From the Original Master Tapes Price: $24.99 Chicago in the 1950s - The Trolley Dodger Chicago in the 1950s October 29, 2019 15 Comments You would be forgiven for not recognizing this location, but that's the Western Avenue station on the Humboldt Park "L", just north of North Avenue. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA PCC 4101 is westbound on Madison, but where did it cross the Chicago & North Western? Maps of Chicagos early ethnic composition show that immigrants and their descendants lived in clusters. Black residents did not enjoy the same geographic freedom. In 1991 the Chicago White Sox began to play in a new Comiskey Park across the street from the old stadium. These restrictive covenants were outlawed in 1948, allowing Black residents to begin to spread out beyond the Black Belt and to pursue a middle-class life in better-resourced communities. Many thousands gathered to celebrate the starting of work on the subway. Yelp Says If You Want To Open A Business, Do It In These 5 Neighborhoods, When It Comes To Nuts, Squirrels Are Crazy, But Not Like A Fox, At UC, Katy Perry Jokes With Mom About Song 'You Pray For Me About': WATCH, Elena Delle Donne's Fiance Proposed On Chicago Dog Beach (And Pup Helped), Decapitated Doll Heads Seen Around West Town Spark Curiosity, Concern, Look Inside This Award-Winning School Converted to Luxury Apartments, TGIF: 13 Stories To Remind You How Awesome Chicago Is This Weekend, Thanks, La Nina: This Winter Expected To Be Snowier Than Usual, New Short Film 'BlacKorea' Set In Englewood, Solo Cup Is Psyched The New 'Star Wars' Movie Is Called 'Solo', Jake Arrieta's Most Incredible Delivery Came From His Nose Last Night. If there was one impresario of the South Side during that period, it was Johnny Robinson, also known as Johnny Pepper, who operated three successive clubs from the late 1950s through the early . This gigantic construction project, a part of the New Deal, would overcome many obstacles while tunneling through Chicagos soft blue clay, under congested downtown streets, and even beneath the mighty Chicago River. From the Original Master Tapes 1. Andre Kristopans says it is Crossing under CNW and PRR at Rockwell. I wish they could just appreciate from afar without taking and still destroying everything in their way. 01. 4:53 Engine whistle signals, loco #12, January 17, 1954 A wooden Garfield Park L train is nearby, on temporary trackage. You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4227 is on the turnback loop at Clark and Howard, the north end of Route 22. Chicago nightlife history is full of fun and fascinating stories. Chicago Skyline Downtown Chicago Chicago Restaurants Chicago Illinois Chicago Area Chicago City White Castle Restaurant White Castle Hamburgers South Side Chicago In any case, thanks again for all you offer on this website. And this photo is at 69th and Western, showing a northbound Western car turning east on 69th to head to the 77th St. barn. You can compare the different CTA paint schemes on the first two cars. Thank you. This picture was taken from the eastbound platform of the Englewood L station spanning Halsted St. At that time, Halsted was still a very busy business district; in fact, I read somewhere that Englewood was the busiest business district outside the Loop. 15. View of artists and attendees discussing one of the exhibited pieces during a show at the Southside Community Arts Center, in Chicago, Illinois, 1967. At one point, Chicago boasted the largest Irish population and the second-largest Polish population of any city in the world. Chicago 's historic South Side neighborhood is a largely residential community defined by its red brick houses and tree-shaded sidewalks. Order Our New Book Building Chicagos Subways CHA admitted they lost track of thousands of displaced people as they moved to other Black neighborhoods. You can also see trolley bus wires, used on North Avenue. It should be taught in school. Photo 513 has a pet peeve caption as far as I am concerned. The southeast corner building was nondescript, although at one point it was a Stineway drug store. Last Run of the Hagerstown & Frederick: In the Windy City, jazz started out in small local clubs on the South Side. Shameless fans, you are welcome to come inside the gate and take pictures on the porch, a sign in front of the house reads. The suburban bus company had two routes into Englewood one north along Western, then east on 63rd (this was the Harvey bus), the other north along Halsted St. from the south (this was the Chicago Heights bus). Building Chicagos Subways is in stock and now available for immediate shipment. ca. 16:26 sounds recorded on board a PCC (early 1950s) Another fantastic series of photos. Newly rediscovered and digitized after 60 years, most of these audio recordings of Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee interurban trains are previously unheard, and include on-train recordings, run-bys, and switching. The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.Read the press release here. Then, Douglas Park L trains used these tracks from 1954-58. The restaurant that once occupied this corner space had been gutted in a spectacular fire during the Summer of 1953, along with a tavern next door on the North Avenue side. This picture was taken on June 17, 1955 at Western and 71st. This meant that what was once the Black Belt saw many of their upwardly mobile residents leave public housing and the immediate area. With all the different types of people Chicago attracted at this time, the entertainment industry became a powerful force to be reckoned with. In 1961, it was renamed after Dan Ryan Jr., the former president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners and a strong proponent of. https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic534.jpg The date is June 16, 1954. Southside 1-1000 - 1950 is rated/received certificates of: Finland:K-16 Sweden:15 USA:Passed (National Board of Review) USA:Approved (PCA #14768) West Germany:16. (Wien-Criss Archive), The Western-Berwyn loop on June 10, 1956. The big building on other side is the old Madison carbarn. 