Thursday, May 31, 2018

May 31, 1900 -- Northwestern Elevated Railroad Opens






May 31, 1900 – At noon a Northwestern Elevated Railroad train carrying invited guests enters the Union Loop and “the new road, the last one to be completed of those composing the great elevated railroad system of Chicago—the greatest in the world—was formally opened.” [Chicago Daily Tribune, May 31, 1900]Twenty minutes later the train is speeding northward, having circled the Loop, carrying 250 passengers, all guests of the company.  It takes 22 minutes to reach the northern terminus of the line at Wilson Avenue. On the way the train passes five trains headed south, all packed with paying passengers.  It is a BIG DEAL.  The Tribunereports, “Along the entire line of the road the windows were filled with people, who cheered and waved their handkerchiefs as the four cars composing the first train rolled by.  Tugs and factory whistles violated the anti-noise ordinances in the most flagrant way.”  The guests on the train disembark at the Wilson Avenue station and make their way to Sheridan Park, a station on the Milwaukee Road, where lunch is served. Afterward a ceremony is held on a temporary rostrum.  The Chicago Commissioner of Public Works proclaims, “The completion of the road marks an era in the history of the North Side and will tend to the development of this part of the city.”  The President of the railroad, D. H. Louderback, says, “We intend to make our road the best in the country. Its construction is perfect, and with its four tracks it is the best and most flexible in the city.  We will aim to accommodate all passengers.” This was the last hurrah for Charles Tyson Yerkes, the last line of his transit empire, and he spoke on this day only of the development that would come to the north side of the city because of the new railroad line.  After attempting to pass around a million dollars in bribes to get exclusive rights to operate a city-wide transit enterprise for a period of hundred years in 1899 – and failing to get the appropriate legislation passed – he was persona non gratain the exclusive social circles of the city and at City Hall.  By the end of 1900 he had sold the majority of his Chicago transit holdings and departed for New York.  The Northwestern Elevated Railroad still exists today – hop on the Red Line in the Loop and head north.  The above photos show the railroad under construction and as it appeared at about the time of its opening.


May 31, 1960 – The Chicago Daily Tribune reports that four Chicago architecture firms are joining together to plan “a glass and steels structure” [Chicago Daily Tribune, May 31, 1960] that will replace the federal courthouse.  It will sit on the east side of Dearborn Street between Adams Street and Jackson Boulevard, providing more than 1.3 million square feet of space for somewhere around 5,500 employees of the United States courts and 19 federal agencies.  The paper reports that “The surrounding walks and plaza, as well as the lobby floors, will feature granite paving.  The lofty first floor of the 30 story building will be devoted primarily to the lobby, stairways, and 24 elevators.”  Plans include air conditioning and “if conditions warrant, atomic bomb shelters.”  Completion date for the building is slated for late 1963 with final drawings due by the end of 1960.  This will be the first of two tall government buildings that will replace the old courthouse across Dearborn Street, a building that will be razed as the courthouse is being constructed so that a new federal building can be constructed in its place.  The architectural firms involved in the project were: the office of Mies van der Rohe; Schmidt, Garden, and Erikson; C. F. Murphy; and A. Epstein and Sons.


May 31, 1952 – Major Lenox R. Lohr, president of the Science Museum, today’s Museum of Science and Industry, announces that visitors will soon be able to walk through an 18-foot heart, part of a 3,000 square foot exhibit sponsored by the Chicago Heart Association. As part of the experience a human pulse will be audible. In another part of the exhibit the circulation of blood will be illustrated. The heart would fit into the chest of a 28-story human, which will make the museum an educational facility with a very big heart, indeed.

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

May 30, 1939 -- Chicago and North Western Turns to New Diesel Locomotive


May 30, 1939 –The Chicago and North Western Railroad rolls out a set of brand new diesel-electric locomotives, just off the assembly line of the Elctro-Motive Corporation in LaGrange, to pull the “400,” its famous high-speed train, to Milwaukee. In the coming week the locomotives will be placed in service between Chicago and St. Paul, Minnesota.  The new locomotives are capable of running 117 miles an hour even though they are still pulling standard equipment.  Sometime in August new streamlined cars from the Chicago shops of the Pullman Standard Car Manufacturing Company will be added to the consist.  The new locomotives are powered by four 1,000 horsepower 12-cylinder diesel engines, which drive four generators that supply current to eight traction motors, four on each unit.  Finally, after nearly a half-century of trying to clear the smoke of steam locomotives from the lakefront and the southwest side of the city, it appears that a solution has arrived.


