A Rich Past

Portage may be only 35 years old as a city, but our roots go deep. Native American tribes like the Weas and Potawatomi "discovered" this section of what is today Northwest Indiana, attracted no doubt by its close proximity to the waterways of the Great Lakes. Although the British declared the area part of their stake in the new land in 1759, the first European settler didn’t arrive until 1822 when Joseph Baily opened a trading post. He waited nearly 11 years for a neighbor.

Once the state officially designated Porter County and Portage Township in 1836, necessities like schools and railroads sprang up to support commerce. But it was the birth of steel mills in nearby Gary, Indiana at the turn of the century that wrote the next chapter in Portage’s life.

This major industry’s influence led to developments like the Portage-Burns Waterway, and a deep-water port. Such amenities helped land the National Steel Company plant in 1959 (now U.S. Steel), and the Bethlehem Steel Company (now I.S.G. Steel) in 1963. Charged with this explosion in industry, Portage became an official town in 1959, and a city by 1968.

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