Michigan City History: Selected Books & Materials

eBooks available Online | Books in the Library

eBooks Available Online

Biographical Sketches, La Porte County, Indiana (c. 1930-1949)
by Citizens Historical Association, Indianapolis
Available through FamilySearch (must have free FamilySearch account to view).
See name index/contents in catalog record at https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/597883?availability=Family%20History%20Library

Celebrating Naomi Anderson online exhibit, Purdue University Northwest Library (2020)
Profiling Naomi Anderson, the 19th-century African American suffragist leader who was born and raised in Michigan City. An important public figure of the time, her story fell into obscurity until recently.

Harbors, Michigan City, Indiana, and St. Joseph, Michigan: Letter from the Secretary of War (1838)
Available through Google Books

A History of Central School, Michigan City, Indiana (1951)
by Darlene Hammon
Available through CORE

History of La Porte County, Indiana: Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages, and Townships: Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History: Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens: History of Indiana, Embracing Accounts of the Prehistoric Races, Aborigines, French, English, and American Conquests, and a General Review of Its Civil, Political, and Military History (1880)
by C.C. Chapman
Available through Google Books

History of La Porte County, Indiana, and Its Townships, Towns and Cities (1876)
by Jasper Packard
Available through Google Books

History of Michigan City, Indiana (1908)
by Rollo B. Oglesbee and Albert Hale
Available through Google Books

The History of Pioneer La Porte County (1990)
Compiled by Gene McDonald
Available through FamilySearch: catalog record | digital images (beginning with image 604)

History of the Lake and Calumet Region of Indiana…vol. 2 (1927)
Available through FamilySearch

LaPorte County, Indiana: Geo. A. Ogle & Co’s Standard Atlas… (1921)
Available through FamilySearch

La Porte County, Indiana Index of Names of Persons and of Firms (1942?)
Compiled by Works Progress Administration of Indiana
Available through FamilySearch: catalog record | digital images

La Porte County Interim Report: Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Inventory (1989)
by the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana
Available through IUPUI University Library Digital Archives

Our Heritage: The Making of a Community (1976)
Available through Michigan City Public Library

Pictorial and Biographical Record of La Porte, Porter, Lake and Starke Counties, Indiana (1894)
Available through Google Books

The Portable LaPorte County (1976)
by Laurie Radke
Available through Michigan City Public Library

The Sand Dunes of Indiana: The Story of an American Wonderland Told by Camera and Pen (1924)
by E. Stillman Bailey
Available through Google Books

A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of La Porte County, Indiana (1904)
E.D. Daniels
Available through Google Books

Books Available in the Library

General Histories | Atlases and Maps | Biographies & Memoirs | Businesses | Churches | Military | Police & Fire | Prison | Railroads/South Shore | Schools | Ships | Washington Park, Lakeshore & Marina

General Histories

Up Close and Personal: A History of La Porte County (2006)
by Arnold Bass
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 B293U

The Cruise of the Zoo Board (1938) – Includes photos and information about early Michigan City history
by the Washington Park Zoo Board
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 C888

A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of La Porte County, Indiana (1904) – also available through Google Books
E.D. Daniels
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 D2287

Historical Markers Project (1990)
by the Project Committee
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 H6293

Inventory of the County Archives of Indiana: La Porte (1939)
Prepared by the Indiana Historical Records Survey, Division of Professional and Service Projects, Work Projects Administration
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 IN8

Series of Articles Written for the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission of Michigan City, IN (1970-1971)
by James Landing
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 L246S

La Porte County Interim Report: Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Inventory (1989) – also available through IUPUI University Library Digital Archives
by the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 L3178

A Little Bit of History Series: Books One-Six (1995)
by G.C. Calvert
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 977.291 L721

Michigan City: The First 150 Years (1983)
Layout and design by Joe Pixler and Thom Christman; production by Jerry Weiss
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 977.291 M582

