Wardell--prices did inflate in that time period--it coincides with World War I. The European war began in August 1914, although the US didn't join until April 1917, but the European war affected the US economy in many ways. Among other problems: a) fewer new immigrants coming to the US after 1914, driving up labor costs (then, as now, employers could get away with paying new immigrants less than w
Forum: General Discussion

The demolition of the buildings you're referring to is probably closer to 40 or 50 years ago, rather than 20 or 30 years, because most urban renewal in that neighborhood took place in the 1950's and into the early 1960's. I'm pretty sure that the CHA senior citizens building that's now in that area was designed by Keck & Keck, but I'm not sure of the date it was built. Keck & Keck were ver
Forum: General Discussion

The building where Rose/Tower used to be is still standing--214 S. Wabash is the address. The building itself is 3 or 4 stories, not five or more (it's a small building in a block of taller buildings). I recall 2, possibly 3, floors with records and related material. If there's a 4th floor, it may have been used as office or storage space. I have no recollection of when Rose closed down and Tower
Forum: General Discussion

Around 1970, I knew a few folks who lived in that area. In my recollection, it was called "Juneway Jungle" (never just "the jungle"). As noted, it's the only part of Chicago north of Howard. My friends were college kids, hippies, political activists, and the like, and that area had very cheap housing (at the time--that's probably no longer true). The low rent attracted my frien
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

They are the drop boxes for mail delivery. I used to know some details of how they worked but I've forgotten. I believe that mail was sorted by delivery route and put in a large canvas bag, one bag per route. If one mail carrier had multiple routes (for example, one route on the east side of a street and then another on the west side), that would be two canvas bags. The carrier could pick up one b
Forum: General Discussion

midgedear--I think you're conflating several different pieces of information. Fort Dearborn was long gone by the time of the Civil War. During the Civil War, there was a military training center on the near south side called Camp Douglas (on property originally owned by Stephen A. Douglas), which also housed Confederate prisoners of war. Those who died as POW's were buried in Oak Woods Cemetary (6
Forum: General Discussion

For Hyde Park & Kenwood, specifically, a useful source is Jean Block's book "Hyde Park Houses" (published around 1980 by Univ. of Chicago Press), which discusses houses and apartment buildings from the early history of the community until 1910. One Appendix in the back of the book lists all the extant houses and apartment buildings (as of the date of publication) by street, and it gi
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Thanks, Tomcat. I couldn't read all the small print, like the 1976 on lower right. Richard J. was still mayor in '76, so that part makes sense. I assume what was done was to take data from 1950 (probably from the census) and reprint it later, which also includes changing the language (from Negroes to Blacks). Come to think of it, 1976 was the Bicentennial of the American revolution, and there were
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

I suspect that somebody "photoshopped" this, because there are several discrepancies here. The first thing I noticed was that one of the ethnic groups was labeled "black" but in 1950 the much more common expression was "Negro." Then I realized that the date on the top--1950--does not correspond to the Mayor's name--Richard J. Daley. Daley was elected in 1955; Martin K
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Some street name changes were indirectly related to the street numbering system changes. Many of the street name changes actually occurred a number of years later (into the 1920's) but for reasons that began earlier. Basically, because of Burnham and Bennett's Plan of Chicago, published in 1909, the Chicago Plan Commission was created (and still exists). The Plan Commission had a number of guideli
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

I think that term was not specific to Chicago. I recall reading it in the writings of Lincoln Steffens and other muckraking journalists of the early 20th century. Steffens was based in New York, and also wrote about political corruption in other cities as well (Cleveland, I think, and I don't remember where else).
Forum: General Discussion

Chicago Joe--I think you're referring to some of the buildings on the IIT campus, but I don't think it was a women's college (and certainly not the first in Illinois). Most people know about all the Mies van der Rohe buildings at IIT, but the campus does include a couple of red-brick, 19th century building from Armour Institute (predecessor of IIT). According to the listing in "AIA Guide to C
Forum: General Discussion