May 30, 1968 – It has only been a year that the Medusa Challenger has been at work on the Chicago River, but the big lake freighter will continue to make her presence known for years, indirectly causing enough traffic problems during her time sailing through the city to cause Chicagoans to refer to her as the “jinx ship.”  On this night the 562-foot ship is halted in her trip up the river when the Clark Street bridge short-circuits and refuses to open.  With the Dearborn and State Street bridges open to allow the ship to approach Clark Street, the malfunction causes traffic on all three streets to stop for an hour and 15 minutes.  Finally, at 7:30 p.m. the Clark Street bridge is made operable and “with a blast of its horn, the ship was under way as was the traffic, including one car driven by a man who had a permanent solution to the whole problem … ‘You know what they should do with this river?’ he said.  ‘They should have it paved.’” [Chicago Tribune, May 31, 1968] For all you might ever want to know about the ship and its ill-fortune in Chicago, you can head to this section of Connecting the Windy City.



May 30, 1893 – The laying of the cornerstone of the new Memorial Hall on the southwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street takes place under the direction of the Grand Army of the Republic. Both streets are crowded with veterans and ordinary citizens “all anxious to behold the ceremony and listen to the addresses incident upon the formal commencement of the creation of a magnificent structure, which will be a credit to the city and take high rank among the costly edifices already so numerous in Chicago.” [Chicago Daily Tribune, May 31, 1893] The plot of ground, known as Dearborn Park, was originally part of the southern boundary of Fort Dearborn, part of the “public ground” that extended east to the lake and south to Madison Street. It required a coming together of the Directors of the Chicago Public Library and the Grand Army of the Republic to get a bill through Congress that would allow construction on the land. It took persistence . . . the legislation only passed after three attempts over the course of ten years. In a simple ceremony the flag is run to the top of the flag pole, a band plays the Star Spangled Banner and dozens of artifacts are placed in a copper box that will lie below the cornerstone. Then General E. A. Blodgett, the Commander of the Illinois Grand Army of the Republic, closes the ceremony, saying, “In the name of the soldiers and sailors who have saved our nation we thank you for the honor. We rejoice that our city thus proclaims to the world that patriotic self-sacrifice is not to be forgotten. We trust that our beloved land may never again be deluged in blood. Yet we remember that the perils of peace are scarcely less than the perils of war. The demands for loyalty are as great upon the sons as they were upon the sires. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.” The Memorial Hall with its great dome occupies the northern half of what is today the Chicago Cultural Center. The photo above shows the site at the time with Randolph Street on the right and Washington Boulevard on the left. The second photo shows the area as it appears today.

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

May 29, 1991-- Rodman Apologizes; Bulls Move On


May 29, 1991 –After defeating the Detroit Pistons in the N.B.A. playoffs a day earlier, the Chicago Bulls learn that Detroit defender Dennis Rodman, who pushed Chicago forward Scottie Pippen out of bounds in Game 4, opening up a six-stitch gash under his chin, will be fined $5,000.  N.B.A. operations director Rod Thorn, says “We looked at the facts and made a judgment. We had our security people investigate, and we feel he was seriously contrite.  The fine was for pushing Pippen.”  [Chicago Tribune, May 30, 1991]On the same day a letter of apology from Rodman is received by the Bulls, N.B.A. officials, and members of Detroit, Chicago and national media outlets. Addressed to “Mr. Scottie Pippen,” the letter reads, “Dear Scottie, I am writing this letter to apologize to you for the incident that happened in Monday’s game.  You are a great player and I’m glad you weren’t hurt by the incident.  It was merely one of frustration.  I am not the type of player of which I have been accused.  The situation was one of those thnigs which should not have happened.  I am ready and willing to accept any fines or consequences set by the league for my actions. I sincerely apologize to you, your teammates and the entire Chicago Bulls organization.  I also hope that there are no hard feelings between you, your teammates and me.  Good luck in the NBA finals—its’ a tough road ahead of you. Sincerely, Dennis Rodman.” Bulls coach Phil Jackson responds, “We accept his apology, but we won’t forget the incident. You accept the apology at face value.”  Michael Jordan also jumps in, saying ”As a team, we’ve forgotten about that.  We beat them and achieved something.  We’ll deal with Detroit when we play them again.”  The Bulls went on to beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the championship series in five games.  The confrontation between Rodman and Pippen, who would become teammates, was intense as can be seen in the above YouTube clip.


May 29, 1966 – The Chicago Tribune reports that the first steel has been erected above ground for the 120 South Riverside Plaza office building that is being constructed over the air rights of the railroad tracks of Union Station just west of the South Branch of the Chicago River.  The steel, produced at the South Works of United States Steel and fabricated at the Gary plant of the American Bridge division of U. S. Steel, is part of 9,100 tons of steel that will be needed to complete the 22-story structure, a duplicate of the building at 10 South Riverside Plaza.  Tishman Realty and Construction Company has plans for a total of four buildings in the area that will be called Gateway Center, a project that will cost an estimated 100 million dollars.


