BlockBefore

Griffith, Indiana

20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1900 and the latest in 1998. It stands in Calumet Township. It lies in ZIP code area 46319. The Survey maps it on the Highland quadrangle. 16,528 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 630 feet above sea level.

Griffith within Lake County

On record in Griffith

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 3 records

Population over time

2 figures

Griffith fell from 16,893 to 16,528 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
201016,893
202016,528-365 (-2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 20 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

5 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Griffith between 1995 and 2020, burning about 182 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined3
Railroad operations and maintenance2

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
22 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreHOOSIER
8 November 2020Railroad operations and maintenance4.0 acresIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreHOOPS
7 November 2020Railroad operations and maintenance3.0 acresIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreRIDGE FIRE
18 November 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined160 acresIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreCLINE AVE
12 October 1995Missing data/not specified/undetermined14 acresIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreCLARK

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lake County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Griffith: 2 plants, 1 producer, 1 past producer. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Clay, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Samoki Brothers Sand PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gary #1 PlantClayPlant
Gary #8 PlantClayPlant
Yard M Clay PitClayProducer

Every working recorded in Lake County

Storms near this place

27 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Griffith in 27 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 16 thunderstorm wind, 9 hail, 1 tornado, 1 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2008Tornado (EF2)Griffith$1,000,000A tornado touched down just northeast of the Ridge Road and Cline Avenue intersection. Damage occurred at the Griffith Park Plaza Mall where windows were blown out of a row of stores and a portion of a roof was blown off of a vacant store. The damage path continued to the east, behind the mall. Two parked semi-trailers in the back of the mall were shifted eastward while a third was completely knocked over. The area to the east of this mall in the subdivision along and north of 37th Avenue near Lafayette Avenue and Rensselaer Avenue sustained some of the strongest wind damage from this tornado. Two houses on Lafayette Avenue had their roofs blown off with another house on Rensselaer Avenue also having its roof collapsed and a garage door pushed inward. Other significant damage that occurred was at the Habitat for Humanity storage building at Colfax and Ridge Road. Here, a cinder block storage building completely toppled to the ground. Although the building was knocked over, it appears as though the main cause of it faltering was due to a large tree that fell on top of it. At a nearby gas station within feet of this building, no damage occurred and people actually witnessed the tornado descend on the shelter.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindGriffith$25,000Numerous trees were damaged and high tension power lines were blown down near Ridge Road and Cline Avenue. A large tree fell onto a house near North Arbogast Street and 43rd Street.
October 2006Thunderstorm WindGriffith$5,000A large tree was uprooted on Arbogast Street. Gas pumps were knocked off their foundation at a gas station.
March 2025Thunderstorm WindGriffith-One tree was uprooted and another split on Woodlawn Ave north of Glen Park Ave.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindGriffith-Multiple reports of tree damage were received in Griffith.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindGriffith-Several trees were reported down in Griffith including one that had fallen onto a car. A photo shared also showed a light pole that had fallen onto a baseball field.
May 2014FloodGriffith-Four to five inches of flowing water was reported in parking lots near Cline Avenue and Ridge Road.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindGriffith-Wind gusts to 80 mph were measured near Cline Avenue and Ridge Road.
June 2012HailGriffith-Quarter size hail was reported at Ridge Road and Cline Avenue.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindGriffith-Wind gusts to 70 mph were measured near Cline Avenue and Ridge Road.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindGriffith-Wind gusts were measured to 75 mph. Tree limbs were blown down.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindGriffith-Numerous tree limbs were blown down in many areas.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindGriffith-Wind gusts were estimated to 60 mph near Cline Avenue and Ridge Road.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindGriffith-A wind gust to 80 mph was measured at Main Street and Cline Avenue.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindGriffith-Wind gusts were estimated to 60 mph in Griffith.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindGriffith-Multiple large Oak trees uprooted in Central Park.
August 2007HailGriffith-Nickel size hail reported at the intersection of Main and Cline Avenues.
October 2006HailGriffith-Nickel to quarter size hail was reported in Griffith.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindGriffith-Power lines and large tree branches were down across the city.
June 2015HailGriffith-no account filed
June 2013HailGriffith-no account filed
May 2013HailGriffith-no account filed
June 2013HailGriffith-no account filed
June 2013Thunderstorm WindGriffith-no account filed
June 2008HailGriffith-no account filed
September 2000Thunderstorm WindGriffith-no account filed
June 1994HailGriffith-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lake County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Highland2.3 miles20
New Elliott2.5 miles12
Ross2.6 miles20
Van Loon2.8 miles20
Hartsdale2.9 miles20
Gerry Park2.9 miles20
Black Oak3.1 miles20
Lottaville3.6 miles20

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on GriffithAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q591052The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 435501. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.