Negotiating life on the urban periphery: The development of the industrial suburb of East Chicago, Indiana, 1850-1950

The expansion of Chicago's iron and steel industry during the nineteenth-century spurred the development of industrial communities on the city's periphery. Settling on the undeveloped urban outskirts forced early iron and steel-related manufacturers to participate in the city-building process. However, relatively few commissioned comprehensively designed model company towns such as Pullman and Gary, Indiana. Instead, by the late nineteenth century manufacturers began to increasingly rely on the efforts of real estate syndicates that specialized in the planning and development of outlying land for industrial use. The presence of large iron and steel mills on the fringe of the city also attracted an array of home builders, merchants, and entrepreneurs who helped transform unsettled areas into thriving industrial communities.;This dissertation is a case study examining the process of urban development in the industrial suburb of East Chicago, Indiana, over a one hundred year period, beginning with the study of early speculative efforts in the 1850s and ending in 1950, when the federal government became heavily involved in the city-building process through the provision of funds for slum clearance and public housing. An analysis of primary source documents, including census reports, city directories, deed records, local newspapers, and photographs, reveals an erratic pattern of growth that corresponded to fluctuations in the national business cycle.;To draw manufacturers outside of Chicago, real estate syndicates invested in the construction of transportation infrastructure and workers' housing. They also encouraged other real estate speculators to build up commercial districts and develop residential subdivisions and enlisted the support of city officials to provide municipal services to support the growing population. This study helps broaden the understanding of suburbs in general and industrial suburbs in particular by examining the close relationship between the decentralization of Chicago's iron and steel industry and the development of the industrial communities that grew up near factories and by revealing how private real estate interests steered manufacturers to the edge of the city in an effort to increase the value and demand for outlying land.