Gary’s first Methodist church was established in 1906. In October of 1916, Dr. William Grant Seaman became pastor. Seaman relished his role in the growing congregation, but he had bigger dreams; he wanted to build a new church to serve the social, cultural, and spiritual needs of the town’s citizens.

Seaman wanted to offer a religious oasis in the midst of a neighborhood dotted with saloons and brothels at the time.

Perhaps one of the most iconic abandoned structures in Gary, was once the pride of the community. Built in 1925, the classic Gothic edifice was the result of an ambitious priest backed by U.S. Steel dollars. But the huge structure would burden the church with enormous maintenance costs for decades, and when Gary’s population declined in the 1960s and 70s the church struggled to make ends meet.

When the parishioners left town, so too did the dollars. Now one of the most photographed churches in Indiana, City United Methodist sits exposed and crumbling since it was abandoned nearly forty years ago.

Something Interesting in Gary, IND.

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I like the photos and this looks like an interesting location. But, I am curious as to why they are all covered in watermarks. Are these your watermarks? Or did you grab this pictures from somewhere else?

@Marsden107 Thanks for the compliment and taking the time to say so. I do appreciate that. All images that I post are mine and I retain all © copyright. I do watermark heavily and also embed the metadata with my studio's intel. Some sites like facebook strip all metadata to every photo posted on that site. This is my protocol. Some hate it, some find it annoying and others don't care. I hope this answers your question.
Thanks,
JB

The watermarks are distracting, tbh. I used to do it, but stopped caring... can always Google Image Search work later and confront the inevitable photo thieves, that way.

Cool watermarks.

Posted by relik Cool watermarks.

Yeah.. i was just thinking what cool watermarks they were....

I have a feeling the photos were good, but I'm not sure, all I could see was watermarks.

Posted by relik Cool watermarks.

EDIT:

Looks like I'm going to have to resize this picture before I use it again.

BTW: the far-right in the picture is Sergei Shoygu (Defence Minister). I don't know who the other 3 are.

That church was a wreck the last time I there, but now it's to the point I wouldn't want to go in there on a windy day.

Yeah, she's looking pretty rough these days.



circa 2008, pre-collapse

The city or some production crew installed protective netting under the bell tower and north choir balcony to catch falling debris. Sense 8 crews also removed another section of the roof over the summer. Honestly I'm amazed they even leave it as open as it is...

My craptastic phone pics from May 2008.

A good gale off the lake will finish the job.

I think some of the graffiti in there adds a nice touch

Posted by Jhono_FocusPuller 3. click to view

This. I loathe taggers, but this is art and the location... simple superb.
Dreams watching each other narrowly-JM

Great pictures! My buddy and I were heading to Gary but he pussed out. He heard all these horror stories about Gary and turned the car around 10 mins away from there. Is it a bad place to go if your not a local?

I usually ride commuter rail from the northern suburbs to Gary Metro, and am on foot the entire day I'm there - sometimes taking the city bus to get to spots farther away from downtown. In 20+ trips I've never been harassed by anyone. Don't make yourself a target and you'll be fine.

Posted by jonrev I usually ride commuter rail from the northern suburbs to Gary Metro, and am on foot the entire day I'm there - sometimes taking the city bus to get to spots farther away from downtown. In 20+ trips I've never been harassed by anyone. Don't make yourself a target and you'll be fine.

Thanks for the info! Even my friend that grew up there won't go back with me so I might head there by myself.

Posted by NAB. Great pictures! My buddy and I were heading to Gary but he pussed out. He heard all these horror stories about Gary and turned the car around 10 mins away from there. Is it a bad place to go if your not a local?

I was just there over the weekend! Went early in the morning - weather was great. I didn't have any issues!

Posted by jonrev I usually ride commuter rail from the northern suburbs to Gary Metro, and am on foot the entire day I'm there - sometimes taking the city bus to get to spots farther away from downtown. In 20+ trips I've never been harassed by anyone. Don't make yourself a target and you'll be fine.

Same as what I did.

If the whitest white guy from the UK can walk around the whole day in Gary without once feeling anything untoward, anyone can. As he said don't make yourself a target, avoid the abandoned homes, you'll be fine. Everybody I've ever encountered in Gary has been lovely.

If this is the same Gary church I think it is, a friend of mine found a human tongue on a table in there. I cringe every time I see this photo, but I can't not post it either. I have mixed feelings about Gary, IN. That said, once I make it out there, I'm pretty sure I'll love it.


Speechless by Noel Kerns, on Flickr

*It is the same church. I recognize that amazing tagging of the face behind the table (alter?).

A tongue?.... oh wow.