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310 w. Pershing Road (39th st)
Posted by:
Richard Stachowski
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Date: December 10, 2009 07:41PM
Does any body know what this building is? It looks like an old school. See it on google maps street view.
Re: 310 w. Pershing Road (39th st)
Posted by:
kagillogly
(---.wi.res.rr.com)
Date: December 10, 2009 08:11PM
Hi,
It looks to me like the old Chicago Public Schools office - I was there a couple of times in the 1990s for meetings. It was both warehouse and office space for the administrators of CPS. It was closed down when CPS offices moved to the Loop about 10 years ago, I think.
Best,
Kate G.
It looks to me like the old Chicago Public Schools office - I was there a couple of times in the 1990s for meetings. It was both warehouse and office space for the administrators of CPS. It was closed down when CPS offices moved to the Loop about 10 years ago, I think.
Best,
Kate G.
Re: 310 w. Pershing Road (39th st)
Posted by:
Richard Stachowski
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Date: December 10, 2009 08:23PM
Thanks it looks empty now.
Re: 310 w. Pershing Road (39th st)
Posted by:
kagillogly
(---.wi.res.rr.com)
Date: December 10, 2009 09:40PM
Yes, it was completely cleared out. It was sort of contentious at the time - a waste of space. lack of parking in the Loop, and I don't where they do storage now. But it was largely empty, even in the mid-1990s when it was in use.
Re: 310 w. Pershing Road (39th st)
Posted by:
Mr Downtown
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Date: December 12, 2009 12:10AM
300-310 W. Pershing was the headquarters of Link-Belt Co., manufacturers of conveyor belt systems and related machinery.
In the 1980s and 90s, the Chicago Board of Education was headquartered at 1819 W. Pershing, two miles further west, in the former Army Quartermaster Depot.
In the 1980s and 90s, the Chicago Board of Education was headquartered at 1819 W. Pershing, two miles further west, in the former Army Quartermaster Depot.
Re: 310 w. Pershing Road (39th st)
Posted by:
captain54
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: December 12, 2009 02:23AM
Google Map 310 W Pershing and you get an empty lot....Google Map 330 W Pershing and you get an old building that looks like it could have been an old school or administration building.
The Board of Elections still uses space at 1869 W Pershing, but the BOE vacated 1819 W Pershing in the mid 90's
1819 W Pershing is an address I'll never forget. That's where I was told to report to register for the draft in 72', right before the end of the Vietnam War. I read somewhere that it was a recruitment and registration center for the Department of Defense during WW II as well..
The Board of Elections still uses space at 1869 W Pershing, but the BOE vacated 1819 W Pershing in the mid 90's
1819 W Pershing is an address I'll never forget. That's where I was told to report to register for the draft in 72', right before the end of the Vietnam War. I read somewhere that it was a recruitment and registration center for the Department of Defense during WW II as well..
Re: 310 w. Pershing Road (39th st)
Posted by:
Richard Stachowski
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Date: December 13, 2009 12:25AM
It must be 330 W. Pershing. The building looks like it was a school. Has it ever been a school?. I looked it up in" Polk's 1928-29 chicago directory on line and it didn't show anything at that address.
Re: 310 w. Pershing Road (39th st)
Posted by:
nvaughn
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Date: December 13, 2009 12:42AM
Not terribly relevant, but the school-like building at 330 W. Pershing was demolished in early 2009. Some interior photos on flickr, shot by a friend:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/statlerhotel/sets/72157600393057593/
Obviously it had been vacant for some time, and it's hard to say what the building was last used for, or if it ever was a school.
Neat little building, though.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/statlerhotel/sets/72157600393057593/
Obviously it had been vacant for some time, and it's hard to say what the building was last used for, or if it ever was a school.
Neat little building, though.
Re: 310 w. Pershing Road (39th st)
Posted by:
Mr Downtown
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Date: December 13, 2009 10:45PM
I'm not sure how to be any more clear about this. The three-story building at 300 (or 310 or 318 or 330) West Pershing was the office headquarters of the Link-Belt Co, built in 1920. It was never a school. It was never owned by the Board of Education. It was never a parochial school, a kindergarten, a junior college, a conservatory, a gymnasium, a training academy, or any other sort of pedagogical institution. Here's the fire insurance map, probably from the 1950s:
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/2009 10:56PM by Mr Downtown.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/2009 10:56PM by Mr Downtown.
Re: 310 w. Pershing Road (39th st)
Posted by:
nvaughn
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: December 14, 2009 12:45AM
Thanks for the clarification, and for going through the trouble of looking up/posting the fire insurance map. I think the confusion over the exact address may have thrown some people (like, um, me) off.
