Hammond Off The Beaten Path

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The WHITING PIEROGI FESTIVALwas held in dowtown Whiting, Indiana, a suburb of Hammond from July 28 to 30,2006. Kristi ( Dabs ) invited us to participate and even wanted Hansi as one of the Babushka Ladies. Hans was more than eager to participate, so I bought him a lacy red dress and made a babushka for him. My neighbour Karen threw in a long string of fake pearls and some pearly bangles and the outfit was complete.
We had a wonderful time, though the weather could have been a little cooler. It was sooooo hot!
Pierogi Fest is a family-oriented fest featuring the POLKA PARADE, which was held on Friday night, polka music, ethnic dancers & ethnic food, free entertainment ( The Polkaholics ), beer garden and Art and Crafts Fair. Other features are the Pierogi Toss and the Pierogi Eating contest.

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One day a year around Halloween, my husband get the city to loan us a trolley and he takes us around to various regional sites of murder, mystery and mayhem. The $10 ticket cost covers the cost of the trolley and the remainder is donated to the United Citizens Association, a not for profit that does beautification projects in Whiting and Robertsdale (a section of Hammond).

Several VTers have made the trip down to Hammond to go on the tour, Sam (sambarnett) and Dave (dlandt) have joined us a couple of times, Robert (rmdw) and Lisa (shekaago) came in 2004 while visiting Chicago.

The Hotel LaSalle is located at 5766 Hohman Avenue in downtown Hammond. It
is a five-story brick structure and is one of the oldest hotels remaining in Hammond.

It was built in 1908 and its original use was as a grainery. During WWI it was converted into a warehouse and in the 1920s it was converted into a hotel (then called the Hotel Meade or Mee depending on which account you believe). The name was changed to the LaSalle Hotel during the 1930s.

During its heyday, the hotel was used by actors and actresses performing at the local vaudeville theaters and by gangsters who ran booze through Hammond during prohibition

Although you can actually still find this hotel listed as a place to stay in Hammond, it is a residential hotel (SRO, single room occupancy) and many of the residents are on government assistance.

On November 16, 2007, this Leroy Neiman will be auctioned off. I hope a local business steps up and buys it, a real shame if this piece were to leave Northwest Indiana

For several years, whenever I stopped to make a deposit at Mercantile Bank at 5243 Hohman Avenue which later became Harris Bank, I would find myself gazing behind the tellers at this marvelous mural painted by Leroy Neiman, Summertime along the Indiana Dunes, a 56 x 8 foot depiction of a day at the beach at the Indiana Dunes. It was one of five murals that he painted.

It's too long for me to take a picture of the whole mural in one shot, you can see the whole thing in sections if you view the travelogue.

How did such a thing end up in Hammond? Although Leroy Neiman's popularity was growing, he wasn't quite a household name in 1965 when this mural was painted. The bank president had seen his murals at the Polo Club in Oakbrook and Arlington Park race track and commissioned him to do this mural. Unfortunately Harris Bank did not own the mural so when they closed this branch the mural stayed in the building, closed to the public. The son of the former owner is auctioning off the mural, a huge loss to downtown Hammond.

In addition to the Leroy Neiman mural at Mercantile National Bank, Hammond also has several Chihuly chandeliers at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Hammond. I've been inside to have a look but have never had occasion to bring a camera. Maybe if you ask the guards really nicely.....

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This 7 foot tall rabbit made out of steel from local steel mills used to sit in front of the building I work in, one day she vanished and was never seen again. Every once in awhile someone would dress "Mad Maxine" up, I was always tempted to leave some milk duds underneath her as it looked to me like Maxine was squatting and performing a bodily function....

My husband tells me they moved Maxine to Uncle Freddy's Gallery after someone complained that the bunny was obscene.

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From the website first. "Hammond's newest city park, officially dedicated on Wednesday October 7th, 1998. The park is named for George W. Carlson, a thirty-year plus veteran of the Hammond City Council. Mr. Carlson was instrumental in the development of the park. The name "oxbow" comes from the bend in the river which forms the park."

"The park consists of some 89 acres of woods and wetlands, first purchased by the city in 1964 for flood control. During 1975 the river was straightened, thus forming and preserving this valuable wildlife habitat. Located in an urban setting, the park gives city dwellers a chance to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, to relax and enjoy nature."

My Small Adventure and Comments - I ran across this park the night before as I was driving from the hotel I was staying at to the one's my co-workers were staying at a little more then 1 mile down the frontage road. As I passed by that evening I was mentally making plans to come back early the next morning to see what photos I could take before we started our training class.

I was not disappointed as I got a little outdoor exercise and took about a dozen photographs. Five of those photographs are in this tip, while the others I have made comments about are on the main page for Hammond.

To read more and take in my park commentary take a look at my Hammond home page.

The pictures on this page are:

#1 Sign at Entrance to the Park
#2 Old Station Wagon in Parking Lot - Never did see the owner
#3 One of the Wooden Walkway Paths
#4 A Scene of a Fallen Tree and Lake
#5 2 Bird Houses in the Woods

There isn't much time left for you to see this cool old building in downtown Hammond, it is slated for demolition sometime this summer. We got to go inside today for a look around before they start removing all the asbestos and making it impossible to go inside, unfortunately most of the building is now damaged beyond recognition but with a little imagination you can envision what the interior looked like in it's heyday. The cornerstones say that it was built in 1921, another part of the building dates to 1907 according to an article I found. My husband said that it was still open to the public in the late 1990s when they would have fish frys in the building.