Yup. Oops.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Yes, a lot of the cartweb links seem to now be broken. I keep meaning to get in touch with the University of Alabama to see if they can fix those.
Forum: General Discussion

The article is about Central Station, not Grand Central Station.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Here's a finding aid I made: http://chicagoinmaps.com/sanbornsguide.html
Forum: General Discussion

You're not going to get permission from the alderman's office. I'm not even sure it's city property. But even if it is, official permission would require months of discussion among CDOT, the Law Department, and who knows who else. They've got lots of other things to worry about.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Unfortunately, RM maps of that era showed what streets where dedicated, not what streets actually existed. For confirmation, look at all the streets they show between Lake Calumet and Torrence—none of which have ever existed on the ground. Aerial photos, or the topo maps made from aerial photos, are the only reliable sources for questions of this type.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Well, the funny thing is that the migration stopped in the 1980s, and Roscoe's and Sidetrack have been in the same place for nearly 30 years!
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

New Town was used for the area around The Great Ace, at Clark, Diversey, and Broadway, in the 1970s-80s. I think the name was bestowed by gay bars that had migrated north from Old Town.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

The developers of Niles Center (as Skokie was known in the 1920s) wanted purchasers of lots in their subdivision to think it was just on the verge of rapid development, so they "seeded" many of the blocks with one bungalow or three-flat that would look right at home in Rogers Park. Then came the Depression and the war, and for two decades Skokie looked like this: Drive through
Forum: General Discussion

Along the lakefront, the Community Areas track pretty closely our perception of neighborhoods, but many of the inland designations (Lower West Side, New City, North Center) are catchalls of convenience. "Armour Square" is a perfect example of how much the Community Areas could be forced marriages. Even at the time it was drawn, it was a bizarre mashup of Chinese at the north, Italians
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

New railroads often found the easiest place to acquire a right-of-way was right next to another railroad. In the case of the North Shore, they expected to provide a different kind of service (frequent stops, several trains per hour) at lower fares. One of the factors hastening the demise of the North Shore and other interurbans was when state regulators set fares per mile the same for the steam
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

There's a subcontinental divide basically at Narragansett, but right around Addison there's actually a rock ledge (visible from the EB lanes) that had to be cut through. As for why underpasses vs. overpasses, I think the preexisting topography is only part of the story. The ease of elevating cross streets gets considered, along with the ease of closing or rerouting them during construction. Ther
Forum: General Discussion

Oh, I'm quite sure they were never built. It's always tricky for a mapmaker like me to know what streets to show for a given year. I recently did a map of the Union Stock Yards and, well, there's a lot of informed guesswork in trying to show the streets of the Town of Lake in 1865. Subdivision always ran decades ahead of actual development in Chicago, and commercial mapmakers just put in ever
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Look more closely. It also says CANALPORT.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Canalport was a now-forgotten subdivision (and possibly small settlement) on the north side of the river west of Ashland. As you might expect, Canalport Avenue led to it. The streets were all angled to match the canal, but that subdivision was later abandoned and traditional Chicago subdivisions (oriented to the section lines) built instead. It's easy to see on this 1863 map: http://www.lib
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

It was at 17 W. Randolph. Apparently closed in 1982.
Forum: General Discussion

Why is that unusual? The Fire was miles to the north. There must be dozens of pre-Fire buildings in Bridgeport and Pilsen.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

In 1960, the intersection looked almost exactly like it does now, except for the mansard roof on the V-tone. The mailbox was painted red on top, and the trees were smaller. Well, there might have been some elms that were actually larger. As for the mechanical controller, I think CDOT was still installing those well into the 1980s, maybe even the 1990s. You don't want anything unproven, unre
Forum: General Discussion

Chicago streets were built with patchwork of names, many of them duplicative. In the early 20th century, there was a movement to give those on "the same line" the same name. It wasn't totally successful, and some streets (1400W, for example) have as many as seven names. Name changes were resisted on arterial streets where businesses would have to change their addresses. In the case
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Your explanation is grounded in theory, but then you take it a bit too far. The Public Land Survey System includes correction lines, but (in our area) every 24 miles, not every 6 miles. North Avenue does NOT appear to be one of these.  The adjustments seen at the eastern end of the Will/Kankakee County line are a Chicago-area example of such correction lines. The Chicago area was surveyed i
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

The third rail would certainly raise some eyebrows, but remember that CTA train cars are functionally pretty similar to PCC streetcars: similar motors, braking, size, and weight. Not much like New York air-brake subway cars but very similar to the streetcars that operated in hundreds of cities, and the modern light rail systems that sometimes run in the middle of a street.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Test trains operated in the Congress median line for at least a week prior to the rerouting of the Garfield line on 22 June 1958. Perhaps the film was taken during that period. Seems like I saw such a shot recently, perhaps the Bill Hoffman footage shown at a recent CERA meeting.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

I've just been looking through the Tribune archives. Though the term is used for statistical references as early as 1888, and for the improv group from its founding, the first use as an appelation or nickname isn't until 1965. A.J. Liebling's 1952 book The Second City is usually given as the source of this usage.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

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Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

A century ago, pneumatic tube systems (for sending paperwork, cash, or small objects around a building) were fairly popular, but I can't think of any reason one would have been installed in what was essentially a hotel. In any case, those had tubes at least six inches in diameter. Medical office buildings (Willoughby, Pittsfield, Garland, etc.) had centralized compressed air systems, which wou
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Being Born Sculptor Virginio Ferrari Installed 1983 Description Stainless steel, granite, and water Dimensions 624.9 x 701 x 548.6 cm Donated to the people of Chicago by the Tooling and Manufacturing Association (previously known as the Tool and Die Institute). Initially located at the corner of State and Washington streets, 1983. Relocated in 1996, with the collaboration of Chicago Gatewa
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Any time you see those type of street trees, it's LA.
Forum: General Discussion

I'm confident it's the southwest corner, currently a parking lot. That's where the Galena & Chicago Union R.R.'s first depot was. See page 23: http://archive.org/stream/yesterdaytodayhi00chic#page/22/mode/2up
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

A drawing was displayed in a big Art Institute exhibit in the 1990s, so the catalogue Chicago Architecture and Design, 1923-1993: Reconfiguration of an American Metropolis contains this record: Belli and Belli. Plot plan and elevation of a house for St. Williams Parish, "The Miracle House," Armitage and Nordica streets, October 13, 1953. St. Williams, at Sayre and Wrightwood,
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

If you know the current name, the beauty of OSM is that you can correct the name yourself. I'm fairly new to OSM and I'm trying to find out the preferred practice for naming abandoned lines. Should it be the last name before abandonment or the original name or the name with the longest tenure?
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings