Buildings in downtown Gary, Indiana, one of America's most economically distressed cities. Founded in 1906 by the United States Steel Corporation, which sought to meet the soaring demand for steel in nearby Chicago, Illinois, and elsewhere on the shore of Lake Michigan, the city reached 200,000 population at its peak. A U.S. Steel plant still operated in 2016, but following years of urban decay and "white flight" to suburbs, the population had dropped to 80,000. Photo by Carol Highsmith, 2016.