Utilizing steel slag from the Illinois Steel Company's mills in South Chicago and limestone from Rogers City, the Cement Department of the Illinois Steel Company, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel, opened its No. 3 Mill, known as the Buffington Plant, in November of 1904. The firm’s previous two mills were operating in Chicago and South Chicago. Due to a continual rise in demand for cement, work on the No. 4 Mill, also located at Buffington, was begun in 1906. To focus on the market for Portland cement, the Cement Department of the Illinois Steel Company, was spun off as a separate company, the Universal Portland Cement Company. A third mill, Mill No. 6, was completed at the site in 1912, and the Buffington plant became the world’s largest with a daily output of 23,000 barrels of cement. To facilitate the transportation of goods to and from the plant, a 55-acre harbor basin was built at the cost of 3 million dollars. On June 10, 1927, Buffington Harbor, then the deepest and most modern port on Lake Michigan, opened with much fanfare. The lighthouse was built in 1926. Active (privately maintained); focal plane 48 ft (14.5 m); red flash every 4 s. 46 ft (14 m) round concrete tower mounted on an oval-shaped fog signal structure. Entire lighthouse painted red, the color having weathered to red orange. Site and tower closed. Owner: City of Gary. Site manager: Gary New Century LLC. ARLHS USA-1017; USCG 7-19630.
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