Celticjunker, yes, that was a phenomenon in a lot of late 19th-century immigrant neighborhoods that were tremendously populated and they needed every inch of space. You can see that two-houses-per-lot construction a lot in Pilsen and in Wicker Park/Bucktown too. Also in some places in Lincoln Park. These are not "coach houses" but full-size houses (sometime even three-story buildings) on
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Halsted was the eastern border of the stockyards. Many of those warehouses could have been meat-associated.
Forum: General Discussion

I happen to live in a bungalow built in 1930 that has three bedrooms - the third one is in the back, next to the enclosed porch. It seems like it was built this way - there is no evidence that the back room was added or that it was enclosed - the construction is seamless all the way around. It is the only bungalow I know that is built this way. The back room also has six windows and a VERY large r
Forum: General Discussion

There is a map of sites related to Algren here: http://www.nelsonalgren.org/map.htm I know his family home on S. King Drive is still standing - it was for sale a couple years ago. His other boyhood home on N. Troy street (discussed in City on the Make) is also still standing.
Forum: General Discussion

A friend recalls going to a birthday party as a child, sometime in the late '70's or early '80's, that was held at a storefront space that he believes was somewhere on the northwest side, but he can't be sure. Wherever it was, the space was filled with toy/model race car sets which kids could use. That was the attraction and the theme of the birthday party: going to this space to race these mod
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Details on the Westchester branch of the EL: http://www.chicago-l.org/operations/lines/westchester.html
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On both sides of Rockwell between Montrose and Wilson there are similar pillars, all in very good condition, with street names on both sides. The most interesting ones are at one intersection (I think its Agatite?) where the pillar contains the old street name, which I don't recall at the moment.
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Wardell - that Ingleside store was the one I was thinking about in my original post, but I mistakenly had remembered it being further south. Thanks for the correction. ChiTown and Mornac - A lot of these businesses were candy stores etc. across from schools. Most of those are gone now. I looked on Streetview and I think I identified the building where that Keeler store was. If you look careful
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JimCina - I was near the area the other day and checked out Melvina, and noticed that a two-block or so stretch of Indian Road along the golf course is also vacated and grassed in. Was it like that when you lived there? Or was Melvina the only "street" with no vehicle access? Along both Melvina and especially along Indian Road, there are still City streetlights, even though there is n
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Thanks for all the posts. Just a note that this post was intended to focus on businesses (stores, bars, offices, etc.) in the MIDDLE of a side-street block. Businesses on the corner of two side streets are also really cool, and are definitely a dying breed, but there are probably many more of those in the city than there are mid-block, side street businesses. I still need to track down the
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Thanks for the info, JimCina, and thanks for pointing out the Melvina situation. I never knew about those houses before. I wonder if people on Melvina objected to having traffic come right off Devon onto their block, and got the street vacated or never built. With regard to the Seeley houses, I'd be interested if anyone had any information as to what those houses were/who lived there/were they
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Was recently on the east side of the Robert A. Black Golf Course (formerly Edgewater Country Club as chronicled here) and found that Seeley Avenue is discontinuous as it borders the course on the east. It runs north to about three houses south of Albion avenue. North of these three houses, Seeley intersects with Albion (which dead-ends into the golf course) and then continues north. But these thre
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Lots of great posts. Yes, Kelly's Tavern is the Canaryville bar. I'll try to track down the precise addresses of the businesses I mentioned in my original post, other than Kelly's.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

The "Old Rare Chicago Restaurants" thread calls to mind a phenomenon that I've always found intriguing: middle-of-block businesses on side streets. There are not too many of these, at least anymore. Perhaps there were once more. Off the top of my head, I can think of the following: there is an Irish bar in Canaryville, there is a store on Erie a couple of blocks west of Ashland, and ther
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From Streetview it looks like the Chase address is the lobby of what would be a new apartment building in 1929. A lot of those apartment buildings at that time in that area had businesses on the lower floors, and many still exist. The Noble address was just south of Chicago avenue. It looks like there is a new building there now. The Wolcott address is the most intriguing as it is on a side
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Yes, the object in the photo is the structure. Thanks for finding and posting.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

