Indiana Harbor East Breakwater

During 1901 and 1902, Indiana Harbor was dredged and a breakwater constructed. In 1903, work began on a canal that would eventually lead from Indiana Harbor inland to both the Grand Calumet River and Lake George. Over the next several years, numerous industries were established along the waterway. In 1917, Mark Manufacturing built its East Chicago mill on the west side of Indiana Harbor (Inland Steel was located on the eastern side of the harbor). Clayton Mark, the namesake owner of the company, built a company housing community near the mill, and not surprisingly named it Marktown. Soon Marktown was an oasis amidst all the industry, as a tin mill, rolling mill, and a refinery were also built nearby.

In 1914, the federal government assumed responsibility for Indiana Harbor and the canal. It appears that the first lighthouse was constructed in the harbor in 1920. However, the tower that guides freighters into the harbor today was added in 1935, and is a twin to the structure placed on the Port Washington, Wisconsin breakwater the same year. Originally, a fourth-order Fresnel lens was used in the lighthouse, producing a white flash of one second duration every 7.5 seconds from a focal plan of 78 feet. Today, a modern green beacon sits atop the art deco tower sending out a signature of three seconds on followed by three seconds off.