May 29, 1906 – A fire breaks out in Armour Elevator “D,” located on a slip on the west side of the Chicago River at approximately Twenty-Second Street and Morgan, smoldering undetected until it blows out the north and south ends of the elevator and lights the night sky enough to be seen from Ravenswood to South Chicago. Sixty-two fire engines, some of them from as far north as Lakeview, and three fireboats are called to fight the fire in a massive structure containing a million bushels of wheat, corn and oats. The first firemen on the scene have to haul their equipment down a bank to the slip to get close enough to the fire. There are no nearby fire hydrants, so all of the water has either to be pulled from the slip or else come from fireboats. The massive Commonwealth Electric company plant northwest of the elevator is repeatedly ignited by burning embers, so the fire department’s efforts are devoted chiefly to saving it as well as lumber yards that lie to the west. Acting Fire Chief McDonough states, “It was impossible to save the elevators, and all the efforts of the department were directed to saving the millions of dollars’ worth of property in the vicinity. The recent rains soaked the lumber in the adjacent yards and probably did considerable toward stopping the spread of the flames.” [Chicago Daily Tribune, May 30, 1906] The photo above shows the elevator as it appeared before the fire, which must have been a spectacular conflagration.

Monday, May 28, 2018

May 28, 1906 -- Highwood Saloons Placed Off-Limits for Ft. Sheridan Personnel


May 28, 1906 –Colonel S. R. Whitall, the commanding officer at Fort Sheridan, issues orders that prohibit soldiers from entering Highwood, the disobedience of which will lead to 14 days in solitary confinement on a diet of bread and water for any offender.  Whitall’s order comes as part of a chorus of cries against the saloonkeepers in Highwood, a call for reform that has reached a peak after the suicide of a 17-year-old Lake Forest girl a day earlier after a night spent in Highwood.  The Reverend E. R. Quayle, the head of the Law and Order League, says, “The midnight closing law is ignored on every hand, at least three of the resorts keep open on Sunday, and nearly all of them operate gambling tables in full view.  Three of them operate ‘back rooms’ that are equivalent to wine rooms.” [Chicago Daily Tribune, May 29, 1906]Even the Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad becomes involved, announcing that it will no longer sell liquor on its trains.  Over the preceding weeks the scales slowly tipped against the saloonkeepers as convictions were secured with five establishments forced out of business. The suicide death on May 27 of Ms. Georginna Bower, the daughter of a Lake Forest house painter, increases the intensity of the crusade. The above photo shows a strip of Highwood saloons a year earlier in 1905.

May 28, 1894 – The Chicago Daily Tribune reports that Hugh M. G. Garden has been awarded the gold medal of the American Institute of Architects for the best architectural design, a plan that the architect worked up for the New York Herald.  The Herald’s plan to replace its offices at Broadway and Ann Street resulted in a competition to which Garden contributed his design, “a nineteen-story office building, the planning of which was rendered extremely difficult on account of the extreme irregularity of the lot.”  [Chicago Daily Tribune, May 28, 1894] The paper continues, “The design is radically different from the office buildings of the day and is remarkable for its picturesque sky line, the top being a delightful grouping of gables, balconies, towers and turrets … If built [it will be] the highest commercial structure in the world.”  Garden, the president of the Chicago Architectural Sketch Club and one of the designers of the Montgomery Ward warehouse building at 600 West Chicago, was an active member of the Prairie Style designers who inhabited Steinway Hall not long after the conclusion of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.  His design for the New York Herald did not win the competition.  The winning design by George B. Post is shown above along with the sketch of Garden’s vision. 


May 28, 1926 – It is announced that the Builder’s Mart, with a design by Graham, Anderson, Probst and White, will be erected at the southwest corner of Wacker Drive and La Salle Street. This will be the first improvement on the brand new Wacker Drive west of 35 East Wacker, completed in 1926. A. E. Coleman, President of the Building Construction Employers’ Association, says, “[This building] will tend to unite the business interests identified with the building industry. The popularity of such a proposition has been signified by building interests, as more than fifty per cent of the space already has been applied for.” In addition to Coleman’s association, it is anticipated that the structure will also hold the Chicago Master Steamfitters’ association, the Builders’ Association of Chicago, the Iron League of Chicago, the Illinois Highway Contractors’ association, and the Illinois branch of the Associated General Contractors of America. There will also be 10,000 square feet of space set aside for the Builders’ Club. Off the lower level of Wacker Drive will be a garage with space for 150 vehicles. The 1927 building stands on the right side of La Salle Street in the photo above with a glassy addition designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill completed in 1986.