Michigan City, Indiana (1975)
Produced for the Michigan City Area Chamber of Commerce
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 M5822

Michigan City Illustrated: Historical, Descriptive and Biographical: The Evening News’ Review of a Half Century’s Advance (1900)
Indiana Collection & Genealogy Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 M5824

Michigan City, Indiana Centennial Celebration: 1833-1933 (1933)
by Phil T. Sprague
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 M5826

Michigan City (2005)
by RoseAnna Mueller
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 977.291 M887M

History of the Trail Creek Region
by Elizabeth M. Munger
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 M924H

Michigan City’s First Hundred Years (1969)
by Elizabeth M. Munger
Indiana Collection & Genealogy Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 M924M

Michigan City, Indiana: The Life of a Town (1980)
by Gladys Bull Nicewarner
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 977.291 N514M

History of Michigan City, Indiana (1908) – also available through Google Books
by Rollo B. Oglesbee and Albert Hale
Indiana Collection & Genealogy Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 OG5H 1908

Our Heritage: The Making of a Community (1976) – also available on library website
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 Ou

History of La Porte County, Indiana, and Its Townships, Towns and Cities (1876) – also available on Google Books
by Jasper Packard
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 P123H7

Pictorial History of Michigan City, Indiana: 1675-1992 (1992)
Edited by Elwin G. Greening
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection & Genealogy Collection
Call Number: 977.291 P589

The Portable LaPorte County (1976) – also available on library website
by Laurie Radke
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 977.291 P83

Then & Now: 100 Years of Trivia & Truth (1997)
by Michigan City Public Library
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 027.477291 M582T

Canada, Michigan City, Indiana: The Story of a Neighborhood (2008)
Researched and compiled by Gloria D. Arndt
Indiana Collection & Genealogy Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 C16

Michigan City Beach Communities: Sheridan, Long Beach, Duneland, Michiana Shores (2003)
by Barbara Stodola
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 977.291 ST64M

Atlases & Maps

Insurance Maps of La Porte, 1907: La Porte County, Indiana
Atlas Case, Insurance 1907 (in-library use only)

Combined Atlases of La Porte County, Indiana, 1874, 1892, 1907, 1921 and Plat Book, 1892
Atlas Case, La Porte (in-library use only)

An Illustrated Historical Atlas of LaPorte Co., Indiana (1874)
Compiled, Drawn & Published from Personal Examinations & Surveys by Higgins, Belden & Co., Chicago
Atlas Case, La Porte 1874 (in-library use only)

LaPorte County, Indiana: Geo. A. Ogle & Co’s Standard Atlas (1921)
Compiled and Published by Geo. A. Ogle & Co.
Atlas Case, La Porte 1921 (in-library use only)

LaPorte County, Indiana Plat Book – Years 1958, 1969-70, 1971, 1973, 1978, 1978-9, 1984, 1988, 1994, 1998, 2003, 2007, and 2009
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 L3179

Official Street Index Book of La Porte County
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 OF2

Michigan City Indiana Directory Including Taxpayers for La Porte County and LaPorte Indiana City Directory Including LaPorte County Taxpayers
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)

Map of Long Beach (1921)
Atlas Case (in-library use only)

Michigan City, Indiana, January 1884 (Sanborn Insurance Map)
Atlas Case, Insurance 1884 (in-library use only)

Index to Atlas of Michigan City, Indiana
Atlas Case, Michigan City (in-library use only)

Index to Atlas of Michigan City & Suburbs, Indiana (1960)
Michigan City Real Estate Board, Inc.
Atlas Case, Michigan City 1960 (in-library use only)

Index to La Porte County (IN) Tract Book (1987)
Compiled by Fern Eddy Schultz
Genealogy Collection, LaPorte County Index (in-library use only)

LaPorte – Winamac Land Office Entries, 1833-1855
Tract Books Transcribed by Barbara S. Wolfe; Data Compiled by Helen Morrison
Genealogy Collection, LaPorte County LaPorte (in-library use only)

