Editing East Chicago, Indiana (section)

=== Industrial growth ===
The 1900 census gives a total population of just 3,411, but the arrival of [[Inland Steel]] in 1903 transformed the city into an industrial powerhouse. The city's population skyrocketed to over 24,000 by 1910, powered by immigration from all over Europe and the United States, and quickly became the most industrialized city in the United States, with over 80% of the city's land zoned for heavy industry. Inland Steel dominated the city's economy through the 1990s, and expanded its massive integrated mill at Indiana Harbor multiple times through the 1980s. From 60,000 tons of steel capacity in 1903, it expanded to 600,000 tons by 1914 and reached 1 million in 1917, and eventually peaked at 8.6 million tons in 1978.<ref>{{cite web |title=Inland Steel History |url=http://www.nwisteelheritagemuseum.org/inland-history.htm |website=NWI Steel Heritage Museum |access-date=30 July 2018 |archive-date=May 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180520101303/http://nwisteelheritagemuseum.org/inland-history.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> By 1907, East Chicago boasted a navigable waterway link to Lake Michigan and to the Grand Calumet River: the Indiana Harbor Ship Canal. Steel mills, petroleum refineries, construction firms, and chemical factories operated at Indiana Harbor and along its inner canal system.<ref name="East Chicago, IN">{{cite web |title=East Chicago, IN |url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/402.html |website=The Encyclopedia of Chicago |access-date=30 July 2018}}</ref>

Republic Steel, Youngstown Steel, LaSalle Steel, and U.S. Steel all eventually had steel-making operations in the city. During World War I, East Chicago was nicknamed the "Arsenal of America" (not to be confused with Detroit's label as the "Arsenal of Democracy" during WWII) and the "Workshop of America".<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Our City |url=http://www.eastchicago.com/page80/page101/index.html |website=Eastchicago.com |access-date=30 July 2018}}</ref>

A rivalry developed between Indiana Harbor, the “East Side” home of Inland Steel and most working-class families, and East Chicago's “West Side,” the residential enclave of the native-born business community. Locals spoke of the “Twin City” to describe spatial, residential, and class divisions at the heart of the town's identity. The "Twin City" moniker remains to this day.<ref name="East Chicago, IN"/>