East Chicago, industrial city, Lake County, northwestern Indiana, a port on Lake Michigan, near Chicago; incorporated 1893. Situated in a highly industrialized region, the city is a railroad, highway, and waterway junction. It is also an important steel-manufacturing center; other products include refined petroleum, railroad equipment, chemicals, and fabricated steel. The city's growth was spurred by the construction (early 1900s) of the Indiana Harbor Ship Canal, connecting the lake port to the Grand Calumet River. A marina, built in the 1980s, has increased recreational use of the waterway. Population 39,786 (1980); 33,892 (1990); 32,414 (2000).
