Sunday, July 19, 2020

July 19, 1984 -- Chicago Lighthouse Named to National Register


July 19, 1984 –The Chicago Harbor Lighthouse is named to the National Register of Historic Places.  The lighthouse originally came about as a part of a number of harbor improvements that the city undertook to prepare itself for the 27.5 million people that would attend the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.  Standing at the mouth of the Chicago River, the lighthouse replaced one that had stood at the end of the North Pier when it was completed in 1859, but with the addition of nearly a quarter mile of new pier, stood 1,200 feet from the outer limit of the pier.  Work had begun in the 1870’s on a mile-long breakwater to protect the harbor, and on September 1, 1893 the new lighthouse was completed 100 feet inside the southeast end of the breakwater. There it stood until 1917 when the breakwater was extended southward, and the United States Congress appropriated $88,000 to move the lighthouse onto the renovated breakwater off the harbor.  Two structures were added as a part of the move – a 28-square foot fog signal building and a boathouse.  The lighthouse was fully automated in 1979.  In 2005 the Coast Guard determined that the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse was excess and on February 24, 2009 it was transferred to the city.  The lighthouse is such a part of the city that there is a reference to it in a relief sculpture at City Hall where “The Spirit of the Waters” features the lighthouse in the background. 


July 19, 1966 – The Chicago Cubs put together an impressive display of offense as they put 24 runners on base through a combination of ten hits, 10 walks, two hit batters, and two errors.  Unfortunately, 18 of those runners do not cross home plate as the Cubs lose, 3-2, to the Cincinnati Reds in an 18-inning affair that lasts just seven minutes short of five hours before an official crowd of 6,941.  Robin Roberts, starting his second game for the Cubs, brings a 1 to 0 lead into the eighth inning when left fielder Billy Williams misjudges a ball by Reds pinch hitter Mel Queen, allowing a run to score, tying the game. Roberts, just six weeks shy of his fortieth birthday, continues through 11 innings.  He has retired 12 out of 13 batters when Reds third baseman Tommy Helms singles to start the eighth inning, setting the stage for pinch hitter Jimmy Coker who hits a ball that Williams apparently loses in the sun in left field.  Cubs reliever Bob Hendley handles innings 12 through 14 and Ferguson Jenkins comes into the game in the fifteenth inning after Hendley allows two walks. Jenkins cruises through another three innings, strikes out the first two batters in the eighteenth … and then disaster strikes as Don Pavletich, a journeyman catcher and first baseman, homers over the left field wall.  The two teams combine for a total of 115 times at bat with the Reds using 16 players and the Cubs 15. In the above photo Robin Roberts receives congratulations from catcher Randy Hundley, Ron Santo, Ernie Banks and Don Kissinger after an earlier 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. 


July 19, 1922 – Steam shovels begin excavation work in Grant Park, the first step in the construction of the new stadium south of the Field Museum.  The stadium, designed by Holabird and Roche in a neoclassical style, is the result of an architectural competition to build a stadium as a memorial to American soldiers who lost their lives in service to the country.  The stadium will be completed in three stages between 1922 and 1939, with its final capacity holding over 100,000 people. 



July 19, 1859 – The laying of the cornerstone of the new building for the Board of Trade takes place on the lot adjoining the Wells Street Bridge on South Water Street.  According to the Chicago Press and Tribune, “The accommodations the Board are to enjoy will be of the most complete and desirable character, giving them the entire second floor, in a noble hall of 95 feet by 50 feet – its area unbroken by pillar or column.  From this, at either end, open off such ante rooms as the convenience of officers or members require.”  [Chicago Press and Tribune, July 10, 1859]  During the ceremony the President of the Board of Trade, Julian S. Rumsey, places a sealed box in the cornerstone, the box containing the First Annual Report of the Board, copies of daily papers, a list of officers and members, the previous day’s telegraphic dispatches, coins in circulation at the time, and a broker’s ticket for 15,000 bushels of corn.  It is anticipated that the new headquarters for the Board of Trade will be completed by the fall.  President Rumsey is pictured above.

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