City Church Historical Marker — Attraction in Calumet Township

Explorers: be kind to Gary. Respect the city and its residents. We are only visitors here. Appreciate but don’t celebrate the ruin. Understand the history of this city before you run around causing mayhem and destroying the buildings.

Be discrete, be conscientious. Gary has enough on its plate without outsiders coming in, tearing things up, and talking smack about the city Gary’s residents call home. It’s not “scary Gary” - it’s a vibrant city stricken by poverty due to white flight, racism, and layoffs. Amazing people live here. Give them dignity and kindness.

Explore, yes, but explore with love and appreciation for where you are.

And really, I don’t mean to preach. I just love this city and it fills me with rage to see explorers treating it like a ghost town and essentially exploiting the city and its residents for clicks and views and, ultimately, another dollar in...

My wife and I parked at the school across the street and were really nervous about walking into an abandoned building in broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon. A police officer drove by and paid us no mind. When we got inside of the church, we became even more nervous when we heard voices. We ended up running into a couple of locals inside that were able to tell us some of the history of Gary. Supposedly the church is about to be demolished, so go check it out while you still can. Absolutely beautiful! There were doves cooing outside, which made this visit somewhat haunting. Highly recommended for urban explorers or anyone interested in...

This church is in an unfortunate state, it was abandoned in the 1970 because it was no longer required for worship. In the 1920’s a Skinner pipe organ was installed that was 4 manuals and pedal. It even had a 32’ Bombarde in the pedal. The organ was to be installed in a residence by a man that purchased the instrument from the congregation. Unfortunately, his house burned with much...