Comeback Company Town

Marktown, a small company town in Indiana, known for its narrow sidewalks, is beginning to reemerge after years of community and economic decline.

1 minute read

October 8, 2003, 11:00 AM PDT

By Connie Chung


Marktown, a company town designed by architect Howard Van Doren Shaw, "has needed reinvestment for years. The 40-acre, 200-home company town has languished in the shadow of its better known and larger Chicago counterpart, built and named by railroad entrepreneur George Pullman in the early 1880s....Like Pullman, Shaw had grandiose plans. He envisioned schools, a library, parks, tennis courts, baseball fields and playgrounds. In some ways Shaw's master plan resembles Seaside, Fla., and other modern so-called neotraditional planned communities with its emphasis on porches and shopping within walking distance."

Thanks to Connie Chung

Sunday, October 5, 2003 in The Chicago Tribune

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