Biohazard Cleanup Near Georgetowne Highland, IN

Highland is an incorporated town in North Township, Lake County, Indiana, in the Chicago metropolitan area, bordered by Hammond to the north, Munster to the west, Schererville to the south and Griffith to the east.

Highland was first settled in 1847 by Michael and Judith Johnston, two pioneers from Ohio.

The town grew slowly until the early 1880s, when the Chicago & Atlantic railroad built through it and attracted farms and factories; Dutch settlers from nearby Munster followed, and in 1992 the Indiana Historical Bureau placed a state historical marker in Highland recognizing Dutch immigration in the Calumet Region.

Highland was incorporated on April 4, 1910, when only 304 people lived there.

The 2020 census counted 23,984 people in Highland, up slightly from 23,727 in 2010, and the town had 9,924 households at the 2010 census.

Highland boomed after World War II, jumping from 5,878 residents in 1950 to 16,284 in 1960 — a 177% increase in a single decade — and peaking at 25,935 residents in 1980.

Wicker Memorial Park, on Highland's west side, was dedicated in 1927 by President Calvin Coolidge, who delivered the dedication address; the park has an 18-hole, par-72 golf course, three miles of trails, a splash pad and a dog run.

On October 31, 2008, Barack Obama held a rally at Wicker Park in Highland that drew 40,000 people — the park's largest crowd since President Coolidge dedicated it in 1927 — just four days before he was elected President.

Part of the 1,547-acre Hoosier Prairie State Nature Preserve, established in 1976 as a unit associated with the Indiana Dunes, lies within Highland near Main Street and Kennedy Avenue.

Highland's small downtown, around Highway Avenue and Kennedy Avenue, features Mid-Century Modern architecture and is crossed by the Erie Lackawanna Trail, a paved rail trail locally called the Crosstown Trail.