City of Crown Point history

1835 The first school was established by Mrs.

1836 March 14 – Solon Robinson appointed Postmaster by President Andrew Jackson.

1837 Solon Robinson opened Crown Point’s first general store with his brother Milo Robinson.

1838 February – The General Assembly of Indiana enacted the temporary location of the county government and court house at Lake Court House in two-story log structure built by Solon Robinson on the southwest corner of the square.

1840 June – The temporary Lake Court House became the permanent county seat, beating out Liverpool and Cedar Lake.

1841 The Mason and Farrington brickworks opened.

1852 The first County Fair was held for 1 day at the courthouse.

1857 The first lending library was established in Crown Point as the McClure Library Association.

Crown Point owes much of its early history to TB. Colonel John Wheeler was the commanding officer of the 20th Indiana Infantry when he was killed on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863.

1868 August – First sidewalks were constructed.

The first meeting of the citizens to consider the formation of a fire company was held on March 27, 1869.

On November 5, 1870, Henry Pratt was appointed to succeed W. N. Hartupee as fire warden, and city ordinance Number 53, passed at that meeting provided for the purchase of a hand fire engine.

Cheshire Hall on the south side of the square was built in 1873.

First National Bank of Crown Point was founded in 1874; it is the oldest bank in Lake County.

1876 The land for the Lake County Fairgrounds at Fancher Lake was purchased for $3975.00.

Alfred A. Winslow founded the newspaper that eventually became The Times in 1881.

1882 The Lake County Star newspaper was established.

The first electric arc lights hung from lines around the square at the corners and crossings in 1891; they were turned off at midnight.

It was family operated for almost 100 years before it closed in 1990. It’s most famous farm equipment was the Letz Feed Grinder that was featured at the 1893 World’s Fair Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

1895 First water mains were installed.

In 1898, the town trustees established a fire zone.

1906 May 23 – The 9 member board was formed to establish the Crown Point Library.

1908 February 12 – The O.G. Wheeler property on South Main Street was purchased to become the Carnegie Library at Crown Point.

First held on June 19, 1909, this 25 mile race was the forerunner of the Indianapolis 500.

The Gary Railway started an hourly bus service between Gary and Crown Point in the 1910s.

1915 The start of the “Marriage Mill” period.

Bill Carroll Ford opened on the southwest corner of the square in 1921, but soon became Carroll Chevrolet.

16, 1923) covering the celebrated marriage of Valentino:

It was renamed NIPSCO in 1926 after a merger with several companies.

Youche Country Club was founded in 1928, as the Crown Point Gun Club that also included a nine-hole golf course.

1929 The Crown Point Police Department was founded.

Huber’s started in 1932 as Royal Blue Grocery Store.

On January 30, 1934, the notorious John Dillinger was captured in Tucson, Arizona.

The Goodyear Blimp, Reliance, made an appearance at the 1935 Lake County Fair.

The Crown Point Post Office mural “From Such Beginnings Sprang the County of Lake, Indiana” was completed in 1938 by George Melville Smith as part of the WPA (Works Progress Administration).

The Summer Follies of 1944 showcased scantily-clad girls at the Lake County Fair.

1946 The Crown Point Airport opened north of downtown.

Hub Bootery was established in 1949.

There are 2 Middle Schools in the Crown Point School Corporation- Taft Middle School, built in 1954 and once served as the Junior High, and Wheeler Middle School.

Instead, 26 members opened it in 1959 to mixed opinions and emotions.

Crown Point suffered damage from hurricane force winds during the early morning on August 27, 1965.

1973 The Crown Point Library reopened after the renovations with its entrance now on Court Street.

Former school Washington Elementary closed in 1975.

The Courthouse shops in the basement began operations in 1978, after renovation of that level was complete.

In 1982, the Crown Point Library was renamed the Crown Point Community Library to include Winfield Township as part of its service area.

They repeated in 1985, the first state title team from Crown Point to do so.

Although opening dates vary depending on your source, it closed in 1997, after being in business about 100 years.

After several expansions, the current building was built in 1999, after the original building was torn down.

2002 The Lake County Fair celebrates its 150th Anniversary.

It was torn down and the Middle School was built in its place in 2007.

The movie Public Enemies filmed several scenes, including the Dillinger escape, in Crown Point in 2008.

After enjoying photo ops at the space once known as “Indiana’s Marriage Mill,” just across the street is an often overlooked footnote of history which enjoyed film fame in 2009.

The Crown Point Community Library moved to its location on North Main Street in 2012, expanding many services and collections that the bigger building allowed.