if you're looking for any kind of historical info, "Google Books" is a great feature to check with, if nothing comes up in a conventional websearch. thousands of books, documents and publications are there in a searchable database, some full-view, some partial, some as snippets. when i could come up with virtually nothing about that old Isolation Hospital at 35th and Lawndale, i found a relative treasure trove on Google Books.

when i noticed a neighborhood of densely-packed diagonal streets showing up on pre-1871 maps, just northwest of where Bridgeport is, i was curious what it was called and what became of it. turns out it was the proposed town of Canalport, which was platted but never built. even the Encyclopedia of Chicago website didn't have any info on that - but Google Books had a legal document from 1865.

try it out.