Crow, if you mean the statue that is on Archer, just west of Willow Springs Rd on the south side of the street - that is a memorial to the CCC workers. There was a camp close to that spot, I believe. At any rate, I remember going to see the statue the day it was dedicated, although I missed the ceremony as I had the times wrong.
Forum: General Discussion

Wow, I would say it's sort of heartbreaking. My parents would have been around that area at that time. That was actually the year before they met. It just seems that so many of the places that were a vibrant, important part of Chicago are just disappearing and apparently for no good reason as the empty plot of land attests to in the second picture. 63rd St was like downtown to them at that time -
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Does anybody remember or know of a row of buildings on the southside known as the Horseshoe Buildings or Horseshoe Flats? I remember my dad driving me past these once years and years ago. They may have been torn down. I believe they were close to the Visitation/St John of God/St Basil's neighborhood. They were like townhouses in a way - built right next to each other, but with their own doorways w
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I remember another restaurant that used to be in Marina City - Johnny Lattner's. Have been in there on St Patrick's Day a few times with my dad, who was on the parade committee. Johnny Lattner always matched in the parade. I also used to skate at that rink sometimes on a Sunday - my parents would bring me downtown so I could skate. Not sure if I would classify these as 'great', but I remember ea
Forum: General Discussion

I understand that the sign was sold to a guy in Indiana for $500.00, supposedly for the Sign Musuem there. Hopefully that is true. There was a picture of the sign on a flatbead truck (carefully packed) on Flickr, so appears to be headed somewhere.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

I couldn't figure out how to cut and paste the article that I found regarding Link Belt Co.'s purchase of the property on Pershing Rd, so I'll summarize. This was in the Chicago Tribune Aug. 6, 1914. Link Belt Co. Buys City Block - pays $95,000 for property bounded by Stewart and Princeton and 38th and 39th sts. The property was acquired from Bernhard Rosenberg and Maurice Rosenfeld et al. The
Forum: General Discussion

I was thinking of this not too long ago actually. At the time of the '67 Blizzard, we had 2 Jewels, the A&P and 3 National Tea stores, plus a butcher shop within our mile square neighborhood (76th to 87th and Cicero to Pulaski). I am probably forgetting one or two small stores. Not to mention the ones that fell just outside the perimeter of the 'hood.
Forum: General Discussion

Wimpy's! Definitely remember them. I don't know if I ever ate at any of the downtown locations. But I do remember eating in the one in Evergreen Plaza. You are right, don't think they were unique to Chicago. There was a chain of Wimpy's in England as a matter of fact, but I don't know if they were the same or just a knock-off with the same name. I saw them there the first time I went over in 1980.
Forum: General Discussion

Great picture Mr. Downtown. Captain, in this case, I think that the black color of the bridge really stands out against the background color of the sky and the buildings in a good way. Makes it seem more powerful and is a symbol of what made this city what it is - railroads and industry put Chicago on the map so to speak. I am one of those that can see beauty in abandoned buildings. Usually
Forum: General Discussion

Hmmmm.... when I went into newschicago.org and plugged in 5101 S Keeler, it came back to Austenal, Inc. They did have a few plants located around the Chicagoland area though, so this may not be the one that is pictured. Now I'm curious - can't really get a chance to take a ride over there now until Friday, as it will be dark by the time I get out of work and won't be able to see the whole building
Forum: General Discussion

Myrick, Hayford, Reilly, Pippin and Crestline are a few that come to mind. Beth
Forum: General Discussion

Post 3940 is the John E. Connolly - Victory Post. That's the first post my dad joined when he was just out of the Navy after WW II. The first 2 pics look like the houses in Chrysler Village. In fact the one address can clearly be seen - 6420. The building with the Austenal name could be the plant that is located at 5101 S Keeler. It is a dental supply company. TWA did in fact fly out of M
Forum: General Discussion

Great! Glad to be of help. I would love to see those other pictures, btw. Still working on the guy in the hat and the fire though? Beth
Forum: General Discussion

You know, I just had a thought and googled it to double-check. Could the guy with the beard standing by the supposed ticket booth be a picture taken at the House of David up in Benton Harbor Michigan? There were excursion boats that went across the lake back then to Benton Harbor. The House of David members were known for their long hair and beards. They maintained an amusement park, zoo and minia
Forum: General Discussion

Looking back for some more info on Tootsie Roll, I found a story with the owners and Mayor Daley when they signed the lease for an 800,000 sf plant to be located at the Cicero Ave site. It didn't give a specific street address, but did mention the location of the former Ford Plant. This was in Sept 1964. Most likely then, they decided to move the executive offices there a few years later in 1970.
Forum: General Discussion

You are right Richard. According to various news stories on the Chicago Tribune Historical Archive database, the Tucker Plant address was 7401 S Cicero (this was in an ad from 1947). Then in April 1970, it appears that Tootsie Roll moved their executive offices to 7401 S Cicero. That surprised me as I thought Tootsie Roll was there much longer. I guess from passing it everyday, it seems like it's
Forum: General Discussion

The original Berghoff, Mayor's Row, Councillor's Row. All the various restaurants that were in Marshall Field's. There was a place across from the Daley Center on Randolph that you had to walk downstairs - it was sort of like a country western decor - can't recall the name. Also, another place that used to have more than one location (Nicky's, Ricky's - a person's name) where you could see the ste
Forum: General Discussion

The theater picture I believe may be either the Lamar or the Lake St Theater in Oak Park. The Lamar had both movies playing there on Oct 15 1940 and the Lake played them Oct 20 1940. I am leaning more toward the Lake though. They were both located on Lake St and Marion in Oak Park and the Wieboldt's store was at Lake and Harlem.
Forum: General Discussion

I too tried to find some information about the observation deck. Didn't find this one I don't think, but I did find out something interesting. In Dec 1957 there was an observation area on the 9th floor roof of the Edgewater Beach Hotel. It was a satellite tracking headquarters for Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan. They had 2 50ft long platforms each supporting 10 telescope stands. If the
Forum: General Discussion

There was a Millionaire's Club in the Ford City Shopping Mall also. That is on the SW side of the city. My parents were members and I remember going there for dinner. I may be wrong, but seem to remember that they had a location downtown also.
Forum: General Discussion

Bruce, I used to go ice skating at the Willow Ice Chalet (now it's a sports center) which is on the NW corner of German Church and Wolf Rds. Coming out late at night I always got the creeps. As you know, it was no where near as built up then as it is now. But I thought where the bodies were found was on the south side of German Church, across from the entrance to the Chalet, no?
Forum: General Discussion

I always liked that building, especially the two different colored bricks used. My earliest memory of it was when I was about 2 years old and my dad was in the hospital. They would not allow children up into the wards, so my mother would bring me to a spot outside and we would stand outside and wave up at him in his room. Then, and this will show my age, she took me across to Evergreen Plaza to Th
Forum: General Discussion

I can't believe that I didn't see any of these articles! Here's a link to one that was in the Southtown Star Dec 7 2007: http://www.lcmh.org/documents/Tranformation/120707.PDF They also razed 15 homes to accomodate the project. Wow.
Forum: General Discussion

I know this is actually in Evergreen Park, but thought it relevant. LCM Hospital was built in the 1930s and the main building is really impressive, in the shape of a cross. Unfortunately, I found out today that it is going to be torn down!!!! The hospital itself isn't going anywhere, they are building newer, more modern buildings - ugh. Coincidentally, I was driving on 95th St yesterday and notici
Forum: General Discussion