GARY — The City of Gary and the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) teamed up today to commemorate the city’s historic streetcar rail line with the unveiling of a historic marker at the corner of 5th Avenue and Broadway, on the very thoroughfare where streetcars used to travel during the first half of the 20th Century.

The historic marker features an authentic photograph of streetcars rumbling down the bustling intersection of 5th Avenue and Broadway, circa 1913, and a brief history of the rail line, which first began operation in 1908.

The implementation and success of The Gary Streetcar Line was spurred by the booming steel industry of the early 20th Century and the thousands of workers in need of transportation to the mills that populated the city. During the height of street car service in the 1920s, fares were 8 cents with street cars carrying more than 50,000 passengers daily over 100 miles of track.