Sunday, May 27, 2018

May 27, 1930 -- Century of Progress Construction Begins



May 27, 1930 –The President of the 1933 Century of Progress, Rufus C. Dawes, pulls a lever on a steam shovel and scoops the first dirt from the site where the administration building will be erected for the Century of Progress world’s fair, to be held along Chicago’s lakefront in the summers of 1933 and 1934,.   The Vice-President of the South Park commissioners, Philip S. Garver, addresses a gathering of fair directors and public officials, officially turning over the use of the park property to the fair’s trustees.  In accepting the site, Director Dawes says, “We pledge ourselves to the use of this land for the enjoyment, education, and entertainment of the people of the world.  The exposition will fittingly portray the history of Chicago and be worthy of the city’s proud position among the cities of the world.”  [Chicago Daily Tribune, May 28, 1930] In the top photo President Dawes moves the first bucket of dirt, which will give way to the Art Deco Administration building shown in the second photo.


May 27, 1917 – Seven weeks after the United States Congress approves a declaration of war on Germany, the Chicago Conference Committee on Terms of Peace holds a rally at the Auditorium Theater in which protestors rail against the country’s entanglement in the war an ocean away.  There are 2,000 people outside the building for which there is no room, and they instigate what the Chicago Daily Tribune calls the city’s first “war riot.” [Chicago Daily Tribune, May 28, 1917] The paper reports, “The scene was Grant park, just across from the Auditorium hotel.  Michigan avenue’s thousands of Sunday promenaders came to an amazed halt.  A steady flowing stream of automobiles pulled up short, blockading the boulevard for many blocks in each direction … Then a huge, bearded and mop headed Russian thrust himself above the heads of the others … ‘Why should American workmen fight the workmen of Germany for any _______   _________ in the White House?’ he bawled.”  It took an hour to put down the riot as “The air was filled with clubs, that cracked down upon the heads of the rioters.  The members of the meeting shrieked imprecations, women bit and scratched the police, bull throated malcontents bawled threats and ‘Down with the government!’ “Free speech!’ and “No war.’”  At first 40 officers show up, followed by 35 detectives.  In ten minutes there are another 400 policemen trying to maintain order.  The Tribune reports, “’Free speech!’ screamed the women. ‘We want free speech!’ ‘You’ll get it,’ bellowed back a square shouldered policeman as he whacked another disturber over the head.”  The Reverend Irwin St. John Tucker, chairman of the peace terms conference, issues a statement in which he separates the meeting in the Auditorium from the disturbances across Michigan Avenue.  It reads, “The Chicago permanent conference on terms of peace is responsible only for the mass meeting held in the Auditorium and for the resolutions officially presented therein … The conference is determined, while exercising all our rights under the law, strictly to observe all our obligations under the same.”


May 27, 1975 – After a City Council subcommittee approves $7.2 million for the rehabilitation of Navy Pier, a project that the Department of Public Works estimates may take closer to $34 million, the Chicago Tribune weighs in with its opinion. “Either it will be revived somehow,” the editorial states, “or it will be a big black eye on Chicago’s face as long as it remains. We hope a practical way can and will be found to make Navy Pier once again used, attractive, well served by public transportation from end to end as well as to it. The site is one of the most scenic and interesting urban sites in the country. Surely some time Chicago will find a means of turning Navy Pier’s unused potential into reality.”

Saturday, May 26, 2018

May 26, 1900 -- The Battle of Streeterville (Almost)


May 26, 1900 –An invasion of the “District of Lake Michigan” from land and water is planned as 600 police officers, 16 patrol wagons, and two unarmored tugs carrying three-inch field pieces advance on territory held by a rag-tag band who pledge allegiance to Captain George Wellingtonn Streeter.  The whole affair is put on hold, though, as one Lincoln Park policeman, William L. Hayes, spoils everything “by calmly ambling into the district alone and arresting the entire army of invasion, [taking] their cartridge belts away from them, [kicking] their mud fortifications down, and marched them off to the East Chicago Avenue Police Station.” [Chicago Daily Tribune, May 27, 1900]For over a dozen hours the 13 men of the invading army defied the police, but their numbers dwindled as the day wore on and only five remained when Hayes walks into the encampment. The group had earlier formed an invading party as a boat carried them from South Chicago to the area on the lake just north of the river now known as Streeterville.  After the “invasion” at 2:00 a.m., a proclamation was issued that reads, “Now, therefore, we, the property-holders of the District of Lake Michigan, do declare the District of Lake Michigan to be free and independent from the State of Illinois, the County of Cook, and the City of Chicago, and that we will maintain our independence by force of arms to the best of our ability, and all armed forces except those of the United States military, coming into this district, will do so at their peril.”  Early morning strollers along the new Outer Drive near Superior Street are surprised to hear a sentry’s order to halt and identify themselves.  Things progressively become more serious. Captain Barney Baer of the Lincoln Park police retreats after his horse is shot and killed, the bed of his buggy splintered, and a bullet “bounced … with great nicety off the top button of the Captain’s coat.”  After a lengthy conference at City Hall it is decided that “the State, the county, and the city should move out to attack the insolent foe hand in hand.”  The tugboat John Hayis outfitted with two field guns as is the fire tug Illinois as 600 policemen from all over the city form ranks in front of the Chicago Avenue pumping station.  But … “Just as the long line of blue heroes was beginning to throw out skirmishers down Chicago avenue, and just when Admiral Fyfe was wondering whether he should open fire from the field guns, with brick bats or six cans of sweet corn” Hayes, the lone Lincoln Park cop, decides things have gone far enough. He walks into the fortifications of the enemy and says, “Say, fellers, cut it out.”  As “the long line of blue heroes” continues east along Chicago Avenue toward a glorious battle, the defenders of the District of Lake Michigan stand down and are marched west on Superior Street to the East Chicago Avenue police station where they are charged. "A" in the above graphic pinpoints where George Streeter's boat, the Reutan, went aground in 1886. "B" shows where it was hauled ashore in what is today Streeterville.  Note that at the time the Chicago water tower, just to the right of "B," sat on the edge of the lake.



