The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1922-10-03
VALUABLE
PROPERTY
INVOLVED
Nav Mean Two Wider Streets
and Heavy Loss to
Property Owners

Did you know that the rlral ols-
position OF a case now pending in
the Appellate court OF Indiana IN
wolves more than a million dollars
worth of property in the center OF
Hammond?
In many respects il is the most
important law suit ever fought by
the city of Hammond and more tnan
a hundred property owners are VT
ally interested in the outcome.
The case is known as the Stand
ard Oil Co. Ns Z. y. Bunnen and the
City of Hammond. 1t is suit Tor
quiet title brought by the Standard
Oil Co against BunneN and ms
wife, and later against the city OF
Hammond. TO easement on seven
feet of land comprising the south
seven feet OF the nifty foot lot al
the northeast corner of Holman and
Russell streets. running east to the
Methodist church. Later the suit
was found to include thirty-seven
feet instead OF seven.
MAY AFFECT OTHER STREETS
If the Standard Oil Co. loses its
suit TO quiet title these thirty-seven
feet from the north side of Russell
street will be added to Russell
street. making 1t ninety 1907
street and as a result the city Will
be in q position to take a similar
slice of property from lots on the
north side of Russell street east TO
Oakley avenue and forty feet from
lots on the south side OF Fayette
street from holman to Oakley ave
nuc. One piece of property, trian-
gular in shape, at the intersection
OF Fayette street, Oakley ave. and
Russell street. will be completely
wiped out. 1t is owned by William
Maginot
Attorney Joseph Conroy. repre-
senting the legal department OF the
city, said today that the city would
not drop the suit but that its only
interest is in seeing that justice is
done. "Fayette street and Russell
street from Holman street to oak
ley avenue are legally ninety feet
wide" he declared.
OLD FLAT INVOLVED
According to the evidence pre-
sented before Judge Crumpacker in
the Porter circuit court, from which
the city took an appeal to the ap-
pellate court, NJ. NJ. Towle purchased
the property from Fayette to Rus
sell streets and also the property
north OF Fayctte and south OF Rus
sell. in 1880. He laid out the prop
erty north Of Fayette street as the
Townsend and Godfrey addition and
dedicated thirty feet OF the addition
on the south side for a street (Fay-
ette street,. He laid out Towle and
Young's addition south of Russell
street and dedicated the north thir-
" feet TO the city for a street (Rus-
sell street,. A checking up Of these
two additions show them to be cor
rect.
NINETY FOOT STREETS
Towle next laid out the prorerty
between these two streets, east oil
Holman street to Oakley avenue
and called It Latham's addition. and
provided that sixty feet on the south
side of Fayette should be dedicated
to Fayette street and sixty feet or
the north side of Russell stree
should be dedicated to Russell
street
This makes Fayettc street and
Russell street each ninety feet wide
However, only twenty OF the sixty
feet on the south side of Fayette
street was used for street purposes
leaving forty feet that property
owners "gobbled up" while, the cits
charges. only twenty-thrce feet or
the north side of Russell street was
used for street purposes and thirty
seven feet mas been "gobbled up
The city seeks to chop off forty fee
on the south side of Fayette stree
from Holman street to Oakley ave
nue. and thirty-seven feet on tht
north side of Russell street from
Holman street to Oakley avenue.
The Standard Oil Company paic
$4,000 for fifty feet at the corner
OF Holman and Russell streets anc
If it loses thirty-seven feet it vii
have paid record price for thir-
teen feet Of Holman street frontage