Peterson Park was the Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium. The orphanage at 51st and King was the Chicago Orphan Asylum, later the Parkway Community House and now the Chicago Baptist Institute, and on the southwest corner of 47th and Vincennes, the Ryerson Old Peoples Home Of Chicago has been converted into apartments.
There was a large orphanage on the norht side called Angel Guardian. I think it is now Misericordia home. My sociology class visted Angel Guardian in high school. Very sad; very institutional.
There was and still is Maryville orphanage in DesPlaines on River Road. Large campus.
Park Ridge has a small residential school on Prospect Ave. simply called the Youth Campus.
There was an orphanage called St. Hedwig's at the corner of Harlem and Touhy in Niles. Condos stand there now and prior to that it was Niles College, a Catholic Seminary.
It's not a comprehensive list, but there's an article on Orphanages at the chicago encyclopedia: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/937.html
Here's a link to a much longer list: http://genealogytrails.com/ill/cook/1928asylums.html
The Nathan Marks Orphan Home was a home for orphaned Jewish children from 1912-1946 at 1550 S. Albany. The home is still in use, I believe as a nursing home.
> There was an orphanage called St. Hedwig's at the
> corner of Harlem and Touhy in Niles. Condos stand
> there now and prior to that it was Niles College,
> a Catholic Seminary.
I remember it in its last role as the seminary. Never knew it was built as an orphanage; I remember thinking it did look like an old school of some kind.
There was an orphanage on the south west corner of Foster and California.The name was something like Chapin I believe, but may be wrong. Swedish Convenant expanded and covered up the orphanage facade but I recently talked to someone who had been in the building some years ago and saw that part of the orphage was intact behind the hospital facade.
Another institution was on St. Louis just north of Foster, on what is now property belonging to Northeastern Illinois University. As a child I remember seeing that the residents farmed the land,but I'm not sure what type of facility this was.
There was also a home for unwed pregnant young women on Pulaski south of Foster.
Lastly I don't quite know the history but the property that was Martha Washington Hospital, on Irving Park, may have had some kind of home for mentally disabled patients.
>
> Lastly I don't quite know the history but the
> property that was Martha Washington Hospital, on
> Irving Park, may have had some kind of home for
> mentally disabled patients.
Martha Washington Hospital originally began in the
mid 19th century as the Washingtonian Home, an organization
dedicated to the treatment of the drunken and alchoholic
Their facility was at Madison and Ogden. In 1881, the Martha
Washington Home for Women was established at the then rural
location of Irving Park and Western. In 1925 both mens and
women's facilities merged at the Lakeview location and it
operated as a general hospital. In 1957 a new, modern facility
was built specializing in the treatment of the alcoholic.
Established in 1865 by the five German Roman Catholic parishes of the city to safeguard the German cultural heritage of their dependent children, Angel Guardian Orphanage was one of the largest residential child care homes in Chicago. Initially, the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ were recruited from Germany to take charge of the facility, located on a 40-acre site at 2001 Devon Avenue. Affected by the wider social welfare debate between institutionalization and home placement, the orphanage changed after 1916 to a “cottage system” in which a small group of children shared a single living quarters and dining facility. In 1973 the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services took a stance in favor of home placement and cut Angel Guardian's subsidies. The orphanage ended its program of child care in 1974 and in 1975 the Misericordia Home for Special Children took over the site, subsequently renamed Misericordia Home North.
There is also a website of children who went there.
www.angelguardianorphanage.com
The Bulls used to practice in AGO's gym until they moved to the Multiplex in Deerfield in the early '80s. The gym was demolished in the mid '90s to make way for a fitness center.
FranCarmen Wrote:
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> There was an orphanage on the south west corner of
> Foster and California.The name was something like
> Chapin I believe, but may be wrong. Swedish
> Convenant expanded and covered up the orphanage
> facade but I recently talked to someone who had
> been in the building some years ago and saw that
> part of the orphage was intact behind the hospital
> facade.
>
> Another institution was on St. Louis just north of
> Foster, on what is now property belonging to
> Northeastern Illinois University. As a child I
> remember seeing that the residents farmed the
> land,but I'm not sure what type of facility this
> was.
