You can also see trolley bus wires, used on North Avenue. 06. One of my enduring childhood memories, growing up in the 1970s and 1980s on Chicago's South Side, was something I called the "boundary." (David Sadowski Photo). Buses terminate at the nearby Howard L station. The Civic Opera House is to the left. . Another 537 were injured, more than half of whom were Black. 1960. In the mid-1950's Chicago suffered its first post industrial crisis as the major meatpacking companies began to close their production facilities. The African-American population in Chicago now makes up 25 percent of the city, but racial segregation is high, and much of the South and West sides have become densely populated, marginalized, low-income areas. Racially restrictive covenants were also common in the Chicago area, as in the rest of the country. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7123 at Western and 69th on January 28, 1954. (Wien-Criss Archive), The conductor of CTA 7156 is throwing a track switch at Western and Archer on November 17, 1954. Despite the high-stakes campaign led by the Young Lords and the Rainbow Coalition against the Citys urban renewal plan, they were priced out and pushed to Humboldt Park and Hermosa, and in recent years they have been partially displaced again by new development. 05. Chicagos position as the hub of a vast railroad system enabled a bustling industrial economy that was teeming with job opportunities in its stockyards, factories, and steel mills. 01. You can see the shadow of the now-gone Ogden Avenue viaduct at the bottom of the photo. This segment focuses on the Chicago Outfit during the period after Prohibition. 3:45 Box motor #5 The expressway was originally called the South Route. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7113 is in an area where tracks are being worked on, and is crossing over from one track to another using a temporary switch. First, a nit: I think this picture is at 107th rather than 105th. Effectively acting as sundown towns, suburbs such as Cicero utilized police and mob violence to draw a line in the concrete. Burned in 1980s and in what was a real mindblower, the reporter on scene actually called it an old CTA facility. In my book Chicago Trolleys (page 107) there is a picture of track work being done at this location on July 17, 1954. Here we see the curved track from 63rd place along with the nicely highlighted companion overhead wire. Capital Transit: For Shipping Elsewhere: While the Gallaghers are said to live on Wallace Street, the house is actually located on Homan Avenue. African Americans were also denied access to white areas by means less violent, but no less destructive. March 20, 2019. Google view shows the approximate location from which #536 was taken. Copyright 2009-2018, DNAinfo. I can remember the screeching noises and sparks from when the connectors hit the wires. Visit the website (wttw.com/firsthand) to explore all of the elements of the project. To commemorate these anniversaries, we have written a new book, Building Chicagos Subways. All Rights Reserved. Photo 513 has a pet peeve caption as far as I am concerned. In the background, you can see the viaduct which is now part of the 606 Trail. Looks like between 1950 & 55 Burke Desoto/Plymouth became Burke Ford. Median income and employment plummeted, and L ridership fell. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4060 is southbound on Western at 66th on October 9, 1955. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 453 and 190 are on Halsted at 63rd Place on May 21, 1954. Edition illustrated 12th street beach, the beach we swam at in the 1950s, when we lived in Bridgeport. Includes both Electroliners, standard cars, and locomotives. In the 1960s, for instance, the advent of "free love" took a significant bite out of the . (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7284 is on Western at the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal on October 8, 1953. Your caption says this streetcar is on 77th St. No, it is on Vincennes Ave., in front of the 77th St. barn, heading north. (Wien-Criss Archive), The date at which this photo of CTA PCC 4421 could have been taken, southbound on Clark at Van Buren, is a bit of a mystery. 02. Can The New Affordable Requirements Ordinance Help Solve Chicagos Housing Inequality? Chicago South Side 1940s-1950s - Untitled During the 1940s & 50s During the 1940s and 50s, the South Side of Chicago, was the creatively teeming area called Bronzeville This was the home to poet Gwendolyn Brooks, playwright Richard Wright and dancer Katherine Dunham, and a lot more. You can see the streetcar trackage reverting to street running headed south. The photographer who took the black-and-whites is not known, but it seems possible it was someone who did not live in this area, but came to visit. Cincinnati Street Railway: At this stage, it appears the Western Avenue bridge over the Congress Expressway was not yet finished, as the streetcar (and auto traffic) are using a shoo-fly. All rights reserved.. Espaol: Gua de recursos COVID-19 en el sur de Chicago, The Geography of Fear: Policing a Segregated Chicago. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7038 is on Western at Van Buren on June 11, 1956. With all the different types of people Chicago attracted at this time, the entertainment industry became a powerful force to be reckoned with. 