Mercer52 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > That's good to know. One would think the > assessor's office would be the most accurate, but > this is Chicago! For their own uses, the assessor only needs to know whether a building is over 62 years old. Combined with the fact that it was a State of IL function until the 30s, a lot of inaccurate dates
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Mercer52 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thanks--I actually started there, but when I tried > to confirm some of the dates on the buildings on > the CityNews Chicago website, they didn't match. > CityNews had some of them from the 1880s. Citynews is just the information from the assesssors office. It is not particularly accurate
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Mercer52 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Does anyone know where I can find a list of extant > pre-fire buildings? Try the Historic Resources Survey. It by no means every one and the list includes sites and monuments, and many may have been demolished since the survey's completion in the 90s. but it's a good start. Chgo Historic Resources Survey
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

There were several sidings off those tracks back when it was an industrial area, but the one for Brand brewing dead ended inside it's facility before crossing Elston. Judging by the location of your photo, I'd say that was the one that crossed Elston to the Hettler lumber mill. Here are a couple of resources that you can see its history when you learn to use them. Historic aerials I usua
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

nordsider Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The Silsby Manufacturing Co. built the "Long John" > fire engine and sold it to the city of Chicago in > 1857; with an horizontal boiler. > > https://books.google.com/books?id=Pw4OAAAAYAAJ&pri > ntsec=frontcover&dq=History+of+the+American+Steam+ > Fire-Engine&hl=en&sa=
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

No. The photo is of a horizontal boiler with the steam engine mounted atop the tank. Most likely some sort of traction engine. The drawing is of a vertical boiler like most pumpers I have seem. The vertical tank is more forgiving of tilting as the water level is higher above the crown sheet. Also a fire pump would not need a flywheel as the reciprocating action of the engine would not need to b
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Dunning1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Kinda doubt if that was built due to wartime > housing shortages. There were all kinds of vacant > lots in the neighborhood still back in the 1960's, > and as a matter of fact four houses were built > just next to that building on what were empty lots > back in the mid 1960's. A lot of people grew
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Dunning1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > On the 6800 block of Addison Street, between Oak > Park Avenue and Newcastle, there is a yellow brick > three store front building, now in disrepair, that > originally housed a dentist, Renee's Salon of > Beauty, and Elvis Press. Elvis Press is the only > current occupant, and the other stores appea
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Chistorian51 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I'm restoring a greystone and would like to give > it a "classic" exterior. I have been having a hard > time finding historical pictures with any > greystones in the background to use as a > reference. Sadly most of these homes have been > changed over the years and it is very rare to s
Forum: General Discussion

Cragin Spring Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I have come across houses in older neighborhoods > usually 2 flats in Chicago that are in alleys. > They sit behind the house that faces the street. > Almost like a garage would in a alley but its > actually a full size 2 flat. I came across one at > 2315 West 47th Street. I really can't figure
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

rjmachon Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I can remember the Town & Country as well. They > had one on North Av. and the Kennedy. It turned > into a Blockbuster but I am not sure of what it > now! They tore it down several years ago. It's a 4 story Mercedes dealership now.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I scanned the want ads and came up with two addresses, but neither is near grand 2451 N Sacramento Ave 1940s and 1950s 2075 N Campbell 1960s Both are near Milwaukee
Forum: General Discussion

This is a couple of blocks east of that, but it'll give you an idea of what that area was like as recently as the 1950s.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

West Town Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My memory is kinda fuzzy, but I seem to recall in > the late 60's they had some kind of facility in > the Ogden/Grand Ave. area. We thought it was cool > to walk by when they had the overhead doors open > and see them working on Christmas displays and > snag stuff from their dumpsters. A trib a
Forum: General Discussion

Milwaukee Ave. & Ashland was built in '83, but had been going through the motions for years before with a couple different developers. Eminent domain was used and a couple blocks of small businesses and residences, including these: Were torn down and one entire street (Bauwans) vanished from the map. Pretty much everybody was PO'd.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Fscott Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Cigarette girls with pill box hats and little > frilly tutu skirts? When my niece was young (now in her 20s) I tried to make sure she was exposed to the classics of American culture. Whenever we watched tv we would watch old movies and shows like Capra or Citizen Kane or the Marx brothers or The Avengers or Get
Forum: General Discussion