>
> There was also a home for unwed pregnant young
> women on Pulaski south of Foster.
>
> Lastly I don't quite know the history but the
> property that was Martha Washington Hospital, on
> Irving Park, may have had some kind of home for
> mentally disabled patients.
Yes it was Chapin Hall I was a resident there from 1971 -1975 Ohhh the memories!!!
Chapin Hall Orphanage Chicago Il. Alumni Facebook Group
Chapin Hall’s roots go back to 1860, when it was founded as the Chicago Nursery and Half-Orphan Asylum. For the next 100 years, it flourished as a group home for the city’s disadvantaged children. During that period, it was sustained largely through the generosity of private donors. http://www.chapinhall.org/about/history
It later became known as Chapin Hall home for Children 2800 Foster Ave N
I was in this institution for 5 years from 1971-1975 (Age 7-11)
It has now been demolished. What a shame!!
Chapin Hall Orphanage Chicago Il. Alumni Facebook Group
Does anybody have any information on the TB Sanitariums that existed on Cermak nr Harlem in North Riverside, And the one on 13200-13300 S.Brandon in Hegewisch. And when they closed down?.
Thanks throwawaychild,
I have been trying to remember the name of that orphanage for some time now. I dated a girl from there when I was in high school with her at Amundsen High in 1973.
@ FranCarmen,
I remember that being completely leveled when they tore down Chapin Hall. It was a vacant lot for a while. They probably salvaged part of the building when taking it down.
You can check on the property from the air from 1939 to the present time on:
http://www.historicaerials.com/
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2012 09:37PM by rjmachon.
Does anyone know about "Dr Clark's Sanatarium" which was at 2637 S. Prairie Ave in Chicago? My great grandmothers death certificate said she died there in 1925. I cannot find anything online about it. When I googled that address, an architectural website said there was a house there that belonged to a Thomas R. Burch. But nothing about him or a connection to Dr Clark. P.L. Clark. thanks
From what I can find, Dr. P.L. (Percival Lemon) Clark was a health practitioner who advocated strenuous physical activity and a strict diet of whole grains. He had a radio show in the '20s to advance his regimen for health, stating 'the whiter your bread, the quicker you're dead.'
The facility on Prairie is listed in the 1928 Polks Directory as The Health House, with Clark and another doctor, Anne Goldberg, as residents.
I can't seem to find any photos of the Burch house itself, though.
[color=#FF0000][/color][i]Does anybody have any information on the TB Sanitariums that existed on Cermak nr Harlem in North Riverside, And the one on 13200-13300 S.Brandon in Hegewisch. And when they closed down?.[/i]
The sanitarium near Harlem and Cermak was purchased by Concordia Teachers College in the late 60's or early 70's. They used to house freshman and sophmore students there in the old buildings and bus them to the main campus in River Forest. The students referred to the location as the farm. The college sold the campus in the early 70's, it is now a shopping center and Sears is about were th buildings were - you can see some of the original trees still standing.
Concordia was never good a land purchases. Prior to building in River Forest they had a chance to build next to Lake Michigan near Evanston - they decided it would be too distracting for the students. They had a chance to buy the Priory on Harlem Ave next to the College and they turned that down also.
Concordia Teachers College became Concordia University.
As a child I was confined to a Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium at 31st and California in 1955-56. The buildings are still there and used by the Sheriff's Department. Everyone thinks the northside MTS facility is where everyone was sent but that was only true if you were 14 yrs or older. Children under 14 were sent to the southside facility. At the time I was there, only one building was occupied and the top 3 floors of the building were abandoned. The children were confined to floors one and two. Girls on one, boys on two. There was one room used on three for a multi-grade classroom. The only thing separating us from the Cook County jail (then called Bridewell) was a junk yard. Not a pleasant place and unlike the northside facility, we had no park like setting to go outside to. For some reason, this facility is largely forgotten but I don't know how many years it was in operation.
Artlover Wrote:
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> As a child I was confined to a Municipal
> Tuberculosis Sanitarium at 31st and California in
> 1955-56. The buildings are still there and used by
> the Sheriff's Department.
Also, before becoming part of the Sheriff's Campus, it was known as the Chicago Alcoholic Treatment Center (CATC).