Questions and Answers (Q&A) Forgotten Chicago Forum
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Homes for Immigrants
Posted by:
nordsider
()
Date: February 24, 2014 02:14PM
Maybe the answer to this question is too oblivious and simple to ask; but who built, and owned, the homes that many immigrants lived in when they arrived in Chicago in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?
I presume the canal workers in the early days, were offered land or money by the government to settle along the canal route and present day Bridgeport; and a new wave of immigrants latter moved in to replace them.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2014 12:26PM by nordsider.
I presume the canal workers in the early days, were offered land or money by the government to settle along the canal route and present day Bridgeport; and a new wave of immigrants latter moved in to replace them.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2014 12:26PM by nordsider.
Re: Homes for Immigrants
Posted by:
davey7
()
Date: February 25, 2014 12:57PM
Developers - not so different from today, just on a much smaller scale and more fragmented, i.e. land was sold to builders rather than one entity doing both (oversimplified of course, but general idea). Investors bought the houses and rented them out, people with cash saved bought (the modern mortgage came much later).
Re: Homes for Immigrants
Posted by:
nordsider
()
Date: February 25, 2014 07:23PM
davey7 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Developers - not so different from today, just on
> a much smaller scale and more fragmented, i.e.
> land was sold to builders rather than one entity
> doing both (oversimplified of course, but general
> idea). Investors bought the houses and rented them
> out, people with cash saved bought (the modern
> mortgage came much later).
That explains why so many names appear attached to lands on early Chicago maps; probably the names New York or Eastern investors.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Developers - not so different from today, just on
> a much smaller scale and more fragmented, i.e.
> land was sold to builders rather than one entity
> doing both (oversimplified of course, but general
> idea). Investors bought the houses and rented them
> out, people with cash saved bought (the modern
> mortgage came much later).
That explains why so many names appear attached to lands on early Chicago maps; probably the names New York or Eastern investors.
Re: Homes for Immigrants
Posted by:
Elaine W
()
Date: February 25, 2014 07:39PM
Samuel E. Gross was one of the big developers in the late 19th, early 20th century. He did a lot of "workingman's cottages" in poor and immigrant neighborhoods, as well as Alta Vista Terrace for a much wealthier clientele. One good source of photos and other information is "Chicago--Growth of a Metropolis" by Harold Mayer and Richard Wade.
Re: Homes for Immigrants
Posted by:
nordsider
()
Date: February 26, 2014 10:35AM
Thank you for your reply Elaine W; The immigrants, and others, who were lured to Chicago for jobs, must have had hard times surviving.
Re: Homes for Immigrants
Posted by:
Mr Downtown
()
Date: February 26, 2014 12:48PM
Many immigrants were single men who lived in roominghouses or rented rooms in an immigrant family's house. When they'd saved enough, they would send for wife and family. There was a lot of doubling up, and a lot of backyard or basement "accessory units."
