Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
“Eskilson Historic District is a national historic district located at Gary, Indiana. The district encompasses 97 contributing buildings in an exclusively residential section of Gary.”
Wikipedia article Eskilson Historic District, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 88 National Register listings published here for Lake County · listed in 2014 · category: District.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the National Register database, National Park Service
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 294 fires within 5 miles of Eskilson Historic District between 1992 and 2020, burning about 5,477 acres in total. 9 started naturally. 26 were 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 |
|---|---|
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 118 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 66 |
| Debris and open burning | 39 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 26 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 14 |
| Natural | 9 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 8 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Fireworks | 5 |
| Other causes | 4 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 1995 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 7.0 acres | Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore | TENNESSEE |
| 5 September 1995 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 53 acres | Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore | MANY |
| 26 September 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.1 acres | Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore | DIAMOND |
| 19 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore | BUFFALO |
| 16 September 2001 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore | LIBERTY |
| 10 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 20 acres | Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore | LAKE STREET |
| 9 August 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore | NEW HIRE |
| 8 August 1999 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore | 1-5 |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Eskilson Historic District: 2 producers, 1 past producer, 1 plant. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Sulfur, Limestone, General. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffington Cement Plant | Stone | Producer | ||
| Buffington Lime Plant | Limestone, General | Producer | ||
| Dean H. Mitchell Generating Station | Sulfur | Plant | ||
| Samoki Brothers Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gary, the town this property stands in, in 29 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 19 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 3 lightning, 1 rip current. The reports record 1 death and 1 injury. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2001 | Rip Current | Gary | 1 killed | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Lightning | Gary | 1 hurt | A 15 year old boy was standing near a tree when it was struck by lightning. The teenager received burns on his back. His clothes and shoes were ripped off. A relative standing near the teenager said she saw blue light reflected off of him. |
| September 2013 | Lightning | Gary | $75,000 | A house at 1180 Jefferson Court was struck by lightning starting a fire which engulfed about 50 percent of the home. An adult and a 9-month-old child were home at the time of the fire. The adult was killed and the baby was in critical condition as it was transported to the hospital. An investigator said that there were no signs that the adult had been struck by lightning and that they died due to smoke inhalation. |
| May 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gary | $60,000 | Fifteen large pine trees were uprooted at the Indiana University Northwest campus in Gary. Some of the trees fell on several cars. Windows in some buildings were also blown out. |
| July 2006 | Lightning | Gary | $50,000 | A home near 48th Place and Whitcomb Street in Calumet Township was struck by lightning, which started a fire on the second floor. Two bedrooms, a bathroom and the attic were gutted. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | East Gary | $25,000 | A large pine tree was uprooted and fell onto a home near the intersection of Warrick Street and Central Avenue. |
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gary | $5,000 | Trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down across many areas in northeast Lake County. |
| March 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gary | - | Minor structural and tree damage was found along 20th Pl just east of Ernie Pyle Elementary School. |
| March 2025 | Tornado (EF0) | Gary | - | A tornado touched down near Norton Park, just south of West 13th Avenue in Gary. This brief tornado blew tree debris across roadways and uprooted several small trees east of the Gary Business District with estimated winds of 70 mph. The tornado dissipated around MLK Drive, just north of East 7th Avenue before reaching the Dunes Highway. |
| March 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gary | - | Structural damage was found on a home near 8th Ave and Harrison St. |
| March 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gary | - | A large tree limb snapped along 17th Ave near McKinley St. |
| March 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gary | - | Lake County EMA reported power poles snapped in Gary. |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gary | - | Large trees and numerous tree limbs were blown down in Gary. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gary | - | Wind gusts to 70 mph were estimated near downtown Gary. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gary | - | Estimated gust to 60 mph in downtown Gary. |
| September 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gary | - | Wind gusts were estimated to 60 mph. |
| March 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gary | - | Large tree down. |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gary | - | Trees, limbs and power lines were reported down. |
| September 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gary | - | Trees blown down. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gary | - | A cooperative observer at Trump Casino at Buffington Harbor in Gary recorded a 58 mph wind gust. |
| June 1995 | Hail | Gary | - | Golf ball- to ping-pong ball-size hail fell at Hammond. Half an inch to three-quarters inch hail and 54 mph winds occurred at Gary Airport. Tree limbs and power lines were downed throughout the northern part of the county. |
| July 2015 | Hail | Gary | - | no account filed |
| August 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gary | - | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Hail | Gary | - | no account filed |
| September 2009 | Hail | Gary | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Gary | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gary | - | no account filed |
| August 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gary | - | no account filed |
| April 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gary | - | no account filed |
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | West Fifth Avenue Apartments Historic District | 0.3 miles | 1984 |
 | Horace Mann Historic District | 0.3 miles | 2013 |
 | Combs Addition Historic District | 0.5 miles | 2014 |
 | Lincoln Street Historic District | 0.5 miles | 2013 |
 | Polk Street Terraces Historic District | 0.6 miles | 2009 |
 | Polk Street Concrete Cottage Historic District | 0.7 miles | 2011 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 14000073 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Lake County | All 88 listed properties in this county. |
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