It has been over 40 years since the trinity of Crisman, McCool, and
Garyton united to become Portage, Indiana.
Located 50 miles from downtown Chicago on the shores of Lake Michigan,
Portage Township has emerged as a growing residential, commercial, and
industrial center. Portage became a town in 1959 and attained city
status in 1967, but the region's history begins with the indigenous Wey
Indians of the 1700s and the Potowotamie, whose land was sold in 1834.
Pioneers then settled the land alongside immigrants. For many
generations Portage has offered a new beginning to those who sought
work, political asylum, or simply a better life.