May 26, 1943 – The capacity to train aircraft pilots in the Great Lakes doubles as the U. S. S. Sable joins the U. S. S. Wolverine, which has been carrying out carrier operations off the Chicago lakefront since August of 1942.  The Sable, converted from a sidewheel passenger vessel known as the Greater Buffalo of the Detroit and Cleveland Navigation company, is somewhat larger than the Wolverine.  She is outfitted with a 12,000-horsepower engine that can deliver a speed of up to 20 knots and has a length of 550 feet and a beam of 100 feet.  As a passenger ship the Sable had room for 2,120 passengers and 1,000 tons of freight.  Since all of the planes that practice landings and take-offs on the ship will be based at the Glenview Naval Air Station, there is no need for a hanger deck and money is saved in re-fitting the ship by retaining much of the fine furniture, china and linens that were a part of the ship’s previous life.  Captain W. K. Berner, a Navy pilot since 1924 and a 1922 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, will command the Sable.  The Executive Office will be Commander H. H. Crow, a Naval reserve officer since 1909, a veteran of World War I, during which he served aboard the U. S. S. Tacoma and the U. S. S. Buffalo.  The photos above show the Greater Buffalo and the U. S. S. Sable.


May 26, 1952 – The Chicago Park District unveils a $2,500 model of the underground garage that it is preparing to build in Grant Park. Anticipated plans have the garage situated between Randolph and Monroe Streets and between the Illinois Central railroad tracks to a point within 40 feet of buildings on the west side of Michigan Avenue. The two-level garage, 23 feet below Michigan Avenue, will occupy 400,000 square feet and will hold 2,500 cars. Fees will be 45 cents for the first hour and 15 cents an hour after that. The first hour today will cost you 23 bucks.  The photo above shows the 1954 opening of the garage with the Prudential building, finished a year later, under construction in the background.

Friday, May 25, 2018

May 25, 1966 -- Continental Grain Company Fire


May 25, 1966 –Half of the Chicago Fire Department turns out to fight a fire that destroys an abandoned nine-story grain elevator at Thirty-Second near Throop Street on the South Fork of the South Branch of the Chicago River. Six firefighters are injured as more than 500 firefighters and a hundred pieces of equipment guard against the flames as they threaten a nearby residential area and adjacent commercial buildings.  Despite the efforts, the flames, which at their height reach 300 feet, still ignite the roof of the Denver-Chicago Trucking terminal across the river on the west bank.  Fire boats are able to quench those flames before they do serious damage.  Flames also attack an eight-story industrial building a half-block down the east bank of the river, but hook and ladder crews douse those flames as well.  Ten railroad box cars on nearby tracks cannot be saved from the flames that were so intense that onlookers wear protective clothing to watch the inferno.  The first alarm at the former Continental Grain Company elevator comes in at 7:10 p.m. and within 20 minutes five more regular and four special alarms are called.  