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. Here are some shots around Illinois during the 1950s. The expressway was originally designed to run through Bridgeport, then Mayor Daleys neighborhood, but the development was moved eight blocks to the east, installing a multi-lane barrier between Bridgeport and the Black Belt, literally cementing the segregation of Black and white communities. Late 1950s. 03. Open in Google Maps Foursquare 1312 W 111th St, Chicago, IL 60643 (773) 238-7171 homeofthehoagy 1,461. White flight caused redlining as the community was now at almost 90% black by 1960. Check out these old photos of Illinois from the 1940s. #535 looks north on Halsted from the L station, this was the main crossroads of the Englewood shopping district. The original objective was to treat basic illness and to train nurses and interns. Black communities protested, and the strife culminated in five days of violence that left thirty-eight deadtwenty-three Black and fifteen white Chicagoans. 10. A community can be described as a collection of individuals who share a common location or trait.People who live in the same neighborhood, work at the same company, or attend the same school together are . By 1928, there were at least six Mexican settlements parallel to Lake Michigan that were referred to as colonias. 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. Todays photos have two things in common. 17:25 (Car 187, Brighton Car House, December 13, 1951 regular service abandoned April 29, 1951) The Union Stock Yard finally closed its doors on August 1, 1971, after nearly 106 years of operation. CHICAGO, Saturday, August 1, 1964 Four bombings this week raised to 46 the number of bomb or arson attacks on Chicago area businesses in the last 18 months. He is still stuck on the poverty line, working a food delivery job to support his girlfriend Tami and their son Freddie. 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. Chicago Southside 1950's 95 square miles of the 228 square miles were considered the "south side". 4 Board of Trustees/Directors minutes May 1952-Oct 1956 draft copy. The photos come from the Illinois Department of Transportation and appear to have been made for the Chicago Park District's Engineering Section, according to the university. Later, this hotbed of activity attracted rural migrant workers from places such as Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the southern United Statesfrom which racist discrimination and violence drove more than 500,000 Black Americans to Chicago. The other bus company running from the south suburbs into Englewood was the Suburban Transit System, which ran primarily east and west along 95th St. out to Oak Lawn and beyond. When I got to Western they ended and I recall seeing a few feet of track bent down from the last support. "We were far enough away from downtown to be quiet and peaceful yet close enough to shopping, the lake . There are 223,867 residents in South Side Chicago, with a median age of 36. Many of the photos show the same area from a number of different angles, giving a snapshot early transportation worked and everyday life through a look at businesses, fashion, architecture and more. Once a separate community, South Chicago began as a series of scattered Native American settlements before becoming a village. 4:56 Car 5706, January 16, 1954 (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4238 is southbound on Wabash, crossing the Chicago River. Toledo & Eastern: The restaurant was now known as "Vito and Nick's," The pizza soon became a southside Chicago sensation. Join us in looking back on three swanky nightclubs from the '60s. Chicagos first rapid transit subway opened in 1943 after decades of wrangling over routes, financing, and logistics. At the turn of the twenty-first century, as the City realized the projects sat on prime real estate, then-Mayor Richard M. Daley introduced a plan to transform public housing in 1999. You can hear our 19-minute conversation here. For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here. 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. 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. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 10:36 (recorded May 3-7, 1958 line abandoned July 1958) Residents enjoy close access to several major shopping destinations, particularly the 87th Street Center and the diverse selection of shops and restaurants . Puerto Rican people are the second-largest Latinx group in Chicago. 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. Greg Nye. Why not mention that the Panama Ltd and the City of Miami operated there on the tracks nearest to Cottage Grove; not to mention IC freight activity and such trackage rights New York Central trains as the James Whitcomb Riley and the Twilight Ltd? 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. We are donating $5 from the sale of each disc to Kenneth Gear, who saved these and many other original Railroad Record Club master tapes from oblivion. All Rights Reserved. Contract-buying schemes during the 1950s and 1960s cost Black families between $3 billion and $4 billion, according to "The Plunder of Black Wealth in Chicago: New Findings on the Lasting Toll of Predatory Housing Contracts," published in 2019 by the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University and the Nathalie P. Voorhees Center 143 followers . (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4102, a Pullman PCC, is heading west at about 500 W. Madison, operating on the Madison-Fifth branch of Route 20. https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic544.jpg On the South Side Existence in Chicago's South Side in the 1950's was harsh. Original Rainbow Cone on Western Ave in Beverly, Chicago: Grandma would take us on the bus to visit the cemetery and after we would stop at the Rainbow Cone! The sign indicates that this bridge is going to be converted to one man operation, meaning that it will be operated from only one tower instead of two. Many were pushed to industry-heavy Pilsen, which for almost a century was an immigrant point of entry, but is now one of the most expensive gentrifying neighborhoods on the South Side. So the suburban bus line went as far as 63rd Place and Halsted (next to the L station). Will Guy Fieri Cook The Bean Before It's Windexed? Photos 