Michael Jackson childhood home

This tiny bungalow at 2300 Jackson Street is where Michael Jackson spent the first eleven years of his life. Joseph and Katherine Jackson bought the two-bedroom house in 1950, and it was here that the Jackson 5 rehearsed their way from a family act in the living room to a Motown record deal. The family moved to California in 1969, but the house stayed in the family — Katherine Jackson still owns it.

At just 672 square feet, the house had two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom — and somehow fit nine children plus their parents. Joseph Jackson drilled the boys through rehearsals in that cramped living room, shaping the act that would eventually catch the ear of Motown. By the mid-1960s, the Jackson 5 were performing at talent shows across the Midwest, and by 1969 they had signed with Motown Records and relocated to Los Angeles.

The house is well maintained and protected by an iron fence installed to keep the property in good shape. In 2010, an eight-foot granite memorial stone was placed in the front yard in honour of Michael Jackson. In 2021, the Indiana Department of Transportation added highway signage along Interstate 80/94 identifying this as the home of the world-famous Jackson 5.

You can visit the house from the street but you cannot go inside or onto the property. There are no tours, no gift shop, and not much else in the immediate area — but the memorial stone and the house itself make it worth a stop if you are passing through Gary. The address is easy to find thanks to the highway signs, and most visitors spend 10 to 15 minutes here taking photos.