03-21-2008
( Reply#: 1912 ) |
cartoonguy |
When I was a student of the late Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, some of my classmates lived in Columbia Center, AKA, “The Brickyard”, and many a times I would visit their homes after school, so the place holds some memories for me as well. But over the years, like so many others, the area has fallen unto hard, or I should say harder times. Upon my present visit here in Hammond, I have seen the Center being demolished, and yes, it is yet another childhood memory that becomes just that, a memory. |
03-22-2008
( Reply#: 1913 ) |
seejay2 |
Hi Guys...
I knew several families who lived in the center in the 50's and 60's because at the time, they didn't have the cash flow to do much else. They all(at least the people I knew)began to do better for themselves and moved out to greener pastures. The lion's share of the people there now are making a career of living there and collecting welfare........Cj |
03-22-2008
( Reply#: 1914 ) |
Tom J |
quote:
Originally posted by seejay2
Hi Guys...
I knew several families who lived in the center in the 50's and 60's because at the time, they didn't have the cash flow to do much else. They all(at least the people I knew)began to do better for themselves and moved out to greener pastures. The lion's share of the people there now are making a career of living there and collecting welfare........Cj
Chris:
I'm neither trying to defend the folks who most recently lived at Columbia Center, nor am I condemning them, but the economic times have certainly changed since the 50s and 60s.
In those two decades, the memories of which we so deeply cherish, there were plenty of good paying jobs to be had in the Region. If a person wanted to work, he could get a job that paid well enough to support his family. He could perform that entry level job well and be promoted to successively higher paying jobs within the company, or he could take his skills and experience elsewhere to take a better job with a different company. EVERYONE was hiring!
Those days are long gone. Our good manufacturing jobs have gone to Mexico, or to other countries. The jobs to be had nowadays are mostly minimum wage or near minimum wage service jobs, and families cannot be supported on that kind of income.
You know, we hit it just right as far as the timing of our youth in Hammond. Hammond's population peaked in the 1960s, while most of us here on this message board were either teenagers or young adults. Downtown began to die in the late sixties, with some of the first store closings occurring then.
Look at these US Census figures:
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
You can see that our population showed its first decline when the 1970 census was taken. We had grown by about 25% from 1940 to 1950 and by 27.5% from 1950 to 1960. Things were BOOMING in the 40s, 50s, and early 60s, but things began to go sour in the mid to late 1960s, and our population took its first drop ever in the 1970 census. Isn't it sad that the 2000 census showed that the population of Hammond was over 4500 fewer people than it was 50 years earlier in the 1950 census?
My friends, we saw the glory days of Hammond during our youth. We grew up at the right time.
Tom
A 1967 Graduate of Hammond High who cherishes his memories of growing up in the Hammond of the 1950's and 1960's. Bring back those days!
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y145/tsjay/Tom%20and%20Georgeann/img014.jpg[/IMG] |
03-22-2008
( Reply#: 1916 ) |
duane |
Hey Tom - how have you been?
I am amazed at how the area has changed. I hear stories from lots of people at work and neighbors where I now live that talk about returning to their home towns, and although things have changed, they still see a lot of people that they grew up with.
Not so in returning to the Calumet Region. When I go back, absolutely no one that I know still lives there, and few seem to live in outlying areas (Schererville, Hobart, etc). Not only have the buildings and areas of our youth mostly disappeared, but EVERYONE seems to have moved away. (I, too, am guilty of having moved away, but there are precious few jobs for a Forester in the Region). Of course the older folks (parents of my friends) usually didn't move, but almost all of them have now passed on. I attended my 30th reunion a few years back and again, many of my classmates came from around the country and from the Chicagoland area, but not from nearby. In fact only a precious few of the kids from my neighborhood came.
A long way of saying that you are right Tom. We lived in a wonderful and blessed era in the Region. The mills were booming, jobs could be had, you could walk the streets at night, and neighbors all knew each other. I know that I'm seeing some of this through my 30 to 40 year old rose colored glasses, but that is how I see it. |
03-22-2008
( Reply#: 1918 ) |
Tom J |
quote:
Originally posted by duane
Hey Tom - how have you been?
I am amazed at how the area has changed. I hear stories from lots of people at work and neighbors where I now live that talk about returning to their home towns, and although things have changed, they still see a lot of people that they grew up with.
Not so in returning to the Calumet Region. When I go back, absolutely no one that I know still lives there, and few seem to live in outlying areas (Schererville, Hobart, etc). Not only have the buildings and areas of our youth mostly disappeared, but EVERYONE seems to have moved away. (I, too, am guilty of having moved away, but there are precious few jobs for a Forester in the Region). Of course the older folks (parents of my friends) usually didn't move, but almost all of them have now passed on. I attended my 30th reunion a few years back and again, many of my classmates came from around the country and from the Chicagoland area, but not from nearby. In fact only a precious few of the kids from my neighborhood came.
A long way of saying that you are right Tom. We lived in a wonderful and blessed era in the Region. The mills were booming, jobs could be had, you could walk the streets at night, and neighbors all knew each other. I know that I'm seeing some of this through my 30 to 40 year old rose colored glasses, but that is how I see it.
I'm doing fine, Duane, thanks.
I must have the same prescription for the lenses of my rose colored glasses as you have for yours, because we see the "old days" the same way.
It's not just our beloved Hammond, East Chicago, and other parts of the Region that have changed, Duane. The whole world has changed, and that wonderful way of life that we knew is long gone.
I know we should be thankful for the blessings that God pours out to us daily in our current situations, but when you have childhoods like we did, you just HAVE to look back and yearn for those times again.
Tom
A 1967 Graduate of Hammond High who cherishes his memories of growing up in the Hammond of the 1950's and 1960's. Bring back those days!
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y145/tsjay/Tom%20and%20Georgeann/img014.jpg[/IMG] |
05-05-2008
( Reply#: 1984 ) |
svea3 |
DA REGION LIVES as an important part of our memory bank. We rode buses to get to downtown or the Woodmar Shopping Center. I remember painting the windows there as part of an art class of Mr Wauro's.
My last reunion had people from all over, including the Region. We should have a reunion of several of the classes, not just a specific year. After all, we knew those above us and those from the classes who graduated after us.
Hey We should really have a reunion of this site.[8)]
Linda |
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