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| V. O Hammon's A Busy Day on Dearborn and Randolph |
A great look at
Chicago in the first decade of the twentieth century can be found in a V. O
Hammon postcard entitled A Busy Day on Dearborn and Randolph Streets Chicago.
The scene depicted
is chaotic with horse-drawn beer wagons, ice wagons, and general produce of all
sorts competing with a long string of trolley cars moving into the intersection
and down Dearborn Street. Dozens
of people wait at all four corners, looking for a chance to cross the
impossibly busy street without being maimed.
An interesting
detail can be found on the most prominent building in the photo. The Cunard Line has offices on the
ground floor, and a real estate firm, Koester and Zander, has its name on the
floor above.
That’s the point
where little details like these lead toward surprising discoveries. Cunard’s Mauritania and Lusitania
had only been in trans-Atlantic service for five years when this postcard was
mailed. The Lusitania would sail
for three more years before being torpedoed off Ireland by a German U-boat.
More interesting to
me, though, is the real estate office of Koester and Zander, located then at 69
Dearborn Street.
Henry George Zander
was born in Rendsburg, Schlewign-Hostein, Germany in 1869. He began his education in Germany but
finished in Chicago, graduating in 1886 from North Division High School, what
is now Lincoln Park High School.
He trained as a civil engineer before obtaining his law degree from John
Marshall Law School. He formed the
partnership with G. F. Koester, and Koester and Zander got about the business
of running a general real estate and loan business.
George Frederick
Koester was born in Chicago in 1862, so he was younger than Zander by seven
years. He was educated in the
public schools and attended the brand new West Division High School until
1878. Since the new high school
only housed freshmen and sophomores, it is likely that Koster’s formative
education ended at the end of the tenth grade.
After he left
school he worked for the German Book and News Co., the Western Union Telegraph
Co., the National Livestock Journal, and then for the grocery company of
Scherer, Shirk & Co. Somewhere
around 1891 he began dealing in real estate and hooked up with Zander in 1892.
Their biographies
give little explanation for how the two met or what sustained their
relationship. They seem to have
had little in common. Zander lived
in Irving Park; Koester in Ravenswood.
Zander belonged to the Irving Park Country Club and the Irving Golf Club
while Koester played his golf at the Ravenswood Golf Club. Both men were 32ยบ
Masons, which might explain the connection.
In any event, their partnership led to the development of an entire section of Chicago when in 1912 the firm purchased 212 acres in Jefferson Township -- what is now the Sauganash neighborhood. It's a secluded community roughly bounded by Devon Avenue on the north, Bryn Mawr on the south, Cicero on the west and the old Chicago and North Western tracks on the east.
On writer observed that the neighborhood "makes you swear you've suddenly taken a wrong turn and ended up in Winnetka." [www.gapersblock.com]
Koester and Zander began street improvements in the area in 1919 and construction on the first eight homes on Kostner Avenue between Peterson and Rogers Avenue began in 1923. One hundred homes were occupied by 1928 with another hundred completed by 1930. [www.sauganash.org]
The community was
named after the Potawatomi Indian chief, who was actually born part Mohawk, the
son of an Irishman who was serving as a British Army captain in Canada and a
Mohawk woman. Taking his father’s
name, Billy Caldwell moved between the world of the white man and the natives,
never quite making a place in either population.
Caldwell settled in
Chicago around 1803 working with the Kinzie family in their fur trade while
helping to smooth relations
between the British, the United States and various native tribes.
His services were
so useful that the United States government rewarded him with the first frame
house to be built in the city. It
was located approximately where Holy Name Cathedral stands today. Along with this Caldwell received 1,600
acres of land along the Chicago River where the present day Sauganash
neighborhood is located.
In 1829 Caldwell
was made a Potawatomi Chief and given the name Sauganash, or “Englsihman” in
the native tongue. His appointment
was beneficial to the government . . . he understood the language and had been
helpful in making treaties and settling disputes for some time. The natives also saw this as a good
move, assuming that his leadership would be beneficial to them in negotiations
with the government.
In 1835 the federal
government forced the Potawatomi to give up five million acres of land and move
east of the Mississippi River.
Chief Sauganash accepted the government’s terms for the tribe. On September 26, 1835 a treaty was
signed under the “Treaty Elm,” after which the Chief, his family and 3,000
Potawatomi headed for Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Sauganash died
there on September 28, 1841.
Posts
10 comments:
Great post. It's hard to believe that Randolph and Dearborn used to look like that!
Thanks for posting this! Fun reading about Chicago history. I found this when looking up Koester and Zander's subdivision for a new home we're buying. Koester was 7 yrs older than Zander though I think! All the best, Dan Hanson
Thank you for your detailed history on Chicago and Koester and Zander. My interest goes deep since George F. Koester is my 2nd Great Grandfather. I have just discovered more about him and your article. I would love to know more and see photos or other details. Thank you very much!
Laurie Koester
So awesome to see this! And your history is just great. I have relatives that moved from Sweden in the 1920s and love to see the background of the ciy. Thanks so much!
So glad to have found this info. About 20 years ago I stumbled onto an 8 1/2 black and white photo of this scene. Wasn’t able to identify then. Today I merely googled “Koester & Zander” and found your post!! Thank you!
Thank you so much for the interesting post and the lovely colorized old photo, a travel in time!
Are you sure you’re related.My wife is definitely related.Her mom definitely grew up in one of the original 7 homes in Sauganash and her father was George Koester
Post mark on this postcard says Joliet Illinois.
Ditto
I caught that on the birth dates too
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