Covers the history to 1915 of the territory, the people, the institutions and the activities of Lake County, Indiana, and the Calumet Region. At the end of the 19th century, this area witnessed one of the greatest industrial expansions of modern times, becoming a melting pot of cultures and industries.

The location of one of the most diverse national parks in the United States, Northwest Indiana's Calumet area is home to what was at one time widely known as the most polluted river in the entire country. Calumet's advantageous location at the southern tip of Lake Michigan encouraged broadscale conversion of Indiana wilderness into an industrial base that once included the world's largest steel mill, largest cement works, and largest oil refinery....