May 25, 1950 – A normal run on the newest of Chicago streetcars, the “Green Hornet,” turns into tragedy at the intersection of State Street and Sixty-Third Street when the streetcar slams into a gasoline tank truck, causing an explosion and fireball that kills 34 people and injures another 50.  Proceeding south on its State Street route, the streetcar with driver Paull Manning at the wheel is whizzing along at about 35 miles per hour, approaching the intersection of Sixty-Third Street.  Throughout the day, though, streetcars have been routed east onto Sixty-Third Street because of a flooded viaduct a block ahead on State Street.  At Sixty-Second Street a flagman frantically signals Manning to slow down for the open switch, but the driver either does not see him or ignores the signal.  Then the unthinkable happens.  A gasoline truck pulling two tanks is travelling north on State Street and enters the intersection just as the speeding streetcar lurches violently through the open switch, throwing passengers to the floor as it hits the cab of the truck, rupturing its gas tank.  The streetcar spins around in a half-circle, and as the truck’s gas tank erupts, the cab jackknifes, slicing open the first tanker of gas.  Four thousand gallons of gasoline flow from the tank, spilling over the curb and engulfing seven buildings on State Street.  Everything is a mass of flame.  Somehow, 30 people manage to escape the packed streetcar, but 34 people, including the driver of the streetcar and the driver of the truck, die in the inferno.  A coroner’s inquest shows among other things, that the doors of this model of streetcar would not open in either direction if just one person was applying pressure to them.  That afternoon yielded a scene that was as horrendous as a mass transit accident could ever be.  If you have ever wondered why you never see a gasoline tank truck in the city during the day, you can look back on the tragedy of this Thursday afternoon in May of 1950 and understand why.


May 25, 1930 – The Chicago Daily Tribune reports that the design for the $10,000,000 outer drive “link bridge” will be the city’s first use of “modern architecture . . . expressive of its function.” [Chicago Tribune, May 25, 1930] President Warren Wright of the Lincoln Park park commission says of the design, “The approved design is a restrained modern treatment, simple, dignified and massive. It is not only in keeping with the present day trends but it is thoroughly practical. Flat stone weathers better, looks better and needs less attention and repair than ornamented surfaces. Incidentally, the design gives ample room for the operators’ houses and excellent visibility from them, while its bold and concentrated ornamentation eliminates the need for much overall treatment.” When completed in 1937 the Lake Shore Drive Bridge, one of the most important Depression projects of the Works Progress Administration, is the longest, widest, heaviest bridge in the world. Each of the bridge's 6,240 ton leaves is heavier than any bascule in existence. Today it is a massive example of industrial Art Deco design.

Thursday, May 24, 2018

May 24, 1927 -- Wacker Drive Extension to Lake Shore Drive Recommended



May 24, 1927 –The Chicago Daily Tribunereports that “A bridge at the mouth of the river and a new stretch of Wacker drive along the bank are suggested in the Chicago Plan commission’s recommendations for linking the outer drive in Grant park with Lake Shore drive.” [Chicago Daily Tribune, May 24, 1927] The commission recommends that “the bridge and its boulevard approaches should follow the classic architecture of the boulevard link and Wacker drive.”  The proposed route would have the approach to the bridge start at Randolph Street, where “a raised avenue, at least 140 feet wide, would be built over the Illinois Central railroad yard in a direct line to the river. There the drive would curve to the right and extend along the river to is mouth, becoming an extension of Wacker Drive.”  James Simpson, the chairman of the Chicago Plan Commission, says, “The early construction of the remaining portion of the Wacker Drive extension will enable the outer drive to function to even greater traffic advantage because it will permit vehicles bound to and from the west side to use the wide streets that form the quadrangle, thereby avoiding congested loop streets.”  Contrast the two pictures above and you can see that the original plan, which was built, has changed dramatically since.



May 24, 1954 – The Illinois Supreme Court rules that Chicago may proceed with construction of its 96 million-dollar water filtration plant just north of Navy Pier. Near north side property owners are huddling to determine whether to ask for a rehearing or take the case against the city directly to the United States Supreme Court. In his opinion Judge Harry B. Hershey finds that the 85-acre filtration plant will not be an “unreasonable interference” to navigation and will not violate an 1891 series of contracts in which lake front property owners gave up their rights to submerged lands with the understanding that the park district would use the property for park purposes. The court finds that the property in question is beyond the 250 feet over which the park district has control. “. . . the reclamation of this submerged land and the construction of a filtration plant thereon can constitute no violation by the park district of its covenant with the property owners,” the court’s opinion states. [Chicago Tribune, May 25, 1954] In the above photo to the right of the long Municipal Pier, today's Navy Pier, extending out into the lake is the location of the site of the proposed water purification plant. It took nearly a half-dozen years of court battles to get the project finally prepared for take-off.  Thins have changed a bit since 1954 as the above two photos clearly show.


