[1] The community of Marktown was founded by Clayton Mark, a pioneer maker of steel in the United States.

[5] Only 10% of the original design was built, as the building of the community was terminated due to the aftereffects of World War I and the sale of the Mark Manufacturing Company.

In the words of the Marktown Revitalization Plan commissioned by the city of East Chicago in 2008, "Marktown is significant as it is a major work by a significant American architect, Howard Van Doren Shaw, for its association with the driving economic force of industry that served as an identity of the region, and is representative of the planned industrial community movement of the late 19th and early 20th century.

[8] The homes are being evacuated due to air pollution and concerns regarding safety in the vicinity of the expanding crude tar sands processing facility.

[9] In 2022, East Chicago began a Marktown Neighborhood Housing Study to consider renovations of the historical district.