ONLINE ONLY

LaPorte County, Indiana: Geo. A. Ogle & Co’s Standard Atlas… (1921)
Available through FamilySearch

See also: Land Records and City Directories

Biographies & Memoirs

Michigan City Historical Society, Inc., Biographies (2007)
Genealogy Room (in-library use only)
Call Number: Michigan City Michigan

A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of La Porte County, Indiana (1904) – also available in Google Books
E.D. Daniels
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 D2287

An Illustrated Historical Atlas of LaPorte Co., Indiana (1874) – includes brief biographies of early settlers
by Higgins, Belden & Co., Chicago.
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Atlas Case, La Porte 1874

Hemp: The Life and Times of Rhinehart C. Fedder (2003)
Narrated by Stewart McDonnell
Nonfiction DVDs
Call Number: 977.291 H377

Michigan City in 1836: Western Travel of Harriet Martineau…
by Harriet Martineau
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 M366M

Never a Dull Moment: Memoirs of Youth (1991)
by Carter H. Manny
Indiana Collection (in-library use online)
977.291 M316N

Oral History of Carter Manny (1995)
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 929.2 OR1

From Oak Hill to the Patch: Memoirs (2005)
by Charles Wise
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 977.291 W754F

ONLINE ONLY

La Porte County, Indiana Index of Names of Persons and of Firms (1942?)
Compiled by Works Progress Administration of Indiana
Available through FamilySearch: catalog record | digital images

The Tuley Family: Pioneer Settlers of LaPorte County (1994)
by William T. Tuley
Available through FamilySearch

See also: Oral History Collection and Pamphlet Files

Businesses

Michigan City Businesses: 1832-1860 (2019)
by Gloria D. Arndt and Dorothy Germain Palmer
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 M5827

Michigan City Paper Box Company: 1904-2004 (2004)
Compiled by Arlene Tarasick
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 338.761676 M582

The History of the Waterford Inn: Coolspring Township, La Porte County, Indiana (1992)
by Matthew Kubik
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 K961H

Churches

First Congregational Church, Michigan City, Indiana, Directory (1978)
Compiled by John P. Schlarb
Genealogy Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: Michigan City First

First United Methodist Church, Michigan City, Indiana: Sesquicentennial Edition 1832-1984
Genealogy Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: Michigan City First

Golden Jubilee of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Michigan City, Indiana (1927)
Genealogy Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: Michigan City Golden

St. John’s United Church of Christ History: Dated from Its Beginning 1856 to the Year 1968
Facts assembled and compiled by Ralph E. Schacht
Genealogy Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: Michigan City Schacht

St. Mary’s of the Immaculate Conception Church, 1867-1992
Genealogy Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: Michigan City St. Mary’s

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Michigan City, Indiana (1985)
Genealogy Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: Michigan City St. Paul

The Treasures of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Michigan City, IN (2010)
Researched and compiled by Patricia Gruse Harris
Genealogy Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: Michigan City Treasures

Yearbook and Church Directory, Calvary Baptist Church, Michigan City, Indiana (1927)
Genealogy Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: Michigan City Yearbook

See also: Church Records and Historic Slide Collection

Military

Camp Anderson, 1863-1864: Michigan City’s Civil War Camp (2008)
by RoseAnna Mueller
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 977.291 M887M

Michigan City Residents Killed in Action, Vietnam (1970s)
Genealogy Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: Michigan City Michigan

See also: Military records

Police & Fire

High Constables & City Marshals: City of Michigan City, La Porte Co., IN: 1835-1879 (2005)
by Patricia A. Gruse Harris
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 363.2 H537

Rules: Metropolitan Police Force, Michigan City, Indiana (1915)
by The Force
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 363.2 R861

Michigan City Fire Department: Ever-Alert: Active Hose No. 3 (1973)
by the Michigan City Fire Department
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 363.37 M582