Tuesday, May 22, 2018

May 23, 1913 -- Railroads Occupy Half of the Business District



May 23, 1913 –In another of a series of articles dealing with the “new slogan” for the city [Chicago Daily Tribune, May 23, 1913], “Where ‘We Will’ There’s a Way,” the Chicago Daily Tribunediscusses the impact that the railroads have had upon the city.  Leading with a description of the business district, an area circumscribed by Chicago Avenue on the north, Sixteenth Street on the south, Halsted Street on the west, and the lake, the paper states, “Of this 2,140 acres the railroads own approximately 50 per cent, one-half of all downtown Chicago.  Something like 1,000 acres in the heart of the city are given up to railroad terminals and rights of way.” Taking one portion of that area, the paper veers toward the unimaginable, the development of the huge railroad freight yards south of the river, east of Michigan Avenue, and north of Randolph Street.  “By way of violent and impossible supposition,” the article states, “imagine that the eighty acres now occupied by the freight yards and houses could be thrown open to office and business buildings.  There would be plenty of sites out there on the lake shore which would offer almost unequaled opportunities for fresh air, sunlight, ventilation, and unobstructed views.” Of course, that development eventually did occur – over 60 years later in what is now Illinois Center and Lakeshore East.  The article also traces the impact the railroads have had on getting from place to place within the city.  Because of the blockade of railroad tracks, the article asserts, there are only four streets left, running form the center of the city to the west side, “on which any sort of retail business can be expected to develop as it overflows from the east side of the river.”  It is even worse on the south side of the city … “Running to the south from the business center there are only three streets possible for retail business and one of these, Michigan avenue, is already almost solidly filled with the salesrooms of a single line of trade [the automobile].”  The top photo shows the extent to which the rail yards dominated the South Loop in 1929 when the river's course was changed in a massive construction project.  The photo below that shows how dramatically things have changed, a change that continues with the development of land east of the river south of Van Buren Street today.


May 23, 1959 – With a royal visit from Britain’s Queen Elizabeth coming on July 6, city officials are working feverishly to tidy up the city for Her Majesty.  This day brings news that an area one thousand feet south of the Chicago River and just east of Lake Shore Drive which has for more than 30 years been used to load thousands of tons of garbage onto railroad cars will be cleaned up.  “When the wind is right,” the Chicago Daily Tribune reports, “odors are wafted over Lake Shore drive and into Grant park, where the queen will enter Chicago” [Chicago Daily Tribune, May 23, 1959] The shut-down of the operation on the lakefront is made possible by the completion of a new incineration plant at One-Hundred Third and Doty Avenue and a new system in which large trailer trucks are used to haul refuse to Lake Calumet.



May 23, 1969 – Brink’s armed guards move all of the money and securities in the First National Bank of Chicago through a temporary underground tunnel and into the hands of waiting tellers in the bank’s new building on Monroe Street, between Dearborn and Clark. The whole operation takes less than 30 minutes. At the close of business on this Friday tellers are told to move to their spaces in the new building just to the east, where they find workers still installing bullet proof windows at their counters. The following Monday the new bank will open, and the process of tearing down the old one will begin.

May 22, 1963 -- Lincoln Park Dairy Barn Announced


May 22, 1963 –James H. Gately, Chicago Park District president, announces the details of a $60,000 dairy barn planned for the zoo in Lincoln Park.  Donated by a Chicago affiliate of the National Dairy Council, it will be the second of six buildings projected for the area south of the present zoo that will demonstrate the working of a midwestern farm.  Gately says that visitors will be able to watch cows being milked on a raised platform behind glass walls.  The first building in the project, the main barn, was underwritten by Walter Erman, the chairman of the Luria Steel and Trading Company, and his wife, Ida.


May 22, 1934 – Disaster occurs at the Oakley building, 143 West Austin Avenue, when a 40,000 gallon water tank on the top of the building falls through the roof and smashes through the core of the building to the first floor. Five workers inside the building are killed and another half-dozen seriously injured. One of the injured, Clyde Otto, who was hurt in the stampede for the fire escapes describes the event: “The walls began to shake all of a sudden and we heard a series of crashes – I guess it was the tank hitting the various floors. The girls began to scream and every one rushed for the fire escape.” [Chicago Daily Tribune, June 2, 1934] The last inspector to examine the tank was Daniel Hartford, who had approved it in January. Appearing before an inquest on June 1, he was asked how much he knew about the work he was doing. Hartford answered, “I didn’t know anything about it . . . I’m just the same as you or anybody else who might inspect it.” A few days later the city’s building commissioner says that of the 3,000 water tanks on city roofs the building department only has records for two-thirds of them. At least a thousand such tanks were built before 1919 when the state required that blueprints of the tanks be filed with the building department.


May 22, 1956 – Mayor Richard J. Daley says it might be a fine idea to have gondolas, “operated by experts from Venice,” [Chicago Daily Tribune May 23, 1956] on the Chicago River.  He added further that it would be great to see boys and girls fishing from the river banks.  Behind the message lies a motive – the mayor adds that for such pastimes to occur the federal government would need to permit an increased diversion of Lake Michigan water into the river, something that cities and states on the Great Lakes have fought for over four decades.

