Join the Hammond Historical Society as we guide by-foot tours of gravesites of memorable figures in Hammond & Calumet Region history! This will be our 26th annual tour, a tradition started by the late, great Suzanne G. Long in the late-1990s. We will be honoring Oak Hill Cemetery for 140 years of history this year! We will try to feature people we have not visited in recent years or never before seen on our tours -- and of course will hit a selection of the big names, like Hohman & Towle, for those joining us for the 1st time. Some gravesites may feature in-costume docents or descendants of the families!
Entrance & free parking is located on Kenwood St, east of Hohman Ave. Tour fee is $5 for 18+. Under-18 are free to attend. We will have local history books & water for sale. Please, be prepared to be on your feet for 30 minutes or more. And remember -- Oak Hill Cemetery is always free to visit! The $5 is to provide you with the guided tour, and the money directly supports the Hammond Historical Society.
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A LITTLE HISTORY:
Oak Hill Cemetery, at the NE corner of 165th St. & Hohman Ave, was founded in 1885 by Hammond's founder & first mayor, Marcus Morton Towle, Sr. His son, M. M. Towle, Jr, managed the cemetery in its early history. It is the 2nd oldest extant cemetery in North Township, Lake County, Indiana. This cemetery sat at the southern city limits prior to the 1923 annexation of the South Hammond-area. Prominent people interred here include Civil War, WWI, & WW2 veterans, the Hohmans, the Sohls, the Towles, the Reeders, Thomas Hammond, Billy Gostlin, P.H. Mueller, Henry Schrage (founder of Centier Bank), Paul Parduhn (one of the founding fathers of the NFL) -- in fact, there are far too many more to list here. The 25-acre site hosts over 13,000 interred, with 2,500+ plots still available.
Learn more here:
https://oakhillhammond.com/burials-2/
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We thank the North Township Trustee Office for being a good steward of the cemetery. We thank Cemetery Manager LaToya Price and her staff, like Brian, who will help our members clean-up the grounds ahead of this tour.
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Workshops in Hammond.
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