Prison

Indiana State Prison: One Hundred and Five Years of
Penal Progress (1960s)
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 IN2

Indiana State Prison Cemetery Burials: June 10, 1927 – September 1989
by Ron Hyer
Genealogy Collection, Michigan City Hyer (in-library use only)

The Big House of Mystery: A Physician-Psychiatrist Looks at Ten Thousand Crimes and Criminals (1938)
Patrick
H. Weeks
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 365.977291 W418B

Available online:

Annual Report of the Indiana State Prison (volumes between 1898-1952). Available through Hathi Trust Digital Library at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000050293

Annual Report of the Indiana State Prison, Michigan City, Indiana (1911-1912). Available through Hathi Trust Digital Library at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100113087

Biennial Report of the Officials of the Indiana State Prison North for the Fiscal Years Ending Oct. 31, 1893-94 to the Governor. Available through Hathi Trust Digital Library at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011801497

Third Annual Report of the Board of Control of the Northern Indiana State Prison for the Year 1862 to the Governor. Available through Hathi Trust Digital Library at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011801490

Fifth Annual Report of the Board of Control of the Northern Indiana State Prison for the Year 1864 to the Legislature. Available through Hathi Trust Digital Library at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011801490

Indiana State Prison Album (1930s). Available through the Indiana Historical Society at https://images.indianahistory.org/digital/collection/p16797coll58

Indiana State Prison cemetery records. Available through Find A Grave at https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/1993507/indiana-state-prison-cemetery

Indiana State Prison records – Available through the Indiana State Archives

A Century of Progress: A Study of the Development of Public Charities and Corrections, 1790-1915. By Amos W. Butler, Secretary of the Board of State Charities. Available through Hathi Trust Digital Library at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001131924

Library Catalogue of Indiana State Prison, Michigan City, Indiana (1903). Available through Hathi Trust Digital Library at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100597979

Racial Conditions in Indiana Penal Institutions (1971). By the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Available through Hathi Trust Digital Library at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/102328719

Railroads/South Shore

Railroads of Indiana (1997)
by Richard S. Simons and Francis H. Parker
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 385.09772 SI57R

Ghost Railroads of Indiana (1998)
by Elmer G. Sulzer
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 385.09772 SU59G

Railroad Depots of Northern Indiana (2007)
by David E. Longest
Adult Non-Fiction Collection & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 385.314 L858R

Northern Indiana Railway (1998)
by George K. Bradley
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 385.5 B728N

Dedication Day: October 23, 1982, Michigan City, Indiana: Program
by NICTD
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 385.5 D36

Six Decades Service on the South Shore Line: Oral History with C. Edward Hedstrom (1991)
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 385.5 H78S

Duneland Electric: South Shore Line in Transition (1984)
by Donald R. Kaplan
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 385.5 K141D

The Insull Chicago Interurbans: CA&E-CNS&M-CSS&SB: In Color (1996)
by Gordon E. Lloyd
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 385.5 L776I

Electric Railroads of Indiana (1959)
by Jerry Marlette
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 385.5 M343E

Michigan City, Indiana Railroad Relocation Study (1973)
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 385.5 M582

The Interurban Era (1961)
by William D. Middleton
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 385.5 M584I

South Shore: The Last Interurban (1999)
by William D. Middleton
Adult Non-Fiction Collection & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 385.5 M584S

Moonlight in Duneland: The Illustrated Story of the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad (1998)
Edited by Ronald D. Cohen and Stephen G. McShane
Adult Non-Fiction Collection & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 385.5 M779

Along the Chicago South Shore & South Bend Rail Line (2012)
by Cynthia L. Ogorek
Adult Non-Fiction Collection & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 385.5 OG6A

North Shore, South Shore (1999)
by Russ Porter
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 385.5 P835N

Spirit of the South Shore (1984)
by William A. Raia
Adult Non-Fiction Collection & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 385.5 R13S

