Patterson Island was named after one of Gary’s first real estate and insurance brokers, William Pius Patterson (1871-1941). Born on a farm in Daviess County, Indiana, he opened a real estate office in Gary in 1908, served on the Board of Works under Mayor Johnson and was appointed to the park board by Mayor Clayton in 1935. An influx of money to the park board from the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration (WPA) put nearly 1,000 people to work building North Gleason park and completing projects in other parks, including a Gun Club Clubhouse in Marquette Park, and Patterson Island.

Click on either picture to enlarge.
The small image is the full image as it lay on the card.

This photo, which likely came from the Calumet Archives, was likely taken just following the building of the Pavilion - at the very left one can just see the overhang of that building. It was found with a card titled “Gary, Indiana. Marquette Park – A view of the casting platform in lagoon,” but unfortunately not dated. The casting pad that existed for many years would eventually come off the east side of the lagoon - that can be seen in the photo below from the 1950s that Oscar Boedeker took from an airplane, but the original concrete pad that came off the island can be seen in the aerial photo below that was taken before 1932. What is surprising is the detail of the original south and north bridges the photo provides, and it looks like there was another bridge in the middle – two islands? A Japanese “Torii Gate” is also visible at the south bridge. It differs significantly from the 1956 Post-Tribune photo below – something I can’t quite understand.

Two bridges, off the north and south ends of the island, were likely built when Marquette Park and the Pavilion were built in 1921-1925. The picture at the very top of this page, which shows no bridge, was likely taken about 1920 as it was with the photos that came with the Squeeze Inn archive of photos. The aerial photo below, taken before the statue was installed in 1932, shows two bridges as well as the "casting pad" that is off the island in the above picture. Another photo which shows a bit of detail has surfaced from Bud Jacknow’s collection of photos. Taken about 1944 or 1945, it shows the railing and arch. The bridge had collapsed by 1956 as the Post-Tribune photos show.

Having collapsed by 1956, the island was evidently bridgeless for a number of years until Frank and Grace Stonehill, the owners of Ishi Yama Apartments on Lake Street donated the lumber for members of the Marine Reserves to build a replacement in 1965. Company A of the 6th Engineer Battalion, operating out of the Naval Reserve building, erected what has been described as rather flimsy, home-made structure of an ornamental Japanese style. The handrail was bent 2x4s and was erected as a War Memorial. (Footnote: Greg Jenkins recollections and photo caption Vidette-Messenger (Valparaiso, IN) June 3, 1966; 'Stonehill' ornamental bridge picture courtesy George Rogge; Stonehill's contribution of lumber per email from George Rogge, March 3, 2020. ) Designed by Marine Captain Charles Ramsay it featured two fifteen-foot-tall “Torii” ornaments to pass under. (Footnote: “Japanese bridge to be replaced.” Citizen Section, Gary Post-Tribune, Dec. 12, 1985. ) Luckily, we have several pictures of the that bridge which had collapsed by 1985.

The "Double vision" photo was published in the Post-Tribune, a product of Post-Trib photographer Elmer Budlove. Date unknown but sometime between 1965 and 1988 when the bridge collapsed.

The aerial is a crop of photos that Oscar Boedeker took of his property at the end of Juniper.
Thanks to Mike Moore for sharing these.

Thanks to a $100,000 Indiana DNR grant matched by funds from a Community Development Block Grant, the collapsed “Japanese” bridge was funded for replacement in 1985. It had been blocked off as unsafe for three years and finally collapsed. A restoration project in 1982 failed for lack of funds.

Miller architect Greg Jenkins was commissioned to design the current bridge as a War Memorial Bridge reinterpretation of a 14th Century Shinto Shrine dedicated to Veterans of all wars. Built by three old craftsmen in a warehouse near Midway Airport with materials supplied by Randy Carr of Carr Lumber in Chicago the bridge now, in 2020, is sadly in need of some love and repair. (Footnote: Email, Greg Jenkins, AIA, March 3, 2020. )