Episode 2 - Dining Room Table Conversation About Aetna's Beginnings Artwork

All Things Aetna!

The podcast of AMRP, Aetna Manor Revitalization Program. Interviews and information about Aetna, a community in the 46403 zip code, Gary, Indiana. This community was its own town by the same name in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It got its name from the dynamite factory, Aetna Dynamite, which was the reason for the little town. After World War I, the plant closed and only a few residents remained. Aetna had a "boom"(pun intended) during the baby boom era in the late 1950s-1960s. Many of the homes were built then. It was a thriving community with its own shopping district, community club, ball fields, schools, and churches. This community suffered much, as did all of Gary, during the rust belt decline years. BUT, the story is not over. The neighborhood is on the upswing. Stay tuned for the next chapter of Aetna's Revitalization.

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All Things Aetna!

Episode 2 - Dining Room Table Conversation About Aetna's Beginnings

March 19, 2021 • AMRP members and guests • Season 1 • Episode 2

AMRP -- Aetna Manor Revitalization Program's podcast "All Things Aetna".

In this episode, Marjorie Woodyard, Jim, and Patrice Lawson, and Joey Kikke converse over coffee about Marj & Jim's childhood memories of Aetna in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Aetna's beginning was during the Aetna Powder Plant of the late 1800-early 1900's. The dunes were perfect "protection" for a dynamite factory. A small town formed for the workers and was named after the factory--Aetna.
http://spicerweb.org/Miller/MillerHistory/AetnaPowderCo-Maps.aspx about Aetna Powder Plant.

This company town was founded in 1881 by the Aetna Powder Works, an explosives company. Their factory closed after the end of World War I.

The Town of Aetna was annexed by Gary in 1928, around the same time that the city annexed the Town of Miller. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Gary’s prosperous industries helped generate residential and other development in Aetna, resulting in an impressive collection of art deco architecture. The rest of the community was built after World War II and the Korean War in the 1950s, in a series of phases. On its south and east, Aetna borders the undeveloped floodplain of the Little Calumet River. (https://gary.gov/community/)

Aetna Elementary School was built in the late 1950s. New homes were being built as well. This new community attracted businesses and civic organizations.

This is where we pick up with a lively conversation about growing up with lots of kids in the neighborhood.

Penney Love, AMRP's President, was interviewed for this interesting article.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/opinion/ct-ptb-davich-aetna-manor-revitalization-blueprint-for-gary-indiana-st-20210115-pgokif6ws5f3rbk2vao4myhhuq-story.html