The historic Barker Mansion, that wonderful premier “Gilded Age” manor and favorite tourism destination for Northwest Indiana, will reopen to the public Friday, following three months of closure for refurbishing projects for this Michigan City landmark.
The re-opening comes with an announcement about the new season of tours, programs and special events.
Built in 1905 by railroad industrialist John H. Barker, the Barker Mansion is the field trip favorite from my own rural youth. It is an especially unique space because approximately 90% of its original furnishings, art and collections remain intact and anchored in the locations and interior design landscapes as the family intended.
Beginning May 1, visitors can enjoy self-guided tours as well as guided tours that bring the stories of the home and its original residents to life. In addition to tours, the mansion will offer a variety of specialty experiences throughout the season, including themed teas, history programs, and evening events designed to engage guests in new and memorable ways.
“We are excited to welcome guests back for another season at the Barker Mansion,” Programs and Operations Director Michele Gustin told me when we chatted Wednesday.
“Each year, we strive to create meaningful experiences that connect visitors to the people, stories, and history that make this home so special. One of our planned events, our Saturday, May 9, Mother’s Day weekend Saturday afternoon tea, is already sold out.”
The Barker Mansion will be open regularly from May through December, with expanded programming and special events scheduled throughout the season. The site is also available for private rentals, offering a unique and elegant setting for gatherings, celebrations and corporate events.
Spring opening day for the Barker Mansion in recent years has varied since the 2020 pandemic, with the property returning to operations some seasons as early as April and other years as late as June, with the closure months used for restoration projects, cleaning and planning programs.
While the Mother’s Day weekend tea is already sold out, a memorable Mother’s Day Sunday afternoon concert event is still available for the public as a live, classical, one-hour concert in the Grand Ballroom on the third floor of the mansion, presented by pianist Marissa Kerbel. Tickets are $35 at www.barkermansion.org or 219-873-1520.
Through a presentation of music by female composers, pianist Kerbel will explore the musical landscape of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, featuring works by American composers Amy Beach and Florence Price, as well as international compositions by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel and Lili Boulanger.
Following the concert, guests can enjoy a self-guided tour of the mansion to explore its historic rooms at their own pace. As part of this special Mother’s Day experience, select personal items belonging to Mrs. Katherine Barker will be on display, including pieces not previously available for public viewing, for a rare and intimate glimpse into her life.
Guests attending should recall that the mansion ballroom is located on the third floor, there are no elevators, and the space is not wheelchair accessible.
The reopening and new season also include a new exhibit featuring items from the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.
On Friday, May 15, the Barker Foundation Board, administration and special VIP guests will celebrate an exciting new chapter in the Barker legacy. During the evening gathering, I’m told a fully restored 1902 Haskell & Barker Car Company boxcar will be unveiled as a further way of honoring the legacy of John H. Barker, whose leadership in the freight car industry helped shape both Michigan City and the nation’s rail infrastructure.
“Bringing this piece of history to life offers a meaningful connection to the region’s industrial past,” Gustin said.
“Adding to the significance of the evening, members of the Barker family will be in attendance, offering a rare opportunity to connect past and present while celebrating one of Michigan City’s most influential families.”
As a visionary for the potential of the railroad industry, it was John Barker Sr. who bought a third interest in the Sherman, Haskell, Aldridge Car Works in 1855, and by 1871, the firm was incorporated as the Haskell & Barker Car Company and contributed to Michigan City’s growth and rise to national prominence in freight car manufacturing.
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The company credited the Civil War from 1861 to 1865 for expansion and demand because of the fulfillment of government contracts. In 1869, John Barker retired and son John H. Barker joined the firm as general manager and, by 1883, would become the president of the incorporated Haskell & Barker Car Company.
In 1908, the Haskell & Barker Car Company ranked as the most complete factory for the construction of freight cars in the United States and employed more men than any other manufacturing establishment in the state of Indiana. Spanning more than 109 acres, a landscape which is now home to the Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets, the original factory had 3,500 workers on payroll and annual production required 100 million feet of lumber and 150,000 tons of iron for wheels, axles, plates, bars and structural material. The plant also annually relied on 75,000 tons of coal, of which 25,000 tons would come from our own Indiana mines. The production line was responsible for 15,000 cars a year.
In 1922, “Haskell & Barker” merged with the Pullman Company and was then known as Pullman-Standard, a division of Pullman, Inc., which by 1950 is where my own father and uncles worked in the refrigerated train car factory division.
The death of both her parents in 1910 meant that at the age of 14, Catherine Barker became one of the world’s youngest heiresses in the country, with the 38-room limestone mansion included in her estate inheritance, along with $60 million, today’s equivalent of $1.5 billion. Under her married name Catherine Barker Hickox, she donated her family’s mansion to Michigan City in 1968. She died at age 74 at her own New York estate manor on Nov. 18, 1970.
One of the newly restored rooms highlighted this season at the mansion is “The French Room,” a guest bedroom featuring twin beds and a golden décor decadence located on the second floor.
“John H. Barker’s wife Katherine Fitzgerald took a trip to Europe and she toured the Palace of Versailles, and returned home with the idea her interior designer use mirrors and gold-leaf to transform this second-floor bedroom in homage to the look and elegance of Versailles.”
Philip Potempa is a journalist, published author and radio show host on WJOB 1230 AM. He can be reached at [email protected].