Damn, looks like I am stalled until my contact comes back and lets me in. I am waiting for a warm day but nothing seems to win out. Mondays are best and who knows, if we get freak warm weather I am going down there before the place burns down. Every time I am down here, the right people aren't around or there is some kind of roadblock to getting me in the 2nd floor. I told the guy I am working
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I got all my info from the Tribune which was lacking. I know they knocked the shell down but I had no idea the building was that old.
Forum: General Discussion

OK, so it isn't Chicago, but it is Cook County, and I was sad to hear what happened... Another sad casualty of time and combustibles. The building is/was located at 3901 Joliet Avenue and had been empty for years. I am unable to find an accurate date of construction, but loopnet had it listed as 1870. Originally a hotel, it was used as a brewery by the same George Hoffmann who built the Cast
Forum: General Discussion

Wasn't there a TB hospital at 55th and County Line Rd right over the border in Hinsdale? I think Suburban Hospital is still there but they sold some of their land holdings to developers.
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The final 2 shots of JP Sousa make me think 1917-1918, final years of the war. Grant Park, the uniforms, the fact that every WW1 drive was hosted there.....
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Here is a trash pile shot from the backyard. All the small boxes and empty bottles are to cut heroin into a final, packaged product. Dormin is a sleep aid (Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride) that comes powdered in a capsule that the dealer adds per gram of unadulterated heroin. There are roughly 72 caps per bottle, so whoever is working here is moving some small weight. Lots of old soggy wood, gen
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Was down in the basement. Apparently the residents use it as a restroom. There is no light and it was around 415pm. No smell, garbage is dumped elsewhere and the backyard is interesting to say the least. I may go back tomorrow or Tuesday depending on weather, and whether I have food for the wolves.
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OK, so far I have met at least 20 people who call this area home and despite being invited in at least 3 times alone, I am holding off as this is someone's home, legal or not. I do not want to openly film people using illegal drugs for various reasons. I learned about the neighborhood, the fire at 4719, met a good bunch of the legit/temp residents, and I am hoping to finish up on this one soon.
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I've been wanting in on this one too for a long time. That concrete goes back to 1906-1907, and I want to know how much original track is left or if there are any remnants. I'm big into embankments and viaducts, and anything you find out there has been forgotten for 55 years..
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davey7 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Woodlawn residents have been dead set against any > university "incursions" south of 61st Street so > there is very little U of C development there, > look at all the fuss when they bought property in > Washington Park a year or two ago. > > I'm not sure which "Dorchester high-rise
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Here's something from one of their anniversary shindigs: I'm guessing 1984 because Old Man John founded the place in 1922. I like the way he still had the old format phone number on it. Another Salvation Army find!
Forum: General Discussion

davey7 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > A large number of faculty don't live in HP because > it's not "pc" enough for them or it's too > "unsafe"... > > The little greystones on Harper are a bit too far > from campus for the University to be particularly > interested in buying them. They are building > massive
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Maybe if new construction is proposed in North Woodlawn, it would be nice if such projects would be an effective catalyst to help clean the community up and make at least part of Woodlawn just like HP is now. But there seems to be a stigma present being south of the Midway. Burton-Judson is "the Ghetto", and I've talked to people who said the Lorado Taft studio is in a bad area. Inglesid
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

The U of C is unstoppable when they want something. One name comes to mind, Julian Levi. Can't these properties get expedited to the Chicago save list, maybe get on the orange list at least? HP is such a vulnerable community, I'd suggest that perhaps U of C start looking at properties on the N end of Woodlawn from the old power plant on Harper to Ellis. Any late 10's early 20's 8 flat walkups
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Here is the flop on Arthington. With some luck I will be photographing the inside this afternoon. I can't get in their face, but there are a ton of hookers here. I know a few of them from a local medical clinic, but don't know them all. This one is a long-term girl, I am not sure where she stays when the weather gets bad...
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1 bedroom, 966 square feet. Built between 1885 and 1890. Probably a cottage-style home that was popular at the time across the city. The current owner reported owns the home at 3850 W. Washington Blvd as well. Lot size 4740 sq ft. Looks very out of place down there.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Wow, I have never heard that before. My research has told me so far that Fifth was previously known as "Barry Point Road", which at went all the way to at least present-day Lyons. It's Chicago length goes from roughly 900S/4800W (Cicero and Fifth) to 1S/2800 at Madison/California. Arthington was named by early resident Henry Gilpin who came from Arthington England and subdivided the a
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222psm, Yep, I am most likely going tomorrow or Friday. I'm not going alone on this one because of the squatters. I've talked to a few of them before and they are mostly addicts, down-and-outers, strange brew folks, etc. I believe that they were probably responsible for the fire at 4719 W. Arthington that caused significant damage to that property in January of 2012. The fire hydrants there wer
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Yeah, there are thousands out there for sale, from the turn of the 20th century up to the 1960's. Many are of buildings that have been demolished which adds to the interest. I personally don't care for those hand colored photograph postcards, but that's just me. There's also a ton of Curt Teich ones on there as the company was on the north side for around 80 years or so. There's a website calle
Forum: General Discussion