See also: Historic Slide Collection

Schools

A History of Central School, Michigan City, Indiana (1951) – also available in CORE
by Darlene Hammond
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 379.77291 H185H

Centennial History of Catholic Education: Michigan City, Indiana 1886-1986
by Patricia Gruse Harris
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 371.07 H243C

Hey, We’re Red Devils: The History of Red Devil Basketball, 1958-1984
by Dennis Edgington
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 796.32362 ED37H

Sports Pictorial of Elston High School and Michigan City High School (1995)
by Bill Allen, Sports history editor
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 796.042 SP67

See also: Yearbooks and Historic Slide Collection

Ships

Ships of the Great Lakes: 300 Years of Navigation (1973)
by James P. Barry
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 386.50977 B279S

Ships of the Great Lakes: An Inside Look at the World’s Largest Inland Fleet (2011)
by Patrick D. Lapinksi
Adult Non-Fiction
Call Number: 386.50977 L314S

Great Lakes Ships We Remember (1984)
Peter J. Van der Linden, Editor
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 387.24 G798

Great Lakes Ships We Remember II (1984)
Peter J. Van der Linden, Editor
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 387.24 G7982

Superships of the Great Lakes: Thousand-Foot Ships on the Great Lakes (2011)
by Raymond A. Bawal, Jr.
Adult Non-Fiction
Call Number: 387.2450977 B329S

Great Lakes’ First Submarine: L.D. Phillips’ “Fool Killer” (2010)
by Patricia A. Gruse Harris
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 623.81 H243G

The Sinking of the Eastland: America’s Forgotten Tragedy (2004)
by Jay Bonansinga
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 910.452 B64S

Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes (1984)
by Dwight Boyer
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 910.452 B695G

Ships and Men of the Great Lakes (1977)
by Dwight Boyer
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 910.452 B695S

The L.C. Woodruff: Lake Michigan’s Ghost Ship Returns (1977)
by Pete Caesar
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 910.452 C116L

SOS, CQD: Four Ships in Trouble (1977)
by Pete Caesar
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 910.452 C116S

Great Lakes Shipwrecks & Survivals (1994)
by William Ratigan
Adult Non-Fiction
Call Number: 910.452 R189G

Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan: [videorecording] 1912-1958 (2001)
Non-Fiction DVDs
Call Number: 910.452 SH64

Lake Michigan’s Aircraft Carriers (2003)
by Paul M. Somers
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 940.544973 SO54L

See also: Historic Slide Collection

Washington Park, Lakeshore & Marina

Michigan City’s Washington Park (2010)
by Jonita Davis
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 977.291 D294MI

The Cruise of the Zoo Board (1938)
by the Washington Park Zoo Board
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 C888

Michigan City Lighthouse: Guardians of Lake Michigan (2001)
by Steven D. Elve
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 977.291 EL86M

Old Lighthouse Museum News (1975-2010)
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.291 OL1

Logbooks of Harriet Colfax: Lighthouse Keeper, 9 March 1861-13 October, 1904: Lighthouse Station, Michigan City
by Harriet Colfax
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 387.155 C68L

Michigan City Marinas (2009)
by Jonita Davis
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 977.291 D294M

Harbors, Michigan City, Indiana, and St. Joseph, Michigan: Letter from the Secretary of War (1838) – also available through Google Books
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 386.8 H214

Michigan City Beach Communities: Sheridan, Long Beach, Duneland, Michiana Shores (2003)
by Barbara Stodola
Adult Non-Fiction & Indiana Collection
Call Number: 977.291 ST64M

The Sand Dunes of Indiana: The Story of an American Wonderland Told by Camera and Pen (1924) – also available on Google Books
by E. Stillman Bailey
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.29 B152S

The Indiana Sand Dunes and Shore Lines of the Lake Michigan Basin (1928)
by George Babcock Cressey
Indiana Collection (in-library use only)
Call Number: 977.29 C864I

See also: Historic Slide Collection