About the Miller Beach Pages

June 10, 2001

Several weeks ago someone from Miller was asked in the "Neighbors" section of the Gary Post Tribune what they thought was the oddest thing about their community. The answer was that there was someone who was not even from Miller who had a Miller Beach Website where people could post their fond memories.

I've been meaning to write an "About" page for some time. While the answer above is perhaps correct depending on how you define "from", suffice it to say that the webmaster here has lived in Miller some 26 years, and although I didn't grow up here, or attend Wirt High School, my son graduated from Emerson, and I consider myself to be from Gary, Indiana.

So why did I start these pages?  Back in 1996 I wanted to continue my "hobby" : writing web pages and history. I had some time on my hands and looked around to see if anyone had written anything on Miller Beach or Chanute or any local history. There wasn't even a City of Gary page at that time.  I thought about doing "The Gary Pages", but that topic was much too big. So I settled for my little neighborhood of Gary: Miller. I don't do the MBPages because I think Miller is separate from Gary, only because the topic is more focused. I wish someone would do the "Tolleston Pages", or the "Glen Park Pages".  Neighborhoods exist for reasons, each with their own history and focus.  Miller fought to remain separate from Gary from 1906-1919 and lost.  That battle is over, long ago.

The guest book was started because I learned a little CGI scripting. For several years it was pretty dormant until former residents and Wirt grads found their keyboards and the guest book and then each other.  Then it took off.  Sometimes rancorous, sometimes downright nasty, the posts are way more often fond memories of old times and old friends finding each other.  Some have complained for a "registered" site, where you have to leave your email address and can be blocked from posting.  I don't do that.  I haven't had to.  There are other sites for that, but the guest book remains semi-anarchistic because there are a lot of good posts that wouldn't be there if the email address was required.  I will remove nasty, personal aspersions on request, but in all the years I've only had to do that several times.

Web pundants and analysts  have written about the "web community". In July of 2000, a reporter for the Hammond Times did a story on the MBPages focusing on the renewal of old friendships and the "electronic village".  I don't know about all of that. I've found that local people read the guest book if they grew up here, but using the web for local news and events still is a challenge. If you live here, you get your news at the Perk, or from the local paper, not the web.

In any case, I hope that you enjoy these pages. Perhaps renew old acquaintances, learn about the history of the community you grew up in or live in.  I have a number of projects sitting on the shelf: a picture viewer, more history, but free time is a bit more dear these days, and they will have to wait.

Enjoy,