Gary was founded in 1906 by the United States Steel Corporation and was named after Elbert H. Gary.  Gary quickly grew, peaking at just under 180,000 residents in the 1960 and earning the nickname "City of the Century".  At one time, Gary was Indiana's second largest city.  The decline of the steel industry and population exodus starting in the mid to late 1960's saw Gary's population shrink to just over 80,000 residents as counted in the 2010 census.  Recently elected mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson is the city's first female mayor.