I was going to suggest Chicago Public Library or Chicago Historical Society, but that won't work if you can't travel here. You might ask your local public library if there's some way they can get you the material through interlibrary loan. If you know the exact date of the article and the name of the newspaper, your library may be able to borrow a microfilm copy for you to use at your library.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

for WayOutWardell--I'm not familiar with the area around 65th and Minerva, but from your description (and my knowledge of construction history), the stone sidewalk is probably slate. It was indeed used as a sidewalk material before concrete was commonly used (roughly, 1890's). Slate is a rock produced by the compression of clays and other rocks, and it typically cleaves into flat, fairly thin, lay
Forum: General Discussion

YounginChicago--if you really mean Logan Square, then you must mean NORTH Spaulding. East/west streets on the south side have numbers (some also have names), but there are no numbered streets on the north side. Spaulding is a north/south street, approximately 3300 west. On the south side, Spaulding intersects with 26th street in the Little Village neighborhood; on the north side, the street that r
Forum: General Discussion

greatzambo--the odor was probably because of the stockyards. The amphitheatre hosted all kinds of livestock shows, because of it's proximity to the stockyards, but the odor would not have stayed around after the livestock show was over. When I was a kid, living about 2 miles east of the stockyards, any strong west wind would bring that odor wafting over the south side.
Forum: General Discussion

Laramie State Bank, 5200 W. Chicago Ave., is listed in "AIA Guide to Chicago." The listing credits Meyer & Cook for the 1928 remodeling of what was originally a 1909 building. Probably the first photo posted here by Berwyn Frank is the 1909 building, which then got an exuberant Art Deco remodeling in 1928. The terra cotta is from the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company.
Forum: General Discussion

I'm a volunteer docent with Chicago Architecture Foundation. We used to have an Andersonville tour, and I still have my tour cards for that tour. My information is that the building dates to 1904, the original owner was a Dr. Christiansen, and the architect was George L. Pfeiffer. I think the Edgewater Historical Society may have more information.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

FranCarmen (re--your post dated 2/26) the Polk Brothers on Belmont that you're thinking of was a few blocks west of the "L" tracks, maybe Racine rather than Paulina. The building was still standing as of a few years ago--if I get a chance to wander arouund that neighborhood, I'll look for the building and let you know. I don't recall when Polk Bros. went out of business, but I remember
Forum: General Discussion

Actually, the buildings with the ice-box doors were "modern" (for the 1920's), so the ice-man did not have to carry ice across the kitchen floor, dripping water along the way. Buildings that pre-date WWI generally didn't have the ice-box door while post-war buildings usually did (like your 1922 building).
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

My grandparents lived in that neighborhood from the mid-1950's to about 1972, and I spent quite a bit of time there when I was a little kid (though I don't recall that particular factory). My grandparents lived about 2 blocks south of Irving Park; I think the street was Francisco. They lived in a brick "raised ranch" (as I now know this style of house is called) which was probably brand-
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

If 8035 Honore was the correct address, then it wasn't really on the west side but on the south side (Honore is a little past 1800 west, and this address would be 8000 south). Of course, there could be a discrepancy between the name and a new location; for example, the Old Town School of Folk Music hasn't actually been in Old Town for most of it's existence (it moved from Old Town to Lincoln Park
Forum: General Discussion

jjcairo--this is slightly off-topic but the Hyde Park building you refer to has commonly been known as "Monoxide Island" ever since it was built in the early 1960's. It's always very funny to talk to newcomers to Hyde Park who say something about "that building in the middle of the street" and I say, "You mean, Monoxide Island?" and the other person's eyes light up in
Forum: General Discussion

From the MSI website, it's not clear if the observation deck referred to was in existence from early in MSI's history, or was placed there specifically for viewing the U-505 installation. If it was a later placement, that would rule out MSI as the location of the photo from the time period (U-505 was first installed in the mid to late 1950's; I can't recall the date of the more recent moving). The
Forum: General Discussion