Nonprofit purchases historic dwelling
The legacy of the Geter Means midcentury modern home in a groundbreaking Black midtown neighborhood will continue after its sale to a local nonprofit organization.
Indiana Landmarks said on April 24 it sold the ranch home to the Gary East Side Community Development Corp., a group that works to address workforce and housing needs.
Indiana Landmarks placed the home on its “10 Most Endangered List” in 2022 and purchased it in 2023.
Built in 1954 at 2044 Monroe St., the home suffered from a dilapidated roof and overgrown vegetation covered parts of the rear of the home. It was one of the few rundown, vacant homes in the Means Manor subdivision.
Indiana Landmarks worked with a neighborhood group called Say Yes To Means, made up of descendants of some Means Manor original homeowners, to improve the property.
Indiana Landmarks invested $100,000 to buy the Means house to clean it up, improve the grounds and add a new roof. The Gary East Side Development Corp. will continue the renovation work inside the home while determining a use that honors the property’s heritage.
“Being selected to finish the restoration work begun by Indiana Landmarks is crucial for the Gary East Side Community Development Corporation as it validates our efforts in restoring the Geter Means house,” said Marlon Mitchell, executive director of the nonprofit.
“This recognition not only acknowledges our hard work but also fuels our commitment to serving as a catalyst in transforming historic properties and contributing positively to the Midtown community’s development.”
From a modest beginning,
Andrew and Geter Means, and Andrew’s wife Katie, established Means Construction in the 1920s.
By the 1950s, Means Brothers Construction grew into one of the largest Black-owned real estate companies in the Midwest, constructing almost 2,000 homes and rental units in Gary alone.
In the 1950s as large swaths of Gary neighborhoods remained segregated, Andrew Means built sturdy brick bungalow homes in the shadow of Gary Roosevelt High School and supplied promissory notes to help Black buyers offset costs because they were denied mortgages by local banks.
The Means brothers also lived in the subdivision, each in mid-century modern homes. Andrew Means’ home is occupied and well-kept.
Andrew Means, who died in 1973, became a Gary civic and civil rights leader as well as the driving force behind the construction company. He gained his leadership and business acumen from mentors George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington at the Tuskegee Institute where Means graduated in 1918.
He and wife Katie placed their Means Manor home on the Green Book, a travel guide for Blacks during the segregation era that identified businesses and homes that welcomed them, if hotels shunned them. Entertainer Josephine Baker was among their guests.
Recently, Yejide Ekunkonye, who lives in her grandparents’ Means Manor home, began the process of applying for Means Manor to be on the National Register of Historic Places.
“It was a special place. My grandfather made sure we knew that,” she said in a previous interview about her project.
The East Side Development Corp. was founded in 2017 by Marlon Mitchell and Scott Upshaw to tackle the workforce and housing needs in Gary, growing its outreach to address emerging social, economic, cultural, and educational needs of the diverse communities in the Northwest Indiana area. For more information, visit gescdc.org.