miles east of the city, killing 86 and injuring 127 persons.

In 1925 while on a trip to Hammond, D. C. Stephenson, Grand Dragon of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan raped and repeatedly bit Madge Oberholtzer, a statehouse secretary after having her abducted in Indianapolis. Her condition was described as having been "chewed by a cannibal". Oberholtzer later died and Stephenson was convicted and sent to prison, an incident that helped lead to the decline of the Klan as the powerful organization it once was.

According to the 1960 U.S. Census Hammond's population reached a record high of 111,698 residents.

Hammond is also the home of The First Baptist Church of Hammond, one of the nation's largest congregations.

Population recorded through its history [1]

*1880 - 699
*1890 - 5,248
*1900 - 12,376
*1910 - 20,925
*1920 - 36,004
*1930 - 65,559
*1940 - 70,183
*1950 - 87,595
*1960 - 111,698
*1970 - 107,983
*1980 - 91,985
*1990 - 84,236
*2000 - 83,048

The Hammond Professionals (1920-1926)

*American Football League charter member 1920
*National Football League charter member 1922

Notable People Who Lived in Hammond, Indiana

*Robert K. Abbett
*Michael Badnarik
*Jayne Boyd and Joan Boyd - original "Doublemint Twins"
*Darrel Chaney
*Denny Clanton
*Irv Cross, NFL player and commentator
*Alberta Darling
*Danelle Folta
*Dory Funk
*Jack Hyles
*Ric Jilla - Rapper
*Khari Jones
*Edward C. Minas
*Fritz Pollard
*Alvah C. Roebuck
*Scott Sheldon
*Jean Shepherd
*Bobby Skafish
*Jimmy Valiant
*Lois V Vierk

Major Businesses

Horseshoe Casino

*Cargill
*Commonwealth Edison (coal fired powerplant)
*Dietrich Industries (steel framing)
*First Baptist Church of Hammond
*Horseshoe Casino
*Lear Corporation (auto interiors)
*Unilever

Education

K-12

Hammond has four state run high schools that are operated by the School City of Hammond, a school corporation under Indiana state law that is independent of the civil city.
*Clark High School
*Gavit High School
*Hammond Area Career Center
*Hammond High School
*Morton High SchoolIrving Middle SchoolSpoone Middle SchoolRiley ElementaryWilson Elementary

Privately owned and operated schools include:
*Bishop Noll Institute
*City Baptist High School
*St. Casimir School
*St. Catherine School
*St. John Bosco

Colleges and Universities

*Calumet College - privately owned
*Purdue University Calumet - state owned
*Sawyer College - privately owned

City Government

Hammond is incorporated as a city under Indiana law. It therefore has a mayor and a 9 member city council.
Hammond's City Hall is located at 5925 Calumet Avenue.
The Hammond city council has meetings scheduled for the second and fourth Mondays of each month.

Councilmen at Large
*Robert A. Markovich
*JoAnn Matonovich
*Kathleen Pucalik

District Councilmen
*1st District Mark Kalwinski
*2nd District Alfonso L. Salinas
*3rd District Anthony W. Higgs
*4th District Cynthia Berdine-Matasovsky
*5th District Daniel C. Repay
*6th District Homero "Chico" Hinojosa

The Mayor is Thomas McDermott Junior. He is the son of former mayor Thomas McDermott Senior.

Past Mayors

*1884 to 1888 Marcus Towle - Republican
*1888 to 1893 Thomas Hammond - Democrat
*1893 to 1894 Patrick Reilly - Democrat
*1894 to 1898 Fred R. Mott - Republican
*1898 to 1902 Patrick Reilly - Democrat
*1902 to 1904 Armanis F. Knotts - Republican
*1904 to 1911 Lawrence Becker - Democrat
*1911 to 1918 John D. Smalley - Democrat
*1918 to 1925 Daniel Brown - Republican
*1925 to 1930 Adrian E. Tinkham - Republican
*1930 to 1935 Charles O. Schonert - Republican
*1935 to 1942 Frank Martin - Democrat
*1942 to 1948 G. Bertram Smith - Democrat
*1948 to 1956 Vernon C. Anderson - Republican
*1956 to 1968 Edward Dowling - Democrat
*1968 to 1976 Joseph Klen - Democrat
*1976 to 1984 Edward J. Raskosky - Democrat
*1984 to 1992 Thomas M. McDermott Sr. - Republican
*1992 to 2004 Duane W. Dedelow Jr. - Republican
*2004 to Date Thomas M. McDermott Jr. - Democrat

External links

*Online City Guide
*Hammond Picture Postcards

Hammond, Indiana: Encyclopedia BETA

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