The Court House Square, Crown Point, Indiana, circa 1963.
This is my post for the My World meme. Last week there were over 120 people sharing their worlds. To see more of our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.
The picture above is not very good, but it is a scan of a slide taken in the mid-1960s. The scene is the Court House square of my hometown of Crown Point, Indiana.
I actually lived in Crown Point for a little more than five years. I lived on the small farm outside of town (see that post here) all through the time I was in the first grade until I graduated from high school.
Crown Point is the county seat of Lake County, Indiana. Although a new county administration center has been built on the outskirts of town, the courthouse is still standing and is now a mall with small shops. But it was still the courthouse while I was going to school. But to give you an idea of how long ago that was, during Christmas they would play Christmas carols from the courthouse which could be heard throughout much of the town. Can you imagine that happening today? My Latin teacher, Miss Swartz, would get very upset with Bing Crosby’s pronunciation on his recording of Adeste Fideles.
Crown Point was noted for three things when I was growing up. One of the first road races in the Midwest was held at Crown Point on June 19, 1909. The race, a forerunner of the Indianapolis 500, was won by Louis Chevrolet. The Chevrolet automobile was later named in his honor.
Crown Point was known as a marriage mill in the 1920s and ’30s. Rudolph Valentino, Red Grange, and Tom Mix all got married in Crown Point.
On January 30, 1934, John Dillinger, escaped from the Lake County jail located in Crown Point. He escaped using a fake gun stained with black shoe polish.
I hope you enjoyed your visit to my world.
Senior Moments 
March 30, 2009 at 10:46 pm |
this is a wonderful vintage photo. I especially love hearing the Dillinger story too.
March 30, 2009 at 11:02 pm |
I did indeed enjoy your “my world” post! It’s a delightful look back at another era — and one, by the way, that I remember all too well. This was really fun! Thanks for sharing!
March 30, 2009 at 11:09 pm |
What a neat place you have, and the post goes well with its history.
March 30, 2009 at 11:34 pm |
The old cars make this a great photo!
March 31, 2009 at 12:45 am |
Allot of amazing history happened there. The scanner did a great job with the slide. I
March 31, 2009 at 2:20 am |
Nice post George with interesting snippets of information.
March 31, 2009 at 3:55 am |
A place with a history. Thanks for sharing your world with us. Great information and memories.
March 31, 2009 at 5:30 am |
Indeed, your part of the world in interesting. History has a way of popping up as we delve in!
March 31, 2009 at 6:18 am |
Very interesting…..great photo too.
March 31, 2009 at 7:53 am |
That’s interesting it being a marriage mill. Never heard of that before. These days I would love to hear Christmas music from the county courthouse.
March 31, 2009 at 8:41 am |
We lived in Indiana for two years. I was amazed at what a hero Dillinger was!
March 31, 2009 at 9:19 am |
That is a precious shot and I always enjoy visit to your world.
March 31, 2009 at 9:30 am |
I always associate Crown Pointe with their high school marching band 🙂 They were always one of the most feared rivals for my high school in the State Fair band competition! The mention of Crown Pointe always takes me back in memory to my high school days in Indy.
March 31, 2009 at 9:39 am |
What great old buildings and I love seeing all the old cars! 🙂
March 31, 2009 at 10:12 am |
All those famous people names and Chevrolet! I’m impressed with your world.
The photo reminds me of my own hometown. Our courthouse was big and stately like yours. Sadly it was torn down years ago. It was even on the left as you came into town like yours appears to be. Your streets are a little wider and folks here still say courthouse square. 🙂
Love those old cars. 🙂
I didn’t link to My World but I did do a post.
March 31, 2009 at 3:45 pm |
I quite did enjoy my visit as always. You are so full of lovely stories about all these places. Makes them come alive. What wonderful history this quaint building has got. Is wonderful that it still stands and serves a purpose.
March 31, 2009 at 4:56 pm |
Interesting history and loved seeing those old cars! It’s nice to step back in time – thank you for sharing!
March 31, 2009 at 5:43 pm |
I like seeing the old cars in this picture! Like the history also.
March 31, 2009 at 6:00 pm |
What a lot of neat history to this photo… and to see all of those old cars is really cool!
March 31, 2009 at 9:51 pm |
I just love these old photo’s you dig out George, those cars are awesome! You’re so right about the Chrsitmas music – sadly!
April 1, 2009 at 5:29 pm |
wow what an interesting post…enjoyed learning a little about the comings/goings of crown point…some good jeopardy questions in this post 🙂
have a great week.
April 3, 2009 at 12:11 am |
It was very interesting Your story The photo is good, if we think how You made it.