No, I do not have a picture. If you look on any online satellite map site you can see something just after the shoreline turns eastbound for that short stretch. It looks like a large pile of rocks from above, which I guess is what it is, in a sense.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

I recently visited Northerly Island on a beautiful spring day. All along the eastern side of the island are rocks and stones, somewhat like what you'll find all along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Chicago, but it seemed like there were more intact pavers and recognizable bricks and stones from houses than there are in other places, including pieces of bathroom floor tile still stuck to concrete.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Thanks for all the helpful and informative replies. Does anyone know who owns the land? Is it the Water Reclamation District? Does anyone know who has access to the field now? Can you just go and play on it? Or is it locked and only open to those in the approved leagues, etc.? Its weird that it hasn't become part of the Park District or has some other type of identifiable existence like Thillen
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This was inspired by the "Sparta Stadium" thread: Recently on Google Maps and streetview I noticed a large soccer field located behind the Western Avenue Pumping Station at 4933 S. Western. If you look on streetview you can see that the field is elevated, as if it is set up above the water pipes/tanks connected to the station. Does anyone know about the history of this field and o
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Was taking the shortcut north behind Lane Tech the other day and looked into the woods in Clark Park along the river and saw what looked like several 3-6 foot high "mounds" of varying shapes and sizes, all within the woods. It looked like it may have been a DIY dirt bike or skater area. Definitely looked to have some human shaping, rather than natural growth. Anyone know anything about t
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

jak378 - Too bad about the Western memorial post. If you are ever up north, check out the one on Irving west of Broadway (near the Byron's hot dog stand). Last time I checked, it was still there and well-maintained. As I mentioned above, it is not on a corner but in the middle of a block.
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jak378 - the one I remember near Augusta and Laramie was in the middle of the block, not on a corner, and right in front of a home. The one that is still standing on Irving is also not on a corner. One of my friends lived at 33rd and Western in the '80's, and I think I remember the one you mentioned there too.
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The reason why the building in the photo above does not resemble the postcard building is that they are apparently not the same building. According to the AIA Guide to Chicago, p. 267, there are two structures in Humboldt Park known as "Refectory;" the one pictured above in the photo taken by graylander was designed by Michelsen & Rognstad and built in 1928. The other one (on the
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Great Reader essay by Upski Wimsatt about the "South Loop" in general - this area included - in the late '80's and early '90's, after the railroads had largely left but before development had occurred: http://m.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-urban-frontier/Content?oid=878644 The same essay appeared a few years later in Wimsatt's book Bomb the Suburbs.
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FranCarmen, I read all your blog posts about the MTS - thanks so much. Thanks for correcting me re: the tower - not a crematorium. In defense of the guide, however, she did not purport to know everything about the facility and was not attempting to sensationalize anything about the property - she was passing on what she heard and was not representing it as authoritative. Thanks also for the li
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Also, there are several photos of the MTS available in the American Memory Database - specifically, the Daily News collection: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/ichihtml/cdnhome.html Search by Keyword e.g., "Tuberculosis" or "Sanitarium" etc. Also, our guide mentioned that the tower pictured above was part of a crematorium. She indicated that there were numerous gh
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Thanks for the great information. I will try to post when I hear the next tour of this sort. The Nature center offers dozens of free nature walks and other programs, but this is the first I've seen that explored the human remnants/traces aspect of the facility. The Nature Center website is here: http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/parks.detail/object_id/357f21a6-1198-42c6-94
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Went on a walk today at the North Park Village Nature Center that was designed to highlight some of the remnants/traces of human activity in what is now the nature preserve. Many remnants/traces of the former tuberculosis sanitarium, including the foundations of demolished cottages (one now inhabited by a family of raccoons), portions of sidewalk, and sewer manholes in woodland groves. The mos
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Tim62b - I believe that is what jak378 is thinking of too. My grandparents lived at Augusta and Laramie in the '70's and there was a bare, stripped cement column that had once been one of those monuments still standing along Augusta there in the '70's. That would have been a few blocks west of the one pictured in your post. I believe there is one surviving example of these memorials, along Irv
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