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Description
Impromptu photo shoot at City Methodist Church in Gary, IN.

City Methodist Church was built in Gary in the 1920s and once boasted a membership of 3,000. In the 1960s and 70s, Gary's steel industry declined dramatically, leading to large-scale plant closings and high unemployment. By 1970, Sunday attendance at City Methodist had dwindled down to about 100, and it has been vacant since 1975. Today, downtown Gary looks like a ghost town, its unemployment rate is nearly twice the national average, and it has the second-highest per capita murder rate in the country.

I didn't know what to expect when I visited this decrepit remains of this former church, but I certainly didn't expect to find a group of kids who wanted to be in every shot.

Description
Impromptu photo shoot at City Methodist Church in Gary, IN.

City Methodist Church was built in Gary in the 1920s and once boasted a membership of 3,000. In the 1960s and 70s, Gary's steel industry declined dramatically, leading to large-scale plant closings and high unemployment. By 1970, Sunday attendance at City Methodist had dwindled down to about 100, and it has been vacant since 1975. Today, downtown Gary looks like a ghost town, its unemployment rate is nearly twice the national average, and it has the second-highest per capita murder rate in the country.

I didn't know what to expect when I visited this decrepit remains of this former church, but I certainly didn't expect to find a group of kids who wanted to be in every shot.