2. An Irish mainstay, Kelly's is one of the oldest family-owned pubs in Chicago, opening just after Prohibition was repealed and the alcohol flowed freely again. My Auntie Stell and her co-workers, Chicago. From the beginning, Chicagos demographic makeup was segregated by race and ethnicity along neighborhood boundaries and the physical features of the built and natural environment. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4060 is on Western at the Logan Square L on June 8, 1956. To reach Englewood, this bus line ran east on 95th to Vincennes, north to 87th, west to Morgan, north to 63rd, then east to the Englewood L. To the left, is an embankment where Illinois Central commuter trains (now Metra Electric) ran. In the 1960s, then-Mayor Richard J. Daleys administration began to address the dilapidated housing conditions of the citys poorest and signed off on the construction of 165 high-rises managed by the Chicago Housing Authority that would house mainly Black Chicagoans. I have produced some comments about your most recent photo group (Chicago in the 1950s). These housing projects, as they became known, are represented by orange dots on the interactive map. Racially restrictive covenants were also common in the Chicago area, as in the rest of the country. A bit of detail on photos (pic571.jpg & pic572.jpg) at 71st & Western, the temporary facing crossover was installed without a corresponding crossover overhead wire. According to 2009 American Community Survey data, of Chicago's 77 community areas, 68 are home to a population of which at least 50 percent identify with a single racial group. These segregated communities maintained a tense coexistence until 1919, when racist white hostility bubbled over. First time I came across it and Im barely 23! With maybe at least a few St.Louis-built cars being included in some of those orders; the Pullman cars were largely gone from the streets by the end of 1955. Chapter Titles: document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. On the South Side Existence in Chicago's South Side in the 1950's was harsh. 04. Title Building Chicagos Subways (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7012 at Western and Congress, crossing over the new expressway, on June 11, 1956. In the 1940s and 1950s, and even into the 1960s, tiki bars popped up all over the United States, including in Chicago, as people . Chicago Youth Organize Townhall for Mayoral Candidates, Op-Ed: Chuy Garca Isnt Running as a Progressive This Mayoral Bid, Chicago Rapper 8MatikLogan Gives Himself A Second Chance, IRS Approves Federal Nonprofit Status for South Side Weekly NFP, Mayoral Debate was a Poor Night for Chicago, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. These have been digitized, and we are now offering over three hours of 1950s traction audio recordings that have not been heard in 60 years. If the station was open, there would be a sign advertising this, similar to ones seen in some of the other pictures in this post. 03. Streetcars were on rails, so they could maintain such clearances. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7208 is on Western near 34th on September 3, 1950. 01. Immigrants typically lived in inadequate housing near railroads and industryin bunk houses, boxcars, and section houses. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA PCC 7271 is northbound on Clark at Roosevelt. We thank him for his generosity. They turned east on 63rd to Union Ave. (700 W.), then south to 63rd Place, then west to alongside (south of) the Halsted L station, then back north on Halsted. There are different types of segregation beyond the Black-white binary that normally, and rightfully, comes to mind. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4050 is southbound on Western at the Douglas Park L on November 11, 1955. In addition, the greater Chicagoland areawhich encompasses northeastern Illinois and extends into southeastern Wisconsin and northwestern Indianais the country's third largest metropolitan area and . This led to disinvestment and redlining to . As a field interviewer I had to look for displaced residents from the projects. The lack of such a track indicates that any Western car ending its run and heading to the 77th and Vincennes barn had to start at the 79th and Western terminal, go north on Western, then turn east on 69th. 02. 4:04 On the northeast corner, the 1933 art deco Sears store building with its tenant, the Hillmans Pure Foods grocery store are partially obscured by the Arthur Murray sign and the one in back of it. First, a nit: I think this picture is at 107th rather than 105th. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 601 at Halsted, Grand, and Milwaukee on May 17, 1954. 3. The interactive map shows that by the 1950s, Black residents had started to trickle into grade C or yellow-lined European immigrant neighborhoods on the West and Southeast sides. Edition illustrated All Rights Reserved. https://chicagology.com/wp-content/themes/revolution-20/century/194063rdhalsted.jpg. Where is Rembrandt in The Night Watch painting? All those seem to date between 1952 and 1954. Looking back at Chicago in the 1960s and the racial tensions that divided Blacks and Whites, I decided to write a book about that experience. So, my best guess is this picture was taken during the summer of 1954. This is part three of a series of articles about the South Side Chicago mob. During the 1950's, the time that the Younger family was living in Chicago, whites and blacks were living completely separate lives and a majority of the blacks were living in poverty. A few years later, the CHA placed a light-skinned Black woman named Betty Howard in the previously all-white Trumbull Park Homes. South Side Chicago. I was born on the south side then raised in Logan Square. 