I delivered both the American and the Today. The Today folded much easier. I learned a lot of things as a paperboy, including the fact that every mean dog is a sucker for a good right cross.
Forum: General Discussion

b.a.hoarder Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > David, I wonder if you saw the program on H2, the > History Channel's other outlet, about the > Waubansee Stone. Scott Wolter is a researcher that > travels around looking to debuke, or prove history > as we know it. The name of the series is "America > Unearthed" and Wolter also has the
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

You can see it on the historic aerials. http://www.historicaerials.com/ navigate in to the Ohio St bridge and go back in time to 1962.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Good memory. It was the Sari S. Here's a copy of the Tribs obit for its owner. It contains the basic info. Services for Joseph H. Salon, 73, owner of a Chicago trucking company and, in the 1960s, the operator of a riverboat restaurant docked on the Chicago River, will be said at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in the chapel at 111 Skokie Blvd., Wilmette. Mr. Salon, a Skokie resident, died Monday
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Chistorian51 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Based on the map above the intersection in > question would have been the northwest corner of > camp ground, I am assuming that the street > outlined in bold that goes through the Ill. > Central tracks is denoting the Elevated line and > is 63rd St?? Ya, that's about right. The narrow strip ab
Forum: General Discussion

It's possible that it is the Park Shore E address (or slightly north of there judging by the slope) The railroad embankment is quite low there and all the streets are dug under it. The handrail throws me, but given the fair, they might have had one all along the tracks to keep rail passengers from falling off while using the ROW as a shortcut. I don't know how the "Side Side Rapid Transit
Forum: General Discussion

Chistorian51 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thats awesome PKdickman! Was this a backyard find? Those were dug out of a lot on Artesian by a crew digging foundations for new construction. I noticed them while walking past, but could never find evidence of a building nearby that would have been big enough to sport them. The thread is here: Forgotte
Forum: General Discussion

They could have dumped rubble from anywhere. It might be from the castle or it might be from any other building on the block or it could have been dumped off a truck from anywhere. I never did find a source for this, at Artesian and North.
Forum: General Discussion

I checked the Tribune Archives. 1046 N Lake Shore Dr. Right where Michigan turns into LSD. The southwest corner of Lake Shore and Bellevue. There is a highrise there now. I can't tell you much about it. Most of the mentions in the trib are classifieds for rooms to let. There were a lot of these "Clubs" and several of them right on that stretch of LSD. They were kind of like the T
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

zorchvalve Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > PK, I'm Looking for the address of Isana Paper Co. > on Vine street. I think it burned down in 1950. Rustymuscle has the phone book, I'm just good at finding things. Isana was at 1616 N Vine. They didn't make paper, they made beauty equipment. The fire was in Feb 1948. Then they moved to 1515 Freemont. Th
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

740 N Leavitt. just south of Chicago ave at Superior. They dozed the building about 10 years ago. According to this ad in Billboard Magazine... Billboard Magazine Ad Their number was EV4-7123
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

WayOutWardell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > PKDickman Wrote: > > > > This isn't a problem as far as the building is > > concerned, just the porches. > > Yeah, I didn't think the porches were truly > connected to the foundation. The building I'm in > now has a similar design and the space under the > porch is just d
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

WayOutWardell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Great analysis, PKD. Two questions for you: > > You mention that the Sanborn doesn't show brick > basements. Are these then concrete or were they > possibly still fieldstone? > > What would be considered a shallow basement? I couldn't see the foundations, but I assumed field stone.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I went over and took a look, and saw a tempest in a teapot. 8 different buildings with similar characteristics that I think are the cause of the problems. All with shallow basements (read shallow footings), Massive masonry porches with open/unconditioned stairs to the basement beneath them. All face the park and have nothing to break the wind. The sidewalls showed no cracking. Only 1 of 8
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)