Posted by:
Berwyn Frank
(---.lightspeed.cicril.sbcglobal.net)
sanity94 Wrote:
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> OMG! This is so surprising to find out! Thank you
> so very much for the information and for the bonus
> stories.
>
> I have actually bought your book a couple of
> months back and I literally fell in love with it.
> I even showed it to my classmates in my high
> school because it showed a picture of the school
> we go to. Because of that book I am now more aware
> of the history behind my neighborhood and I feel
> HONORED that you were able to answer this
> question. Once again, thank you :).
Wow, you are very well written for a high school student, you should be proud. I hope information like this has inspired you to become interested in local history. [i]I[/i] am the one that's honored that you found the info interesting. I hope you share this info with your friends and neighbors in the area. Also, thanks for the info on the former Sima tailor shop, I didn't know it was going to become a community center, I'm glad it's not going to be torn down.
Troy St., along with other east end Little Village streets like Sawyer, Spaulding, and Christiana, Ave's. are so fascinating because of their lack of any sort of urban planning. There were residential, commercial, and manufacturing structures all built on the same block. This lends to the "gritty" atmosphere of those areas then as well as today. It also made the properties more affordable to immigrants then and now.
Here is one more bonus story about a building on Troy St. This circa 1908 image belongs to a friend of mine. This small store stood at 2428 S. Troy St. before it was torn down some time in the past. (Former address 1091 S. Troy St., the address numbering system was changed in Chicago in 1909.) It was a grocery store owned by Vaclav J. Suchy, a Bohemian immigrant. The small brick store was wedged between two tall frame buildings at 2426 and 2430 S. Troy St. By 1929 ownership had changed and it became Stanley Polkowski Grocery. The spot is now a parking area between the two large buildings.
2430 S. Troy St.
Vaclav J. Suchy Grocery, 2428 S. Troy St.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2015 12:32AM by Berwyn Frank.