Questions and Answers (Q&A) Forgotten Chicago Forum
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Railroad Tracks Underneath Elston Ave.
Posted by:
Chicago1996
()
Date: March 10, 2015 01:18PM
Hey guys! I'm new to the website and I was wondering what rail line use to occupy the area before the big box stores came around (I was wondering it might have a connection to the former Brand Brewing Company).
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Re: Railroad Tracks Underneath Elston Ave.
Posted by:
PKDickman
()
Date: March 10, 2015 03:37PM
There were several sidings off those tracks back when it was an industrial area, but the one for Brand brewing dead ended inside it's facility before crossing Elston.
Judging by the location of your photo, I'd say that was the one that crossed Elston to the Hettler lumber mill.
Here are a couple of resources that you can see its history when you learn to use them.
[url=http://www.historicaerials.com/]Historic aerials[/url]
I usually put in a zipcode and walk over to the area I want look at.
[url=http://chicagoinmaps.com/sanbornsguide.html]Sanborn fire map guide[/url]
There's a link to Chi pub lib's Sanborn map collection in the upper left. If you have a library card you can access them.
It's kind of kludgy but you can figure it out.
Judging by the location of your photo, I'd say that was the one that crossed Elston to the Hettler lumber mill.
Here are a couple of resources that you can see its history when you learn to use them.
[url=http://www.historicaerials.com/]Historic aerials[/url]
I usually put in a zipcode and walk over to the area I want look at.
[url=http://chicagoinmaps.com/sanbornsguide.html]Sanborn fire map guide[/url]
There's a link to Chi pub lib's Sanborn map collection in the upper left. If you have a library card you can access them.
It's kind of kludgy but you can figure it out.
Re: Railroad Tracks Underneath Elston Ave.
Posted by:
Chicago1996
()
Date: March 10, 2015 07:04PM
Ah thanks! I never knew there was a lumber mill at the location, I thought it was something else. One mystery solved, many others to go.
Re: Railroad Tracks Underneath Elston Ave.
Posted by:
Kchi
()
Date: March 11, 2015 10:56AM
Here is a link to a article about Brand brewing with pictures that mentions the rail connection to the Chicago Northwestern.
https://sites.google.com/site/usbrewingcompany/
Found a Tribune article Oct 1916 which mentions that Hettler bought the property from Brand. The land consisted of 10.6 acres 110 feet NW of Snow street.
The lumber yard was at 2601 Elston. It was still operating as late as Sept 4 1965 Tribune article where there was a fire A fireman died of a heart attck while fighting the fire. Fire was seen for miles and started with a underground 1000 gallon gasoline tank.
There is a Tribune article with pictures dated Dec 13 1984 about the house the Hettlers lived in at 567 Hawthorne place. Inbedded in the article is some of the history of the company as early as the Columbian Exposition and mentioning that it became one of the biggest lumber company in the city providing the lumber for the State street subway, Wrigley building, Stone Container building and the Standard Oil building.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/2015 11:40AM by Kchi.
https://sites.google.com/site/usbrewingcompany/
Found a Tribune article Oct 1916 which mentions that Hettler bought the property from Brand. The land consisted of 10.6 acres 110 feet NW of Snow street.
The lumber yard was at 2601 Elston. It was still operating as late as Sept 4 1965 Tribune article where there was a fire A fireman died of a heart attck while fighting the fire. Fire was seen for miles and started with a underground 1000 gallon gasoline tank.
There is a Tribune article with pictures dated Dec 13 1984 about the house the Hettlers lived in at 567 Hawthorne place. Inbedded in the article is some of the history of the company as early as the Columbian Exposition and mentioning that it became one of the biggest lumber company in the city providing the lumber for the State street subway, Wrigley building, Stone Container building and the Standard Oil building.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/2015 11:40AM by Kchi.