10. Known as Bronzeville, the neighborhood was surprisingly small, but at its peak more than 300,000 lived in the narrow, seven-mile strip. Note the difference in fonts used for the numbers. From speakeasies in the '20s to rooftop bars today, Chicago's seen a lot of wild nights. Through the citys use of eminent domain, much of that neighborhood, which included Black, Italian, Greek, and Jewish residents, was razed in the 1960s for the construction of the Dan Ryan Expressway and the development of the University of Illinois Chicago Circle Campus. The Southeast Side is a description that the city itself continues to resist, including this neighborhood with all of Chicago's South Side communities. South Side Chicago Chicago School Al Capone Al Capone's Chicago home, old Prairie avenue home, 7244 South Prairie Avenue. This corresponds to the white on dark green format of the 54 Illinois plates. Includes both Electroliners, standard cars, and locomotives. Clock (in Explore 9/20/09). Length 128 pages (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7156, sporting unusual yellow numbers, is on Western at Van Buren on August 13, 1954. 1:39 (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA prewar PCC 4027 (at left) passes a postwar car on Western at 24th on June 7, 1956. HOUSING SEGREGATION IN 1950S SOUTH SIDE CHICAGO (Setting: A Raisin in the Sun) Already experiencing a population boom after Reconstruction, Chicago was a popular destination for African Americans moving from the South to the North in the early 20th century. The Watch for Reopening sign in the window, visible just above the newsstand in the Humboldt Park L photo, makes me think this was taken in early 1954. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7193 has three followers at Western and 69th on October 13, 1953. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7239 is on Western at the Douglas Park L on November 11, 1955. It is very unlikely that he will ever be able to recoup his investment, but we support his efforts at preserving this important history, and sharing it with railfans everywhere. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4004 is on Western at 26th on June 7, 1956. We appeared on WGN radio in Chicago last November, discussing our book Building Chicagos Subways on the Dave Plier Show. Building Chicagos subways was national news and a matter of considerable civic pridemaking it a Second City no more! (Wien-Criss Archive), A CTA prewar PCC is on Western at Congress on June 11, 1956. 10:36 (recorded May 3-7, 1958 line abandoned July 1958) The Gallagher House is the home of the Gallagher Family. To commemorate these anniversaries, we have written a new book, Building Chicagos Subways. While the elevated Chicago Loop is justly famous as a symbol of the city, the fascinating history of its subways is less well known. https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic558.jpg 1:43 The light green paint originally used on these cars faded badly and was hard to match. 8:40 Queens Plaza station, December 31, 1954 Martee Kelso Lost Stores in Chicago Chicago Loop Evanston Illinois Chicago Christmas Sears Tower KROCH'S & BRENTANO'S Chicago Street Clark Street Chicago Art Street Art Old Town Art Fair Colors 4:13 Loco #12 The CTA Pink Line runs there now, although there arent any stations on this segment. What makes this picture so interesting is the road sign, Keep left of tracks. Thats because, precisely at this spot, the streetcar tracks moved off the street and onto private right-of-way between Vincennes Ave. and the main line of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad. (Wien-Criss Archive), The conductor of CTA 7156 is throwing a track switch at Western and Archer on November 17, 1954. The South Side has been home to some of the most significant figures in the history of American politics. Your email address will not be published. There is no shoo-fly yet, meaning construction had not yet started on the Western Avenue bridge that would eventually go over the Congress Expressway. Can The New Affordable Requirements Ordinance Help Solve Chicagos Housing Inequality? While in the South Side Chicago hoods along 83rd, 87th, and 95th streets the Black P. Stones have had a dominant presence since the 1970s. During street car years, the Illinois Central RR owned the entire embankment. Two restaurants were bombed last weekend, the damage at one estimated at $40,000. Up until the 1940s, Black residents were confined to this corridor, better known as the Black Belt, which ran along State Street roughly between Roosevelt Road (12th Street) and 79th Street. Interesting to look at photos 591 & 565 which show the same area on Western. Third Avenue El (New York City): 16. Buses terminate at the nearby Howard L station. US-born citizens make up 85.22% of the resident pool in South Side Chicago, while non-US-born citizens account for 7.1%. Why does every recent description and photo caption of the segment of the Cottage Grove line south of 95th St. talk about it paralleling the Metra Electric? But the largest group of projects was the Street State corridor in the former Bronzeville Black Belt, which had a total of 7,938 units. It costs money to maintain this website, and to do the sort of historic research that is our specialty. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 453 and 190 are on Halsted at 63rd Place on May 21, 1954. A few include: the first Black President, Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, the first Black female Senator, Carol Moseley Braun, and the first Black presidential candidate to win a primary, Jesse Jackson. In the twenty years from 1890 to 1910, Chicago's African-American population increased .