City Methodist Church

This Gothic-style church was built in 1926 at a cost of more than $1 million. The church featured a four-story community center and a meeting hall and gymnasium in addition to the sanctuary and classrooms. The congregation voted to close the church in 1975 owing to the gulf between the cost of its upkeep and their shrinking numbers that reflected the larger history of the city.

Gary, Indiana was founded in 1906, with its location chosen thanks to its proximity to shipping routes and rail lines. With the nickname "The City of the Century," it is easy to tell how big the city's dreams were. For a time, it lived up to its own ambitions, eventually becoming America's largest company town around its steel industry. However, the city peaked in the 1960s with a population of around 178,000. After this, the steel industry plummeted thanks to overseas competition and restructuring. The city lost much of its livelihood and many people moved away. Today, Gary is far from empty, and almost 70,000 people live there today. This means, though, that the city has lost around 100,000 people since the 1960s, and many of its buildings are abandoned and have fallen into disrepair. An especially iconic ruin is the City Methodist Church. Once a flourishing community with 2,000 members and a grand, expensive building, the abandoned church and its collapsed roof have become a symbol to visitors of the city's decline.

City Methodist Church, Endangered Structures of Gary. Preserve Indiana. . Accessed March 28, 2017. http://www.preserveindiana.com/pixpages/nw_ind/orrcitymeth.htm.