2 Johns and Crown Point, Indiana

Captain Mark and I fell in love with Crown Point the first time we arrived in the county seat of Lake County, Indiana to register to vote way back in 1972. We knew that this was the city in which we wanted to raise our daughters. We loved the original red brick courthouse on the city’s square, the city pool where our daughters and I spent entire summers, the wonderful public library, football and basketball games on Friday evenings, cakewalk fund raisers for the band/orchestra which were held in THE high school parking lot, the fact that we knew that our girls could ride their bikes safely anywhere in the city and that if the girls did anything wrong that as parents we would be informed by someone within the hour…yes, Crown Point was and is a wonderful place to live.

However, just like Wisteria Lane, Crown Point, Indiana has a deep dark side that it has been trying to ignore for more than 70 years. There are people in Crown Point who are very proud of this fact and others who have spent their lives trying to make it go away…Now, once again Crown Point, Indiana will be in the headlines and another John will be responsible for airing Crown Point’s dirty laundry. Johnny Depp is in Crown Point this week to film his current movie Public Enemies (based on the book by Bryan Boroughs) on the very site and in the original buildings that his movie character John Dillinger once inhabited and from which he escaped. How appropriate that Johhny Depp would be chosen to play the role of John Dillinger. Both are named John and both are "characters" loved for their lifestyle outside of the norm.

On March 3, 1934, Crown Point etched its name forever in the history books as the infamous bank robber and FBI "Public Enemy #1" John Dillinger escaped from the "escape-proof" (as it was dubbed by local authorities at the time) Lake County Jail which was guarded by many police and national guardsmen. Dillinger apparently escaped using a hand-carved wooden gun blackened with shoe polish, although this was disputed by some witnesses. Dillinger further embarrassed the city, as well as then-42-year-old Sheriff Lillian Holley, by driving off in her brand new V-8 Ford. The press augmented her chagrin with such headlines as: "Slim woman, mother of twins, controlled Dillinger as sheriff." Incensed, Holley declared at the time, "If I ever see John Dillinger again, I'll shoot him dead with my own gun. Don't blame anyone else for this escape. Blame me. I have no political career ahead of me and I don't care." Furthermore, Sheriff Holley made certain the Dillinger name would have no standing in Crown Point up until her death in 1994 at 102. Due mainly to her efforts, there is no mention of the "Great Escape" to be found anywhere in the city, save for a brief mention on a National Register of Historic Places plaque outside the old Sheriff's house.

I had the opportunity to know Mrs Holley and work with her on several civic committees during our years in Crown Point. She was a stern, stoic, no-nonsense woman who lived most of her life trying to play down the Dillinger debacle and its embarrassment to her and the city of Crown Point. She made many philanthropic contributions to the city of Crown Point, most notably the donation of the funds to restore and perpetually maintain the four clocks atop the original Lake County Courthouse. Each time I was in her presence, I would look at her and try to imagine her strength. She became sheriff due to the fact that her husband, who was sheriff at the time, was killed in the line of duty when serving an eviction notice to a local farmer. He was shot point blank in the face. As often was the case back then, she was appointed to serve out her husband’s term in office. However, she was no figure-head or anyone’s political puppet. Of course, it did not help her credibility when she was photographed with "prisoner Dillinger" in a pose that was very unprisoner-like. What she was is a woman in the wrong place at the wrong time. Mrs Holley would forever pay the price for this picture. I loved our life in Crown Point, knowing Mrs Holley and yet I am sure that I will be one of the first in line to see Public Enemies when it arrives in the movie theatres next year. We all have a dark side that we try to hide…