{"id":260449,"date":"2025-05-27T21:09:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T21:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/american-history\/block-and-pennsy-of-indiana-harbor-part-i\/"},"modified":"2025-05-27T21:09:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T21:09:14","slug":"block-and-pennsy-of-indiana-harbor-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=260449","title":{"rendered":"\u201cBlock and Pennsy\u201d of Indiana Harbor, Part\u00a0I"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n

May 27, 2025<\/h2>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The first acknowledgement of the Indiana Harbor barrio came in newsprint; The Lake County Times<\/em> (now The Hammond Times<\/em>) on July 10, 1923, labeled this area \u201clittle Mexico.\u201d This nickname would be used continuously to describe Indiana Harbor throughout the decades. As this lakefront area grew, so did the approximately half-mile square known as Block and Pennsy. Short for Block and Pennsylvania Avenues; the north and south boundaries of this neighborhood. This neighborhood served as a readily available source of low-paid Mexican labor from the late 1910s through the 1920s.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Excerpt from, \u201cGrand Jury to Act in Sensational Shoot Case\u201d, The Lake County Times, July 10, 1923.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The 1920s would see an increase in the Mexican population. Demographically, this would be a change from the solos to families and middle-class Mexicans, mostly from west-central Mexico. Changes in demographics were attributed to post-Mexican revolution skirmishes fueled by the Cristero War. Mutual Aid and social\/cultural societies<\/a> emerged in Indiana Harbor to meet the needs of this growing community. The overall exponential growth in this decade would surpass the pace of building new residential dwellings. By 1930, there were 934 Mexican families in Indiana Harbor and only 13 of those families were property owners<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Population Density Map, Block and Pennsy neighborhood outlined in red
Paul S. Taylor, 1932, Mexican Labor in the United States: Chicago and the Calumet Region.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Block and Pennsy Neighborhood<\/strong>
By the late 1950s, approximately 1,800 individuals called Block and Pennsy home. The population was primarily Black and Latino, and the neighborhood was known for stable, low rents. A second generation of individuals was aging in place in crowded homes with substandard infrastructure and in tenements dating back to the founding of Indiana Harbor. A rent control program sustained the residents until 1951, until the city council terminated the program for the entire city of East Chicago. Lack of appropriate housing stock and the inability to rent or buy in certain areas of the city due to an intentional pattern of segregation caused families to seek housing in neighboring cities like Gary.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Top: Caf\u00e9 La Fe at 3515 Pennsylvania Avenue, Circa 1960, Indiana Historical Society
Bottom: 3514 Pennsylvania Avenue, July 2024, Google Maps<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Additionally, as The Hammond Times<\/em> reported in 1951, Inland Steel was planning to construct four new open-hearth furnaces in addition to the thirty-six already in operation. Thousands more workers would be needed in 1952. The necessity for labor would be as acute as it was in the late 1910s and 1920s. Suddenly there was an urgency to improve living conditions for the Block and Pennsy neighborhood in Indiana Harbor. The Federal Housing Act of 1954 would set into motion a series of urban renewal plans for Indiana Harbor, East Chicago, Hammond, and Gary. \u201cUrban Renewal Project No.1\u201d for Indiana Harbor, was the first of several projects to be implemented in the area.<\/p>\n

Urban Renewal Project No. 1 <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Latin Times,<\/em> serving as the voice of East Chicago Latinos, began reporting on the development of the urban renewal project starting in 1957. Initially, the paper\u2019s editorial pieces were in favor of this plan, seeing it as a way to increase the quality of life for Indiana Harbor Latinos.\u00a0 The planned opportunities were for financial assistance and residential rehabilitation to improve existing living conditions. Urban Renewal Project No. 1 would be executed by the East Chicago Redevelopment Corporation, a subsidiary of the Purdue-Calumet Redevelopment Foundation. Formed in 1953, the foundation\u2019s goal was to facilitate \u201caccess to land areas needed for the broad solution of the housing, population and racial problems.\u201d\u00a0 Initial steps toward improving city conditions started in 1958 with proposed new zoning laws by the East Chicago City Council. After the zoning was accepted, Urban Renewal Project No. 1 was approved in 1959.\u00a0 The approval cited the plan as a benefit to the city and public utilities. The impetus for the city council to propose this ordinance was that the \u201cpeople are too deeply congested\u201d and \u201cwe are rearranging use of the land to accommodate more families and at the same time provide more and better facilities.\u201d The zoning ordinance and this plan would give individuals the opportunity to repair properties, and the Purdue-Calumet foundation would provide financial and architectural assistance. City Council President John Grdinich stated that when the project was complete, more people living in the area would be living in better conditions. The first order of the plan was for slum removal and the building of low-income and medium-income homes and units The executive secretary of the East Chicago Redevelopment Commission, Thomas S. Bunsa, confidently stated, \u201cBefore anyone has to move, 300 new houses will be constructed.\u201d\u00a0 Not all residents were convinced of this ordinance or the urban renewal plan. Willie Collier of 3600 block of Block Avenue requested that a provision of the outline be put on record. Elizabeth Jackson of the 3800 block of Pennsylvania Avenue objected to having her house leveled for a playground. Mrs. C. T.\u00a0 Sanders, also of this block, complained that properties were in disrepair and were unable to be updated due to the immigrants attracted to the Block and Pennsy area. These were the final arguments from residents in debates regarding the plan.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Top: HB Barber Shop at 3597-9 Block Avenue, Circa 1960, Indiana Historical Society
Bottom: 3598 Block Avenue, July 2024, Google Maps<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Price of Progress<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1960, East Chicago, as in many urban areas, was experiencing a boom of infrastructure development with groundbreaking for the Cline Avenue Expressway, an overpass for U.S. Route 20. Cline Avenue was on the northern border of Block and Pennsy. The purpose for the overpass was to alleviate heavy industrial traffic in a residential area; the traffic was destined for the Inland Steel Company.<\/p>\n

The Latin Times editors initially thought favorably of the project and the new zoning, but a lack of transparency and resident involvement quickly changed this positive outlook. The paper\u2019s critique of the project was heightened the same year as the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, which connected the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean for the purpose of increasing commercial vessel traffic for area industries.\u00a0 Overnight the Lake Michigan Lakefront neighborhood of Block and Pennsy and the land it inhabited appeared exponentially valuable, while property owners were given nominal buyouts to accommodate the new highway.<\/p>\n

You can view old photos of this neighborhood and more in <\/em>the Indiana Cities and Towns digital collection<\/em><\/a>, searchable by street name.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

(This is an edited excerpt from the book, <\/em>Hoosier Latinos: A Century of Struggle Service and Success<\/em><\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n