Monday, May 21, 2018

May 21, 1863 -- John Wilkes Booth Returns to Chicago


May 21 1863 –Item right after “Disgraceful” (“men and boys, by scores, violate not only the laws of decency and the ordinance of the city, but desecrate the Sabbath, by collecting in large numbers, and bathing in the Lake, on the Sabbath, all along the shore from the Light House to Huron street, thus making an indecent exposure of their persons to residents in the vicinity …”) [Chicago Tribune, May 21, 1863]and “A Ferocious Dog” (Yesterday morning, a demented lad, named James Small, aged about fourteen, was attacked by a large and savage dog, belonging to a butcher named John Lownzre, on Madison street at the foot of Franklin street”) … there it is: “Theatre—J. Wilkes Booth”.  The Tribuneprovides a glowing appraisal of the young actor’s skills, noting the improvement he has made since his Chicago debut a year earlier.  “In every part he plays,” the review states, “the auditor will perceive the marks of the student, and this being so, errors of judgment must be eradicated with time and experience.  Since his advent in Chicago, some eighteen months ago, no one who has attended his performances, can fail to see an improvement, and we predict ere he has attained his thirtieth year ... no one will ever regret having witnessed him in any of his characters.”  The first McVicker’s Theatre, on Madison Street between Dearborn and State, where John Wilkes Booth appeared, is pictured above.


May 21, 1919 – Jewish workers throughout the city, some 25,000 people in all, “in response to the notice carried throughout the Jewish resident and factory districts by word and handbill” [Chicago Daily Tribune, May 21, 1919] gather at Twelfth and Robey Streets to form a column of marchers that will demonstrate against the treatment of Jews in Europe.  A speaker at the event, Clarence Darrow, says, “There should be more freedom over the world for the Jews.  The question of persecution of the Jews is an old one … We are forming a number of new nations; it should be written into their constitutions that they will enforce equal rights for all people.”  The protests focus especially on Poland, a country that the United States sees as a counterbalance to the influence of Russia in the period after World War I. In June of 1919 President Theodore Roosevelt will send a delegation to Poland headed by Henry Morgenthau, Sr. to investigate the reports of atrocities.  The report of the delegation comes in October of 1919 and provides details of eight major incidents in 1918 and 1919 in which violence occurs against Polish Jews.


May 21, 1973 -- The Chicago Tribune prints a report on the full plan to revitalize the central area of the city, a plan for which the Chicago Central Area Committee paid Skidmore, Owings and Merrill nearly $400,000 to draft. Today it is interesting to note what parts of the plan “made it” and what recommendations did not. The stakes were high. As the Tribune observes, “If it bombs, downtown Chicago may bomb, too.” The report puts into words what “white leaders don’t know how to talk about . . . without sounding like bigots.” Whites running from the city to the suburbs, which are becoming increasingly independent of the city. A “growing schizophrenia [skyscrapers and stores bustling by day, with little action at night] . . . changing the Loop. Blacks “still crowded into housing projects like Cabrini-Green” and the potential of a “tipping point where whites start staying away” from the city.
The 1973 SOM plan suggests "gradual modification" for projects such as Cabrini Green.

The above photo shows Cabrini Green as it sprawled across the northwest side of the city. 


Here are some of the recommendations that we can look on 43 years later and admire the prescience of the planners of the early 1970’s:

  Meigs Airport will be scrapped and Northerly Island, on which it stands converted to park, beach and picnic use.

  Navy Pier will be transformed into a lively recreational facility with restaurants, an auditorium, and exhibits.

  No further private construction will be permitted east of Lake Shore Drive. 

  A miniature supercity for 120,000 would be concentrated on 650 acres of largely unused railroad land, south of the Loop.

  Means would be found to encourage major development of the Chicago Dock and Canal Trust property along the north side of the river between St. Clair Street and the lakefront.

  Rehabilitation and stabilization – not clearance, or relocation – are stressed for the Pilsen and East Humboldt Park neighborhoods.

And here are a few that didn’t get done:

  A giant sports arena will be built south of the Loop within easy distance of the lakefront if not actually on it.

  Lake Shore Drive, where it runs along Grant Park, will be narrowed and left turns would be prohibited, forcing motorists heading for the central business district to park in new public lots on the Loop’s fringes and ride on a new subway or another form of public transportation.

  The Loop elevated will be torn down and replaced with a subway.   Once free of the elevated’s shadow, the east side of Wabash Avenue will be converted to a pedestrian-oriented shopping street.

  A personalized, automated rapid transit system might connect the “super blocks” of the South Loop to the center of the city over Illinois Central Gulf Railroad air rights.  A passenger would enter a small car, push a button on a map showing his destination, and zip away automatically.

And . . . a few that sort of got done:

  Traffic on State Street will be narrowed to four lanes for buses and taxis only. Autos will be banned.   Widened sidewalks with tr


ees and shrubs will form pleasant promenades.  (This one happened in an experiment that didn’t work and was reversed.)

  Gradual modification of Cabrini Green is proposed.  (It got modified down to bare ground.)