In 1805, Indiana Township became the fourth township formed in Allegheny County. The earliest settlers, Jacob Huddle (Hodil) and Henry Strohm, arrived from Germany in 1798. The township was mainly rural when it was first settled, but as time progressed, the inevitable coal culture began. Coal mining was ideal for three main reasons: the rich coal deposits found within the landscape, the vast array of rail systems, and proximity to the Allegheny River. Important areas in the community include the Singing Winds site of the Council of the Three Rivers American Indian Center, the Mary Flinn Lawrence Estate (commonly referred to as Hartwood Acres), the Harmarville Rehabilitation Center, Consulate Healthcare, and Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve (currently in Fox Chapel Borough but formerly in Indiana Township), which is currently home to the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania. The famous stage actress Faye Templeton made Indiana Township her home for a time at Wunnahunny Farm, now called Humess Farm.

The contemporary method of township government arrived in Illinois in the middle of the nineteenth century. Replacing the commission method of county government, which Illinois had employed since statehood in 1818, the township innovation spread south and westward across Illinois, almost completely ousting the county commissioners. Today, the commission format survives only in seventeen peripheral and largely rural Illinois counties. This book asserts that townships have persisted partly because they offer vital services at a reasonable cost to taxpayers, but also because of a vigorous defense of the method made by township officials with political connections in the Illinois general assembly. Discussing the successes and failures of attempts by abolition-minded citizens to eliminate all or individual townships in various counties, Township focuses on the spatial diffusion, periodic threats to, and determined persistence of the township system.

At the heart of the struggle to save the uniquely beautiful Indiana sand dunes, Westchester Township lies on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, 50 miles southeast of Chicago. It extends from the Indiana Dunes that line the shore and continues south, to the rolling hills of the Valparaiso Moraine. The township is home to four incorporated towns, the Burns Harbor Plant of Bethlehem Steel, and two large expanses of public land--the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and the Indiana Dunes State Park. Westchester Township tells the story of the people who settled the township and those who contributed to its growth and transformation into a vigorous and diverse community. The photographs date from the early 1850s through the early 1960s, focusing primarily on the period from the 1880s to the 1940s. The majority of the images were drawn from the files of the Chesterton Tribune, which has served Westchester Township and the surrounding area since 1884. Additional pictures were kindly loaned by a variety of local citizens and institutions.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.