Indiana Rust Belt

One of the last remaining buildings from the Studebaker factory in South Bend, IN. I think this was the foundry.

Detail of the Studebaker foundry.

Inside the Studebaker foundry. The last time car parts were manufactured here was 1963. 45 years later it looked like this.

This ex-Studebaker assembly building is typical of early 20th century manufacturing architecture: Multi-level masonry construction with hundreds of glass pane windows. 21st century auto plants look nothing like this.

The remains of the Wilson Brothers Shirt Company, next to the remains of the Studebaker factory, in the remains of South Bend.

Homes on the hill above the Studebaker factory in South Bend. Note the old fashioned TV antennas. A remote control box in the house could control the motor to change direction of the antenna (see below).

Our Lady of Hungary Catholic Church - South Bend.

Behind the Hurwich Iron Company, also in South Bend.

A bar in a former Polish neighborhood in South Bend. In the background is St. Casimir's Catholic Church.

Rail cars next to the former Bendix Corporation plant in South Bend. Thankfully the attractive structure has been maintained over the years. Bendix made automotive and aircraft parts. The facility is now occupied by Bosch and Honeywell, also aircraft parts companies.

Behind the former Bendix plant in South Bend.

Another side of South Bend: Notre Dame.

Hummer factory in Mishawaka. "AM General" was originally the defense contract arm of American Motors.

Elkhart County, Indiana is the location of over a dozen RV manufacturers. None of these plants are very photogenic, but here is a typical one: Gulf Stream in Nappanee.

Detail of downtown Nappanee, IN.

Living next to the General Electric plant in Fort Wayne, IN.

One of the G.E. factory buildings in Fort Wayne. In 1969 10,000 people were employed by General Electric in Fort Wayne.

Detail around the General Electric buildings near downtown Fort Wayne.

Superior Essex wire factory along the Saint Mary's River in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Elevated water towers are ubiquitous in the Midwest, because of the need for "head" for water pressure. These Fort Wayne houses are in the shadow of a water tower that serves the Paragon Tube plant, which was originally one of the General Electric factories of Fort Wayne.

Former International Scout factory in Fort wayne. The workers were represented by U.A.W. Local 2357.

Another Fort Wayne scene is Uncle Lou's Steel Mill Tavern across Taylor Street from the Valbruna Slater Stainless Steel mill.

Ward Aluminum Casting foundry in Fort Wayne.

Auto parts supplier Dana maintains this Fort Wayne plant. Perhaps this is the factory where Dana made their famous Dana 44 rear axle.

The neighborhood around the Dana plant in northwestern Fort Wayne looks like some kind of Levittown.

U.S. Steel's Midwest Plant near Portage, Indiana.

Part of the huge steel mill at Burns Harbor on Lake Michigan. This was the last integrated steel plant built in America in the 1960s by Bethlehem Steel. It is now operated by Arcelor-Mittal, and remains and integrated plant with ore yard, coke ovens, blast furnaces, and steel finishing plants.

General Motors Metal Fabricating plant with downtown Indianapolis in the background.

GM Metal Fabricating Division plant was actually built in the 1930's, although you can't tell it by looking at this picture.

UAW Local 23 office beside the now-closed GM Metal Fabricating Plant in Indianapolis. Before they closed the facility, GM did have a buyer for the plant - JD Norman Industries - but the buyer wanted such deep concessions from the union, including throwing out the existing contract and a 50 percent wage cut, that they overwhelmingly voted to prevent Norman's purchase. A Local 23 union member was quoted in the news as saying, "You just can't live on $15.50 an hour. I lived on twice that for the past 4 years." The GM Metal Fabricating plant closed in 2011.

Railroad and rail sidings running beside GM Metal Fab toward downtown Indy.

Indianapolis Coke was a merchant coke plant that was slated for demolition at the time of this photo.