Portage

History

Prior to European settlement, Native Americans lived in Northwest Indiana. Mound Builders left a mound in the area now known as McCool, though the mound was destroyed in the early 1900s. Following the Mound Builders, the Wea tribe inhabited the area. The Wea were forced south by the Potawatomi. Jacques Marquette, Louis Jolliet, Louis Hennepin or François Pétis de la Croix may have explored the area. Samuel Putnam Robbins was among the first settlers, coming from Hocking County, Ohio, and he settled near modern-day Robbins Road between McCool Road and Indiana Highway 149. In 1834, Joseph Wolf squatted on land currently near the modern-day community of South Haven Other early settlers included Berret Door, Reuben Hurlburt, Wilford Parrott, the Spurloch brothers, William McCool, Benjamin James (and his son, Allen James), and William Holmes. Jacob Blake arrived in Portage in 1833. Before Portage became a town, it consisted primarily of three separate communities in addition to much farmland. They were named McCool, Crisman and Garyton. In 1950, those communities only had 2,116 residents. La Porte County maintained jurisdiction over Porter County in 1835, and founded Portage Township that year. Sand was also an industry in Portage due to demand in the growing city of Chicago. The railroads enabled sand to be delivered to Chicago more efficiently. Between the 1870s and the depression era, Portage did not grow very much. It has been estimated that between 1880 and 1950, the growth rate averaged only about 64 people per year. This is despite the growth of towns to the west such as Gary, Hammond and East Chicago due to the industrialization of steel mills. Portage was not unaffected by the Great Depression. Due to the steel mills being in economic trouble, the…

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Portage has a total area of , of which (or 92.82%) is land and (or 7.18%) is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  14,913
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  14,350
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,787
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,636
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,714
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  11,096
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,049
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  10,425

Largest nearby schools

• Portage High School
  High · Portage · 2,243 students · 19:1 ratio
• Valparaiso High School
  High · Valparaiso · 2,098 students · 20.8:1 ratio
• Chesterton Senior High School
  High · Chesterton · 1,981 students · 20.2:1 ratio
• Willowcreek Middle School
  Middle · Portage · 949 students · 15.6:1 ratio
• Chesterton Middle School
  Middle · Chesterton · 884 students · 17.7:1 ratio
• William Fegely Middle School
  Middle · Portage · 633 students · 15.8:1 ratio
• Discovery Charter School
  Elementary · Porter · 569 students · 16.7:1 ratio
• Liberty Elementary School
  Elementary · Chesterton · 496 students · 16.5:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2026-07-08
  21 km ENE of Kenilworth, Illinois
• M 3.2 — 2013-11-04
  1 km SSW of Lyons, Illinois