Re: 310 w. Pershing Road (39th st)
Posted by:
captain54
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Date: December 14, 2009 01:45AM
thanks for the info Mr D...the old address for Link Belt is 300 W Pershing, but if you Google map that you get nothing....and technically, the old building entrance is at 330 W Pershing.
Re: 310 w. Pershing Road (39th st)
Posted by:
Mr Downtown
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Date: December 14, 2009 02:14AM
It's Google Maps that is throwing you off. Google uses reverse geocoding to automatically assign approximate addresses to photo locations, but those can't be relied on very heavily. Like most automated mapping programs, it also assumes that addresses are distributed evenly, --00 to --98, along a block. But Chicago addresses traditionally had only 34 addresses per short block and never went past --68 except on diagonals. Merely checking Google Maps or the Street View variation tells you nothing at all about what address a particular building uses.
Re: 310 w. Pershing Road (39th st)
Posted by:
bwalsh
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Date: December 15, 2009 12:34AM
I couldn't figure out how to cut and paste the article that I found regarding Link Belt Co.'s purchase of the property on Pershing Rd, so I'll summarize.
This was in the Chicago Tribune Aug. 6, 1914.
Link Belt Co. Buys City Block - pays $95,000 for property bounded by Stewart and Princeton and 38th and 39th sts. The property was acquired from Bernhard Rosenberg and Maurice Rosenfeld et al. The entire property was originally purchased by the Rosenfeld and Rosenberg families in 1854. The property was at one time occupied by a ball park by the American league baseball club.
Then in 1920, Link-Belt began construction of a $320,000 administration building adjoining the plant.
So, it appears that it was definitely always a manufacturing plant at that location.
This was in the Chicago Tribune Aug. 6, 1914.
Link Belt Co. Buys City Block - pays $95,000 for property bounded by Stewart and Princeton and 38th and 39th sts. The property was acquired from Bernhard Rosenberg and Maurice Rosenfeld et al. The entire property was originally purchased by the Rosenfeld and Rosenberg families in 1854. The property was at one time occupied by a ball park by the American league baseball club.
Then in 1920, Link-Belt began construction of a $320,000 administration building adjoining the plant.
So, it appears that it was definitely always a manufacturing plant at that location.
Re: 310 w. Pershing Road (39th st)
Posted by:
captain54
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: December 15, 2009 03:47AM
the American League Baseball Club (Chicago White Sox) played at South Side Park, from 1900-1910, and it was located north of Pershing, between Princeton and Wentworth. It was used by the Negro League when the Sox moved to Comiskey Park in 1910, and burned in 1940. It's now the site of Wentworth Gardens Housing Project
the Link Belt administration building was west of Princeton....between Princeton and Stewart....
so Link Belt and South Side Park were across the street from one another
the Link Belt administration building was west of Princeton....between Princeton and Stewart....
so Link Belt and South Side Park were across the street from one another
Re: 310 w. Pershing Road (39th st)
Posted by:
Serhii
(Moderator)
Date: December 15, 2009 08:47PM
The best way to determine exact addresses is to use the City's zoning map: http://maps.cityofchicago.org/website/zoning/
Re: 310 w. Pershing Road (39th st)
Posted by:
Mr Downtown
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Date: December 15, 2009 11:12PM
I find the "kiosk" interface much faster to use and easier to read. It comes from the same structure database, though.
http://maps.cityofchicago.org/kiosk/mpaddress.jsp?maptype=mapsplats_structures
http://maps.cityofchicago.org/kiosk/mpaddress.jsp?maptype=mapsplats_structures
Re: 310 w. Pershing Road (39th st)
Posted by:
mikedesplaines
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Date: December 15, 2009 11:38PM
I am new to this site and I have an old Link Belt catalog from 1954. The address of all the Link Belt offices are listed inside the cover, and the Chicago office is listed as 301 w Pershing Road and their phone number was Atlantic 5-4401. I have an old computer and an old scanner and I tried to send the page over, and was having problems copying and pasting the information. I really enjoy this site. Mike from Des plaines.
Re: 310 w. Pershing Road (39th st)
Posted by:
Mr Downtown
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Date: December 16, 2009 12:59PM
That's curious. The 1925 Sanborn's map shows only shop operations on that side of Pershing, though those shops had a connection to a different railroad. Perhaps the south side was the original plant and the expansion and office building on the even-numbered side of the street came later, in the 20th century.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/2009 01:44PM by Mr Downtown.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/2009 01:44PM by Mr Downtown.
