Rate	Price	Duration
1 Day	$3.00	for 1 day
One Month	$9.95	for 30 days
One Year	$119.40	for 365 days

Rate	Price	Duration
1 Day	$3.00	for 1 day
One Month	$9.95	for 30 days
One Year	$119.40	for 365 days

Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor marks 50th annual opening ceremony

Jul 27, 2020
Jul 27, 2020
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PORTAGE — July 17 marked the 50th Anniversary of the Grand Opening of the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, a facility built to connect America’s heartland to the world – and provide a stimulus to the state’s economy.

Around the 1930s, various commercial groups and the state came together in a concentrated effort to build a deep-water public port at or near the point where Burns Ditch enters Lake Michigan.

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Milestones in Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor history

2019: The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor hosts Indiana’s first U.S. Navy vessel commissioning ceremony for USS Indianapolis

2017: Considered a landmark year, the port receives congressional support for a nearly $20 million infrastructure expansion, one of only 10 “FASTLANE” small project grants in the year; handles an 8 percent increase in cargo shipments; doubles the size of its bulk terminal; and attracts a nationally-renowned stevedore in Metro Ports

2016: Port handles nearly 2.6 million tons of cargo, completing the highest three-year total in the port’s history

2014: The Port receives Green Marine certification, a voluntary environmental compliance program

2010: The Port handles largest project cargo shipment to date: 134 wind turbines on 11 ships

2003: The Port ships 50-millionth ton since opening in 1970

1999: Federal Marine Terminals/Fednav moves their Fednav Atlantic Lakes Line (FALLine) division from Chicago to the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor

1995: A $13 million project begins at Burns Harbor to redesign the breakwater and create a new underwater segmented reef to reduce wave force on the breakwater

1980: Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor celebrated its 10th anniversary as an operating Great Lakes port

1979: Cargill Inc., grain trader and food processing company, breaks ground on a $21 million grain elevator at the Port with a 3.4 million bushel storage capacity capable of loading grain into ships for export to foreign markets

1970: Hoosiers celebrate the official dedication of the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor with tours of the facilities given by boat while a lucky few view the port from the Goodyear Blimp

1969: The Levy Co. of Detroit becomes the first port tenant

1969: The SS Lehigh, a Bethlehem Steel ore boat, becomes the first ship to use the Burns Harbor port

1966: The formal groundbreaking ceremony for Indiana's first public port brings approximately 650 people from industry, labor and government to the Burns Harbor/Portage facility

1962: Bethlehem Steel opens a plant on Lake Michigan, next to what would become the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor

1961: The Burns Ditch area in Porter County is formally selected as the site for Indiana's first public port

Commissioners are sworn in at the first meeting of the Indiana Port Commission at the Spa Restaurant in Porter County

Gov. Matthew Welsh and the General Assembly approve legislation establishing the Indiana Port Commission (now the Ports of Indiana), which replaces the Indiana Board of Public Harbors and Terminals

1959: Linking the Great Lakes to global markets, the completed St. Lawrence Seaway begins operation with more than 15 major ports on the Great Lakes

1957: The General Assembly appropriates $2 million for land acquisition at the Burns Ditch area

1939: The Indiana Board of Public Harbors and Terminals is established to negotiate with the government regarding land acquisition and construction of a public port

1816: Before Indiana becomes a state, Congress moves the northern boundary 10 miles north into Lake Michigan, opening the option for a future port