Didn't they used to call the Woodlawn Tap Jimmy's, or was that another watering hole?
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I also noted the old Wabash district station listed there at 4802 S Wabash. Anyone know when they knocked that building down? I learned it was built in 1916 and it was diagonally across from the Rosenwald Apartments. The neighborhood is now home to Legends South and looks nothing like it used to.
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Good Morning, Yesterday I was traveling down Madison just W of Cicero Avenue and I was shocked and saddened to see that they knocked down the old Grand Motel West/Esquire Lounge. Does anyone have any info or pictures of this place? I was told it was built in 1959 and it was unique as far as motel designs went. It was of the "courtyard fortress" design with little to no ornamentation o
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The home at 4719 w. Arthington burned good in January 2012. The fire ended up damaging the home at 4721 W. Arthington (as of 9/13 a junkie flop and shooting gallery) as well as the 1 story proto-bungalow with stucco finish at 4717. The home at 4719 was built in 1892 and demolished 120 years later. Here is some of the plat info from Williams and Williams auction house: COUNTY: COOK, IL APN:
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222psm, I looked the story up and the body was discovered on July 23rd of this year in that little area on Kilpatrick between Cicero and Fifth. As far as I can tell the woman was never identified. There is an abandoned yard down there that was formerly known as Building Chicago Corp and it has been empty for years. The gate or fence must have been compromised and that's how someone got in. T
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For those interested, the outfit is called Windy City Antique Brick Salvage. Their main office is at Division and Kostner, their refining/cleaning and processing yard is at around 1000 S. Cicero in Chicago across from the old Alden warehouse. They have pavers but a lot of those go elsewhere and the company that specialises in them slips my mind.
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Good Evening, I am working on a "human interest" piece of a sociological nature, and I am wonder if anyone here might know about the origins or history of this particular area. This is technically part of the Chicago industrial Corridor and I'd say the boundaries are Fifth Ave to the S, Lexington to the N, Cicero Avenue to the West, and the RR viaduct about 4600 W to the E.. There
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Richard Stachowski Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sit and Stew Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Thank you Richard! KB9FWG > > > > And Hallicrafters really made a good product in > > it's heyday. As a ham radio operator/short wave > > listener, their early stuff was quite goo
Forum: General Discussion

Thank you Richard! And Hallicrafters really made a good product in it's heyday. As a ham radio operator/short wave listener, their early stuff was quite good, almost on par with Hammarlund in some cases. However, I noticed that at some point in the mid to late 1960s they must have started having their stuff made in Japan as I have some later stuff of theirs that wasn't as solid. Up until a f
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Way Out Wardell: Cicero had a Hallicrafters plant circa 1966: I have spoken to a couple elderly residents that remembered it, and if you watch the SNCC/CORE B/W video of the Cicero Civil Rights Housing Riots, they march right by it. The beginning of the video starts from just east of the RR Viaduct about 4500 W on 16th St. They go from there all the way to 24th/Cicero WE gates. The furniture
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On my Dad's side, his family was from a long line of Undertakers going back to Germany. Their original funeral parlor was at 4256 S Mozart in Brighton Park. The family lived at 4318 S Mozart and between 1910-1912, they embalmed 3 of their children who died before age 4. They also handled a good amount of Eastland casualties. The building there is now the Ocwieja-Robles Funeral Home. Apparent
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