534, 535 & 536 Englewood, at 63rd & Halsted was one of Chicagos largest and most important commercial shopping districts outside of the loop. I trust that the Trolley Dodger blog will continue as it is regardless of the future of ChicagoTransit. Amazing! Most resided in Humboldt Park with Division Street being the heart of the neighborhood. As he led a march through Marquette Park on the Southwest Side, he was attacked with bricks by a racist white mob. Chicago Photos . Another clue that helps pinpoint the date is the light lettering on dark background seen on license plates in this image. Mexican residents of the area around Jane Addamss Hull House settlement housetodays University Villagehad a similar fate as the Puerto Ricans. From the 1920s through the 1950s, Chicago's South Side was the center for African-American culture and business. But the most creative period for the city was the 1950s, when rivals Chess and Vee Jay battled for supremacy in the rhythm-and-blues market. 02. Your financial contributions help make this web site better, and are greatly appreciated. The southeast corner building was nondescript, although at one point it was a Stineway drug store. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7243 is on Western at the Chicago River on June 10, 1956. This picture is the reverse direction, looking north from the westbound platform of the Englewood L at Halsted. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4096 is westbound on Madison, crossing over the Chicago River. Black families in Chicago lost between $3 billion and $4 billion in wealth because of predatory housing contracts during the 1950s and 1960s, according to a new report released Thursday. 08. 0:56 PCC car 1557, Route 20 Cabin John line, July 19, 1953 Their early presence is not reflected in our interactive map because the U.S. Census did not accurately track the Mexican population in Chicago during this time period. A few years later, the CHA placed a light-skinned Black woman named Betty Howard in the previously all-white Trumbull Park Homes. So, my best guess is this picture was taken during the summer of 1954. (312 . 17:34 Car #172, February 20, 1954 as broadcast on WJEJ, February 21, 1954, with host Carroll James, Sr. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7238 is southbound on Western at the Douglas Park L on April 22, 1955. Keep up the excellent effort. 01. 09. 12:40 Car #202 (ex-1202), between Springfield and Decatur, February 1955 04. First time I came across it and Im barely 23! What was South Side Chicago like in the 1950s? Bibliographic information: 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. (Wien-Criss Archive), The Western and Berwyn loop on June 10, 1956. Chicago nightlife history is full of fun and fascinating stories. Disc Two (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4375 is at 69th and Hamilton on November 5, 1954. White Flight, which I titled "Midnight Flight: One family's experience of White Flight and the racial transformation of Chicago's South Side (an online novel)" which you can read here for free . ?etc For Shipping to Canada: I remember old Chicago trolley buses from when I was a little girl. Great Photo Set! 02. Properties covered include: 1950s The Neighbourhood Siding Universe T Tom Dudones My Chicago - I grew up on the South Side in the 1950s & sixties. 4. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7788385,-87.6447587,3a,75y,3.14h,91.82t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sYcGafc7OK9fQ0w712doa2A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192, 63rd and Halsted in 1939 when this Sears store was 6 years old. 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. You can compare the different CTA paint schemes on the first two cars. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4408 on Western at 66th on July 16, 1951. (Wien-Criss Archive), Here, a CTA Pullman PCC is northbound on Clark at Roosevelt Road. https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic535.jpg Clock (in Explore 9/20/09). Although there are significant improvements we have made, there are still things that remain the same. The only way to get there (still with usable tracks and live trolley wires) was along 69th St. to Wentworth (200 W.), south to 73rd St. at Vincennes, then southwest on Vincennes to the barn at 77th. This is post 1 of 6 in the series FIRSTHAND: SEGREGATION. They were simultaneously subject to predatory practices such as contract selling, in which realtors would deceive buyers into signing contracts to buy marked-up houses on installment with high interest rates and no guarantee of title. 4:45 Car 5727, January 16, 1954 Shameless fans, you are welcome to come inside the gate and take pictures on the porch, a sign in front of the house reads. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4060 is on Western at the Logan Square L on June 8, 1956. 4:00 Master Unit car #74, August 8, 1953 Cheryl Johnson and Peggy Salazar, lifelong residents of Chicago's South Side, grew up in some of the city's most polluted neighborhoods, in the shadow of dirty industries, including steel. Public housing was intended to house a mix of working-class and poor families and was welcomed and enjoyed by new residents, according to early testimonies. Pullman post-war PCCs did not disappear in one fell swoop. 7113 crossing back to the right-hand track would have involved the same procedure unless there was a common, wired, trailing crossover a couple of blocks further. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA PCC 4108 is northbound at Kinzie Street. By the 1960s, Black residents had moved into grade B (blue) communities in the South Side, such as Roseland and Beverly. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 640 is running under the L on Halsted at 63rd Place on May 25, 1954. 