Michael Joseph Jackson was born in Gary,
Indiana, near Chicago on August 29th, 1958.
He was the eighth of 10 children
in the Jackson family, a working class African-American family
living in a two bedroom house on 2300 Jackson Street.
And yes, their street was actually called Jackson Street when they lived there.
Michael Jackson's childhood home, which was originally built in 1949,
was minuscule, located only 25 miles from downtown Chicago.
Gary was where Joseph Joe Jackson settled at age 18 and is where he met and courted
his future wife, Katherine, screw's married on November 5th, 1949.
The newlyweds purchased the tiny abode in 1950 for eight thousand five hundred
dollars, consisting of only two bedrooms, one bathroom, 672 square feet of living
space and measuring about 100 feet by 50 feet wide.
When you consider that at one point
in time, all 11 members of the Jackson family live there
it is almost unbelievable. According to biographer J.
Randy Taraborrelli of the House,
Michael once said
you could take five steps from the front door and you'd be out the back.
It was really no bigger than a garage,
which, ironically enough, the property lacked.
Taraborrelli explain the living
arrangements as, Katherine and Joseph shared one bedroom with a double bed,
the boys slept in the only other bedroom in a triple bunk bed.
Tito and Jermaine sharing a bed on top,
Marlon and Michael in the middle and Jackie alone on the bottom.
The three girls slept on a convertible
sofa in the living room, and when Randy was born, he slept on a second couch.
Jackson's former neighborhood was typical
of a harsh working class African-American community.
However, Michael would learn from an early
age that his childhood was different from other kids.
In his memoir, Jermaine writes about
looking out from their house at the decorated homes across the street
when he was eight years old and Michael was four.
We observed all this from inside the house with no tree, no lights, no nothing.
Our tiny house was the only one without decoration.
We felt it was the only one in Gary, Indiana.
But mother assured us that, no, there were other homes and other
Jehovah's Witnesses who did not celebrate Christmas.
In August of 1969, Motown Records moved Joe,
Michael and the rest of the Jackson five out to Los Angeles, where they were put up
in various hotels in December of that year.
The rest of the family relocated to California, whereupon they all settled
into a Mediterranean style house in West Hollywood.
According to Taraborrelli, the living room of their new abode was
twice the size of their entire former home in Gary.
Dubbed the City of the Century,
the king of pop's birthplace once had a peak population of one hundred seventy
eight thousand residents, but this has since dwindled to only 78000.
Providing Gary with rapid growth during the first half of the 20th century,
the steel mills where the musician's father, Joe, forged a living before
Jackson Five's rise to fame made up for much of the city's economy.
However, the former industrial city has since fallen on hard times and is now
largely abandoned, with 20 percent of properties in 2015 recorded as vacant.
And many of its inhabitants have moved
away following the decline of the steel industry in the 1960s.
On June 11, 2003, Michael Jackson returned to his hometown.
He then entered Gary's city hall to accept
the key to the city and have a brief press conference.
He stated that this was his first trip
back since age nine, and he was very happy to be home.
Afterwards, Michael visited the old house of the Jackson family.
He greeted a relative, Tim Brown,
who at the time resided in the house, as well as more than 1000 people inside.
Michael reminisced. Tito sluttier.
Marlon slept there in the living room, Michael told relatives here.
We rehearsed, rehearsed and rehearsed all the time.
And Gary resident Carole Walker said
that she last saw Michael in the 1960s as he climbed a tree in the front yard.
His brothers were busy loading
and arranging musical instruments in the family van, she said.
We've been waiting so many years for his return.
It's important for the kids.
He can come back and tell us what he has gone through since he left Gary
today. Very little of Michael Jackson's childhood
home has changed in the 45 plus years since the family last lived there.
The two bedroom house at 2300 Jackson Street has become a tourist
attraction, particularly after Jackson's sudden death in 2009.
The only major difference is that shortly
after his death, a large marble plaque honoring the fallen icon was placed
in the northeast corner of the front yard, but was suspiciously removed in late 2013,
to the dismay of many fans and local residents.
It seems that the Jackson family may still
own or be involved with a dwelling somehow.
Property records list the owner
of the house as the Anthony Otis Whitehead Trust,
whose address just so happens to be the business address of Brian Oxman,
one time lawyer for MJ and current lawyer for the Jackson family.
The mayor of Gary, Karen Freeman Wilson, says the Jackson Street of Dreams project
is buying the house next door and turning it into a small museum shop.
The mayor also says we are exploring the next steps to see who may be willing
to fund rehabbing some other homes in the local area.
Tune in to one of our latest videos right
here and also check out our online store for our latest pop icon inspired Styles.
Thanks for watching the detail.
We'll see you next time.