A while back, I actually came across a few ads in the Tribune for The Quid's opening night while researching some local musician history; it gets mentioned in a 1961 issue of Billboard magazine, and then in September 1962 gets a longer mention in Jet Magazine - according to the article, it seems the owner didn't want to pay pianist Dorothy Donegan her contracted salary for her four week gig. She
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A photo of the Kiosk Sphinx just prior to demolition, 1957 Kiosk Sphinx
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Wow, are those great photos! Frank, you're right; the last photo was taken on Madison, at Keeler, viewed looking east. The Keller Corset shop at 4153 Madison and the building one door east are still standing - the corset shop is now a Jackson-Hewitt, according to the Google Street View. The son of the Keller Corset company founders was Sheldon Keller, a comedy writer who worked with Sid C
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Just a few more tidbits about names associated with the house's early years: -Jos. Hambleton and a Chalkley J. Hambleton were partners in forming the Cook County Abstract Company in 1885. Chalkley wrote a popular book about his time spent in the Pikes Peak gold rush of 1860 titled A Gold Hunter's Experience. -JH Braynard (see 1872 Tribune ad posted above) and Chalkley Hambleton are both lis
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House is still standing...lights are on in the upstairs room facing the street...
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Frank, re: the Anthony/Bailey ownership question...I found that both 2024 and 2028 (assume that's the address of the house/lot next door) were owned by Mr. Anthony. Maybe there was some sort of gentleman's agreement about tenancy and ownership.
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Any guess as to how old the cabinet is? An obituary for a Dr. John Benson shows up in an 1899 edition of The Medical Standard. Born in 1859, upon graduation from medical school entered service at the U.S. Marine Hospital in Chicago and in 1890 became the head physician at Dunning.
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Great photos as always, Frank! Even that light bulb and fixture on the rear of the house look ancient. Regarding the age/style - Mornac mentioned above 'Appalachian Italanate'; there are quite a few similar houses in style/size/adornment in Kentucky and Tennessee - living quarters, often two-stories, with a single story wing for the kitchen in back. In fact, some family members own property
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Did some searching...in the 1876 Lakeside Annual Directory, the residents of 281 Warren were Solomon, Samuel and Manny Witkowski and Joseph Hambleton. The Witkowskis are listed in the 1867 Business Directory Of Chicago as doing business out of 205 Clark St. Hambleton, a builder, is mentioned as residing at 281 Warren through at least 1892 and was a member of the Board Of Trade.
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There were a number of 'orange-rated' houses nearby from the 1870s that were demolished in the '90s...this one looks older than any of those. Wow. I gather the house with the interesting porch one door west is now gone? It's still there in Google Street View.
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Why is it being demolished?
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OK, just checked the 1911 address conversion info...19 Dearborn became 209 N. Dearborn.
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Not exactly 1903, but in 1894 they were located at 19 Dearborn St. Not sure where that would be after the address conversion.
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zorchvalve Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > There was a little shack on north ave between the > river bank and the railroad track that sold deep > fried shrimp and fish.I've never found a place > that could make the shrimp as good. Yes!! The one right underneath the concrete bridge cantilever? That place was good.
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Brilliant! Thanks!
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Does anyone know in what year Ballou Street was renamed Saint Louis Avenue? A 1979 history of Logan Square says that the name changed happened when the area was annexed to Chicago in 1889, but I've seen Ballou Street mentioned as late as the 1930s.
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I heard at one time of plans to change the route of the tracks due to the airport expansion, so maybe that overpass is a first stage of that work. I'm surprised they built the tracks over the road instead of the the road going under the tracks, as is currently being built near the Ford plant in Hegewisch.
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Here's a photo looking south towards Diversey from about Woodard St, where you can see a billboard for the Klaus store: Diversey, Kimball & Milwaukee, 1963 My older cousins lived at St. Louis and Schubert until about 1981, and I remember tagging along with them to the Woolworth's and a Ben Franklin across Kimball; it seems like that Gap store has been there forever, too.
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You might want to try the fantastic online 1928 Polks Directory - it will show you the names of the residents who lived there that year. It might not help determine the original builder, but it's still quite interesting to see. As far as the balcony question; it looks as though the building is oriented east/west even though it has apartments on the Winona side - so, the Kenmore side was prob
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Welby Clock...was that the factory just east of the river on the north side of Fullerton, where the shopping center is now?
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Really cool! The Wikipedia entry for Maywood mentions 1940 as the date when the 33rd Tank Company of the Illinois National Guard became Company B of the 192nd Tank Battalion. The former armory is visible via Google Street View at the SE corner of Madison at Greenwood.
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In a scene from one of the early episodes of the show 'Crime Story', there's a Darrin parked in the driveway of the house of one of the Outfit bosses.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

There's a barber shop on Grace, just east of Bell, on the south side of the street off the alley - looks like it might have been a garage at one point, but the shop looks like it's been there for a long time.
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The houses in my neighborhood were built when both gas and electric lighting were available - I discovered original gas lines and knob & tube wiring going to the same fixture spots (ceilings, wall sconces) while doing renovation work. In that same era, for a short time, there were combination gas/electric light fixtures - the gas arm pointed up and the electric arm pointed down.
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The kids in my dad's neighborhood went to the 152 Theater on Division, and in my mom and her friends went to the Biltmore further west on Division. I came along after most of the older theaters were gone, but some were still operating when I was a kid - I saw my first movie at the Gateway, my aunt took me to the Will Rogers fairly regularly and I did go to the Woods and the United Artists onc
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From what I can find, Dr. P.L. (Percival Lemon) Clark was a health practitioner who advocated strenuous physical activity and a strict diet of whole grains. He had a radio show in the '20s to advance his regimen for health, stating 'the whiter your bread, the quicker you're dead.' The facility on Prairie is listed in the 1928 Polks Directory as The Health House, with Clark and another doctor, An
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

querencia Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My neighbor owns a book on Chicago's > cemeteries---title is something like Graveyards of > Chicago---that says German Catholics did not want > to be buried with Irish Catholics so St Boniface > Cemetery (Clark & Lawrence) was begun as a > strictly German cemetery. That's a good book, definit
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Does anyone remember a stop in Chicago by the truck hauling the house carved from a single log? I remember walking through it once or twice when it was in town, but I was very young so most of the details escape me (except that it didn't smell good once inside).
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I came across one at 5117 S. Ingleside. It's still being used as a store (it was an A&P according to the 1928 Polk's Directory); it's a single-story building surrounded by two-flats.
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Not sure about the vents nor stairwell, but info on the Central Station remnants is here: Central Station Fragments Somewhat related, there are remnants of the other big ICRR facility at 63rd Street - on the west side of the track embankment still stand some girders from the station/accounting office building.
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