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An Overview of the Griffith Historical Park and Museum
201 S. Broad Street (Broad St. & Avenue A) Griffith, Indiana (listed in order of acquisition) 
In 1979, the last of the town’s railroad stations, a Grand Trunk Railroad Combination Depot built around 1911, was scheduled for demolition. Old railroader, Ray Anderson, and then Town Council Member Merle Colby, spearheaded a drive to purchase the building for $50 and move it off railroad property. Community organizations, among them Community Spirit and the Griffith Junior Women’s Club, coordinated a town-wide effort to raise the funds to purchase the building and move it off railroad property. It was moved to its original site in January, 1980, and after months of renovation, was dedicated in October, 1982, as a museum in tribute to Griffith’s railroading past. In 2004, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Indiana Registers of Historic Sites and Structures.
Before the advent of modern railroad signaling equipment, a watchman, much like today’s school crossing guards, controlled pedestrian and automobile traffic round the clock at the Broad Street crossing. The small building, nicknamed a “shanty,” provided warmth and shelter in inclement weather for the watchman between trains. The Shanty was moved to the site around the time of the Depot move and was renovated in 1993 by Jeff Bingham as his Eagle Scout project.
The small vehicle, equipped with a kerosene-powered engine, was also donated around the time the Depot was moved and rehabbed. It was used to transport section crews and other railroad personnel along the Chesapeake & Ohio tracks in the Griffith area.
Built in the mid-1950’s, The 503 is an Elgin Joliet & Eastern road caboose that carried train crews on long freight runs. It was equipped with, among other things, a cupola where the brakeman kept watch for trouble on the train, equipment to monitor the train’s airbrake system, emergency equipment and spare parts and red lights mounted on the back to warn oncoming trains at night. When technological advances rendered the caboose obsolete in the 1980’s, cabooses were phased out of operation. The 503 spent several years out of service at Kirk Yard, in Gary, before being donated to the Park in 1995. The caboose is restored to its original state and contains photos, historical displays and artifacts.
Originally located along the Erie Railroad right-of-way in the Griffith area, the two concrete phone booths were relocated to the Park in 1996 by Matt Michels as his Eagle Scout project. The booths, which were kept locked, were used by section crews and train crews in the days before on-train communication devices and cell phones came into use.
This car was built in 1943 by the Pullman Standard Company to transport troops throughout the country. The car was equipped with bunks for sleeping, stacked three-high, which converted into seating for daytime travel. After the war, the car was purchased by the Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railway and used as a maintenance-of-way car, primarily to transport men and equipment to wrecks and derailments. In its final years with the “J”, it was used to store tools and equipment before being donated to the Park in May, 1996. Displayed inside the car are many of the tools used by section crews and other railmen.
One of the last of the Elgin Joliet & Eastern transfer cabooses at Kirk Yard, the car was used to transport railroad workers around the yard or on runs of less than 20 miles. Originally, the car was equipped with a heater, benches, storage lockers and the equipment that monitored the train’s airbrake system. The car, stripped of its equipment, was donated to the Park in May, 1997 and renovated by Tom Marshall as an Eagle Scout project. It is now used for historical displays and at Christmas families can have a private visit with Santa in the car during our Santa in the Caboose activities.
The Elgin Joliet & Eastern Interlocking Tower stood for more than 70 years as a sentinel at the Broad Street Crossing, controlling traffic on five railroads — the Michigan Central, the Grand Trunk, the EJ&E, the Erie, and the Chesapeake & Ohio. Built in 1924 and operating around the clock, the tower also controlled street traffic. Advances in technology rendered the tower obsolete and it was phased out of operation on December 31, 1999 and scheduled for demolition. The EJ&E offered to donate the building, plus $30,000 earmarked for the cost of demolition, to the Historical Society provided the building was moved off railroad property. The Society mounted a town-wide effort to raise the additional $20,000 needed to save the building and it was moved to our Historical Park in July, 2000. In 2004, the tower was dedicated as the Griffith Centennial Tower Museum in honor of Griffith’s 100th birthday. That same year the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures.
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History
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About Us |
Historical Park |
Depot and Interlocking Tower |
P.O. Box 678 Griffith, IN 46319; E-mail: DepotKaren@aol.com
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