21st Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Artistic
In-between Time and Space Series #1 - Marktown.

Hidden behind the large BP refinery in East Chicago, Indiana, lies a small town with narrow streets and old European-scale homes.   Once a thriving community, Marktown was a planned company town founded by Clayton Mark and designed by Howard Van Doren Show for workers at Mark Manufacturing in 1917. Unlike the Pullman community in Chicago which has been preserved with the status of National Historical Park, Marktown is one of many company towns that have slowly been abandoned, boarded up or demolished because of company shutdowns, worker exodus, and residual pollutants. It was a feeling I got while walking a few existing streets of Marktown and a chance encounter with a member of the community that inspired the In-between time and space project.  I met a man named  Paul. He told me a story about the house his grandparents bought. The house now belongs to him and he is not planning on moving. Four generations were raised in this home including his son. The ashes of his grandparents and parents are scattered around a small park - the green field nearby. He wants his ashes scattered there as well. I was touched by his sense of belonging and being so rooted in a place that history has forgotten.   Abandoned houses, businesses, and occupied homes stand next to each other with the memory of the past.  Marktown retains its working-class character with an uncertain future.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 06.2023
Date Uploaded: 11.2023
Photo Location: Marktown, Indiana, United States of America
Camera: NIKON D850
Copyright: © Iwona Biedermann