2300 Jackson Street
It's quite surreal to be standing in front of a humble, modest house when you know your idol once lived there. While visiting Michael Jackson's childhood home wasn't part of my agenda for my trip here, it has definitely made it to my one of the top memorable moments being in the States. Both my girlfriend and i, together with her sister and brother in law decided to make a little detour in Gary, Indiana while trying to catch a train ride to Chicago and it wasn't hard to find the humble home where the legendary King of Pop once grew up in...well at least not with the power of Google!
If the house did not have any monument of some sort, i think we would probably not realise that the house used to be where he stayed and grew up in. I'm not sure who is currently occupying the house at the moment although part of me felt tempted to ring the doorbell just to see if anyone answers but judging from the appearance of how the house looks on the outside and comparing it to all the houses around the area, it looks really well maintained and protected. Maybe Jermaine Jackson and his Jermajesty kid is in there somewhere. Looking at pictures of the house from two years ago when the news broke that legendary King of Pop died, there wasn't any gates surrounding the house and it seems like anyone could have easily accessed through the area then but too bad it's all gated up now.
There's really nothing else to see other than admiring the small little house from the outside and reading the messages engraved on monument with messages written by fans around the gate and poster left at the area. Engraved behind the monument shows a quick history of Michael Jackson's life, achievements and his legacy ending with lyrics from his song "Gone Too Soon". While hanging around the area, there were a few cars probably from around the neighbourhood passing by the house and giving us thumbs up. I'm sure it's a common sight for them to see random people taking pictures of the place since it can be considered as a tourist destination now. Another common sight around the other area of Gary, Indiana doesn't seem too pretty on the other hand. Empty houses, some burnt down while others rotting away left with abandoned cars are almost everywhere. But i'm sure for some of the neighbours staying around the area, that morning when i visited 2300 Jackson Street wasn't quite a common sight for them...
Street named after the Jackson family
2300 Jackson Street
If the house did not have any monument of some sort, i think we would probably not realise that the house used to be where he stayed and grew up in. I'm not sure who is currently occupying the house at the moment although part of me felt tempted to ring the doorbell just to see if anyone answers but judging from the appearance of how the house looks on the outside and comparing it to all the houses around the area, it looks really well maintained and protected. Maybe Jermaine Jackson and his Jermajesty kid is in there somewhere. Looking at pictures of the house from two years ago when the news broke that legendary King of Pop died, there wasn't any gates surrounding the house and it seems like anyone could have easily accessed through the area then but too bad it's all gated up now.
Monument stone by the house
There's really nothing else to see other than admiring the small little house from the outside and reading the messages engraved on monument with messages written by fans around the gate and poster left at the area. Engraved behind the monument shows a quick history of Michael Jackson's life, achievements and his legacy ending with lyrics from his song "Gone Too Soon". While hanging around the area, there were a few cars probably from around the neighbourhood passing by the house and giving us thumbs up. I'm sure it's a common sight for them to see random people taking pictures of the place since it can be considered as a tourist destination now. Another common sight around the other area of Gary, Indiana doesn't seem too pretty on the other hand. Empty houses, some burnt down while others rotting away left with abandoned cars are almost everywhere. But i'm sure for some of the neighbours staying around the area, that morning when i visited 2300 Jackson Street wasn't quite a common sight for them...
Seeing an Asian Michael Jackson wannabe in front of 2300 Jackson Street. *yee-hee*
Comments
keita
Thanks for sharing such info...