Great pics George. I mentioned a little about this above. I am sure that you noticed on the sign that it says Owned and Operated by Sokol Havlicek-Tyrs 2619 S. Lawndale Ave. Chicago, ILL. Was your family members of Sokol Havlicek -Tyrs in the old neighborhood? You grew up in Berwyn right?

I have a postcard from Sokol Camp Lidice as they called it. Here is a picture of the Sokol building that was on Lawndale Ave. It was razed some years back and is now a mini mall (which is rare in that neighborhood).

I arrived in Berwyn in 1957 with my mother and my younger brother. My father who was already in the USA bought a house at 1917 S. Maple Ave. in Berwyn. My older brother and sister were already here in the USA and they belonged to the Sokol Havlicek Tyrs. That same Summer, my mother worked in the kitchen at Sokol Summer Home in Crystal Lake so that me and my younger brother could stay there for free. I do not recognize any of the names on your picture. I remember Mr. Rabas who was running the camp and Mr. Stransky who was doing repairs in the camp. There was also a man by the name of Bill who used to collect the coins from those coke and beer machines. Then once in a while Mr. Komarek showed up and played chess with others and there I learned to play that game. I could not swim because I had a cast on my arm all that time. I heard later they could not make enough money there so they sold the camp. I was there a couple years ago and the whole area is populated with houses and the beach, which is on the west side of the lake is a public beach with a playground for kids. Too bad, it was a great place for the kids to go to during those hot Summer days in Chicago and suburbs!

Actually, there were at least 7 Sokols in Chicago:





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2012 06:03AM by Theravada.

Here is another picture of Sokol Summer Home at Crystal Lake. It was fairly large. Boys slept in the houses on the right and girls on the left. The middle was for the leader of the camp.



According to my sister, the following is a picture of Sokol Summer Camp in New Buffalo, Michigan:





Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2012 06:05AM by Theravada.

How interesting it looked to see an old fashioned residential district just a stone's throw from Downtown.

That WAS a fascinating little area and among the earliest neighborhoods in Chicago just outside of downtown. It's a shame that so many early historic neighborhoods were razed during the "urban renewal" era in Richard J. Daley's Chicago. So much history lost.....

Does anyone have more information on the Town of Lake Sokol? Or an organization called the Robey's? (Incorporated in June of 1904.)

luganrn, Sokol Town of Lake was a Czech Sokol (gymnastic and fraternal) organization which was located in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood. The organization was founded in 1916 and was housed in the C.S.P.S. or Česko-Slovanský Podporující Spolek (Czech Slavic Benevolent Society) Hall on 48th & Honore. It had about 350 members around 1940.

I believe that the organization merged into one of the other Sokols when it moved out of the old neighborhood, I think Sokol Brookfield? They used to have a Sokol camp in Willow Springs, IL. This photo is for you and Richard S. to see:



The Robeys could have been a S.A.C. (Social Athletic Club) from that same neighborhood? Robey is the old name of what is now Damen Ave. which is only a couple of blocks west of Honore where Sokol Town of Lake was.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2012 04:07PM by Berwyn Frank.

For those interested I wrote an article in Friends of Bohemian National Cemetery's fall 2012 newsletter this month about a Bohemian Chicago police officer who was killed in the line of duty in 1919. Check it out.

http://www.friendsofbnc.org/newsletters/vol9no2.pdf

[b]a good posting[/b]

Some while back Berwyn Frank invited me to see his collection, and tipped me off to a very interesting history of Czech Chicago that was republished by the Czech historical society. Extremely interesting. I used to work in the southwest loop, and back, hidden away on some side streets, some of the old houses still exist.

Dunning 1
Would you point some out, would like to take a look on streetview,