Hammond Historical Society

05/16/2026

Annual Memorial Day Massacre Memorial happening now at the old union hall in -- 11731 Avenue O, Chicago, IL. Thanks to Tony Arduino & Ruth Mores for manning our table on the Hammond 1919 Strike where 4 died in the fight!

05/03/2026

Our Annual Members Dinner and Meeting is one week away. It will be held at the First United Evangelical Lutheran Church on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at 6:00 PM. The church is located at 6705 Hohman Avenue. Charter member Kathy Matthews will be giving a presentation about the history of this beautiful church.

This event is for members and their guests. Cost for the dinner is $30.00 per person. You can sign up online or print the form and drop it off at the Hammond Public Library, c/o Amanda Aguilera.

The Hammond Historical Society is a non-profit organization recognized as tax-exempt by the IRS under Section 501(c)(3). 

03/08/2026

Our March presentation was fascinating. Ken Kasper gave a fantastic presentation on the Kasper family, one of the first four families in now what is known as Hammond.

03/06/2026

THIS SATURDAY MORN @ 10AM @ 564 STATE ST aka Hammond Public Library! If you took our Oak Hill Cemetery Tour last October, you heard a tiny bit of this. Ken Kasper has got a lot more to share!

02/21/2026

See you tonight 6-10pm @ the Hammond Civic Center for 219 Day 2026! 🐀🍻 Free, 21+ event! Come say hi -- we have a vendor table! (See Go Hammond for details.) Shout out to Matthew Marcum via NWI Memories Restored for enhancing & colorizing this photo from Civic Center's opening week in May 1938 when Hammond High used the gym!

02/02/2026

Black history is Hoosier history, and important to share not only in February. But we would be remiss to not observe -- and believe the story of Episcopal preacher Harry Hoosier (aka Hosier/Hoshur/Hossier, c. 1750-1806) is one too few of us know. Could this 18th Century figure, who contemporaries called our young nation's "greatest orator," really be our demonym namesake? Again, black history is history.

There are a lot of theories about the origin of the word “Hoosier.” And while we’ll probably never find one definitive source for this nickname for people from the State of Indiana, we sure don’t g…

01/29/2026

Throwback Thursday to 169th & Calumet sometime in the early/mid 1980s! Who frequented the White Hen @ the corner? Or the Martin gas station before it was Speedway? Thanks to Jeff Betustak for digging this one up! And thanks to Robert Clark for noticing the Chevy Citation & coming up with the 1981 or later guess on a date! Speedway

01/27/2026

59 years ago yesterday & today -- 23" blanketed in the Blizzard of '67! It came just 2 days after 65° weather! I'm sure those around then remember!

01/18/2026

Don't forget! Saturday, February 7th at 10:00 am, we will be having our Historical Show and Tell in the Community Room at the Hammond Library. This time, you all are our presenters. Bring your favorite artifact or memorabilia and share its personal meaning to you or tell us about your favorite memories of Hammond. Each person will have 5 minutes to reminiscence about the good ol' days. Don't miss this event!