City West

 town, ghost town, historical layer / disappeared object

This was formerly the site of one of the oldest settlements in Lake County, called City West. City West was founded in 1836 and planned to be a bustling harbor, as surveys revealed it was a better site than Michigan City to the east or Indiana City to the west (now Miller). The residents of the city hoped it would surpass Chicago, which was a growing village at the time.

A canal from Fort Creek to the Little Calumet River was begun. Many houses were built along with a hotel, a mansion, a store, a smithy, a sawmill, and a warehouse. Daniel Webster visited the city and spoke there in the same year.

The next year, the Panic of 1837, the worst financial crisis until the Great Depression, struck the country and bankrupted the city's financers. As a last resort, the residents asked Congress for an appropriation of money. Congress chose to fund Michigan City instead, and City West was utterly abandoned over the next year.

The buildings were all eventually destroyed in a fire. As no one lived there anymore, the date of the fire is unknown. The ashes of the city were discovered in the 1870s.

Subsequently, many people who were formerly residents of City West moved to Tremont to the southeast, which was originally named New City West. Eventually, Tremont, too, became a ghost town.