4. Along with hundreds, or perhaps even a few thousand other onlookers, I watched as 30 ft flames gutted the building that July evening. https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic566.jpg During street car years, the Illinois Central RR owned the entire embankment. 5:02 Streamliner #300, northward from Edwardsville, February 14, 1955 And this photo is at 69th and Western, showing a northbound Western car turning east on 69th to head to the 77th St. barn. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7208 is on Western near 34th on September 3, 1950. Wandering the streets of the 'Black Belt.' 1941. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 6142 at Clark and Archer on November 9, 1953, running Route 42 Halsted Downtown. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7240 is at 69th and Morgan on October 25, 1954. 08. Interesting experience for me,mind you I am Latina searching for African Americans to complete 2.5hrs survey ?and more details no problem. So we're diving into that jet-setting, Mad Men time when Michigan Avenue became the "Mag Mile.". Our resident South side history expert M. E. writes: I have a lot of comments about your latest post #241. The South Side's 87th Street, for instance, was a stronghold of Black businesses, particularly during the 1980s. Appearing to rise above the L platform is the corner tower of the Sears Building, looking carefully on the enlarged view, the SEARS name can be seen. Under the Plan for Transformation, the City began to knock down the projects one by one like dominos. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4053 at Western and Leland on June 10, 1956. If youre ever in the neighborhood, the TV house is located at 2119 South Homan Ave, Chicago, IL, 60623. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA prewar PCC 4008 is southbound on Wabash at about 900 South. These segregated communities maintained a tense coexistence until 1919, when racist white hostility bubbled over. Riverdale. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA prewar PCC 4039 is at Cottage Grove and 115th, south end of Route 4. What is the South Side of Chicago called? Though most of the series is shot on a sound stage at Warner Bros. Studios in California, the exterior shots in Shameless are filmed on-location in Chicago. Type in the name of your neighborhood or select one from the list below. Second, they were all shared with our readers by Jeffrey L. Wien of the Wien-Criss Archive. With yt people spreading almost all across Chicago and changing so much of the neighborhoods cultures and its peoples.. its hard to imagine those areas without them. During its heyday, there was Soft Sheen Products, a $100 million-a-year. This portion of the old Humboldt Park line was not demolished for another decade, and the story goes that it would have been used by Chicago Aurora & Elgin interurban trains as a midday storage area, if service on that line could have continued after 1957. This northeast corner was originally occupied by the long defunct Becker-Ryan Dept. There were 28 buildings which was originally housed for 11,000 residents but soon became over 27,000- Population Crisis (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 153 is northbound at Halsted and Congress on October 5, 1953. The "new" green streetcars - replaced the old, wooden-seat red ones. 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. 07. 4:46 Loco #400, August 17, 1955 Through a century of discriminatory strategies from the City and the real estate industry, in addition to antiquated attitudes toward Black residents and people of color, Chicago continues to be a city of neighborhoodshighly segregated neighborhoods. 09. CHICAGO If you think your neighborhood has changed since you first moved in, you should see what it looked like 60 years ago. The Gallagher House is the home of the Gallagher Family. Most famously, the Clarks were a middle-class Black Chicago family that in 1951 attempted to move into a Cicero apartment, but couldnt last a day after thousands of white protesters set their belongings and the whole property on fire. The station was closed in 1952, probably just a few months before this picture was taken. chicago Go To Homepage Before You Go This is part three of a series of articles about the South Side Chicago mob. Additionally, 7.68% of the population is represented by non-citizens. Chicagos suburbs, Indiana, and other Midwestern states are popular destinations for Black residents. It grew to encompass the State Street, Dearborn-Milwaukee, and West Side Subways, with the latter modernizing the old Garfield Park L into the median of Chicagos first expressway. He would later say, I have been in the Civil Rights Movement for many years all through the South, but I have never seen not even in Alabama or Louisianamobs as hostile and hateful as this crowd. The Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968. https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic530.jpg 07. 3. The Robert Taylor Homes, located between 39th and 54th streets, had more than half of those apartments. In the 1980 census African Americans made up about 50% of the Chicago South side' population while Mexicans made up 40% as a result of white flight. This corresponds to the white on dark green format of the 54 Illinois plates. (Wien-Criss Archive). IIRC, Jalens Snack Shop, the new occupant, was up and running by the Summer of 54 and for many years after that. The light green paint originally used on these cars faded badly and was hard to match. Baltimore Transit: 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. In its aftermath, white flight from Chicago accelerated. They were concentrated in the Lincoln Park neighborhood on the North Side and are credited for pioneering the fight against displacement due to gentrification spurred by the expanding DePaul University campusa fight they lost.