(Wien-Criss Archive), An unidentified CTA red car is on Halsted at 63rd Street on September 16, 1953. On the one hand, the South Side of Chicago was the "capital of black America." It was home to the nation's most powerful black politician, Democratic congressman William L. Dawson; the most prominent black man in America . https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic512.jpg Our resident South side history expert M. E. writes: I have a lot of comments about your latest post #241. 09. along with a sign alerting northbound motorists to stay left of the open running tracks. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7160, viewed from the Douglas Park L (todays Pink Line), is operating on Western at 21st on June 15, 1955. https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic566.jpg African Americans were also denied access to white areas by means less violent, but no less destructive. This is our 241st post, and we are gradually creating a body of work and an online resource for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere. I would always give my out of town Chicago racist tour: Take kedzie ave towards Humboldt Park -puertoricans, keep going south African Americans than come Mexicans,turn by Taylor you got Italians,get on Devon ave to see Indian community, Lincoln -Mckormick Jewish. . The neighborhood surrounding the East 63rd Street L lost more than 83 percent of its population over the next 30 years. Known as "Bronzeville," the neighborhood was surprisingly small, but at its peak more than 300,000 lived in the narrow, seven-mile strip. So we're diving into that jet-setting, Mad Men time when Michigan Avenue became the "Mag Mile.". Your caption says this streetcar is on 77th St. No, it is on Vincennes Ave., in front of the 77th St. barn, heading north. You can find those pages on the Newberry Library's Chicago Ancestors website.. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. While Chicago Housing Authority was right on target for claiming the programs of urban redevelopment, urban renewal and public housing which . (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4393 is on Western at 21st on July 6, 1950. 2023 2022 South Side Weekly. I always knew about racism growing up in the 70s, recall seeing the hippies in Old town. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4060 is on Western at the Logan Square L on June 8, 1956. Total time (3 discs) 215:03. PCC 7151 is a two-man car, and passengers are boarding at the rear. https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic544.jpg (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7253 is on Western at Leland (by the Ravenswood L, now the Brown Line) on June 10, 1956. 03. Photo 504 shows car 4108 turning off of northbound Dearborn St. to westbound Kinzie St. before continuing north on Clark St. Photo 506 is certainly plausible. From north to south, they were Hull House, the Stockyards, Blue Island, South Chicago, East Chicago, and as far as Gary, Indiana. Jacqueline Serrato is the Weeklys editor-in-chief. Note the circa 1953 Cadillac at left. Chicago Burnside Bums Gang - South Side Chicago White Street Gang Joe Barry 685 subscribers Subscribe 38 Share 13K views 11 years ago The farthest South White street gang in Chicago - the. One of my enduring childhood memories, growing up in the 1970s and 1980s on Chicago's South Side, was something I called the "boundary." Their numbers fell off during the Depression amid intensified immigration crackdowns, according to researchers. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA prewar PCC 4027 (at left) passes a postwar car on Western at 24th on June 7, 1956. (Wien-Criss Archive), Here, a CTA Pullman PCC is northbound on Clark at Roosevelt Road. https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic512.jpg, https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic530.jpg, https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic534.jpg, https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic535.jpg, https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic544.jpg, https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic555.jpg, https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic558.jpg, https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic556.jpg, https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic566.jpg, https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic568.jpg, https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7788385,-87.6447587,3a,75y,3.14h,91.82t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sYcGafc7OK9fQ0w712doa2A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192, https://chicagology.com/wp-content/themes/revolution-20/century/194063rdhalsted.jpg. Much of the promised housing failed to materialize, and its uncertain whether the CHA will ever build new housing for the 40,000 families currently on their waiting lists. We appeared on WGN radio in Chicago last November, discussing our book Building Chicagos Subways on the Dave Plier Show. Check out these old photos of Illinois from the 1940s. Chicagos first rapid transit subway opened in 1943 after decades of wrangling over routes, financing, and logistics. 5:09 Passenger interurban #9 Redone tile at the Monroe and Dearborn CTA Blue Line subway station, showing how an original sign was incorporated into a newer design, May 25, 2018. Disc Two Wonderful shots as usual. 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). 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. 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 . (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 6142 at Clark and Archer on November 9, 1953, running Route 42 Halsted Downtown. 03. Two CTA bus routes served the 79th and Western station: West 79th (to almost Cicero Ave.) and South Western (to 119th St.) The buses shown were manufactured by ACF Brill, probably in the 1940s, because they had stick shifts. 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. Chicago, though arguably racially diverse overall, is considered by researchers to be the nation's most racially segregated city. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA prewar PCC 4008 is southbound on Wabash at about 900 South. 08. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4227 is on the turnback loop at Clark and Howard, the north end of Route 22. Brace Yourself: Chicago's 'Hawk' Winter Wind Turns 50, Lin-Manuel Miranda Touts New Song To Raise Money For Puerto Rico: LISTEN, 'Stranger Things 2' Uses Wrong Skyline For 1980s Chicago, Obama Doesn't Want To Take A Selfie With You, And This Is Why, Chicago Is Close To Prince Harry's Heart: His GF Is A Northwestern Alumna. Constructed over alleys through the South side, the Alley "'L" opened for regular service on June 6, 1892. . For Shipping to Canada: Beneath this L platform, along 63rd Place, were streetcar tracks for Halsted cars that ended at 63rd St., as well as curb space for the two suburban bus companies, South Suburban Safeway Lines and Suburban Transit System. It is such a same they did not have the foresight to keep these lines going. But CHA maintenance began to fall off quickly, and by the 1980s the War on Drugs and mass incarceration created crises of crime and concentrated poverty in the densely populated towers of the Robert Taylor Homes, adjacent Stateway Gardens, and Cabrini-Green. At a beach near 29th Street, a white man began throwing rocks at Black boys who were swimming at a perceived whites-only beach, drowning seventeen-year-old Eugene Williams. This is now the outdoor seating area for a restaurant. There were approximately 813,000 Black residents in Chicago by 1960. Type in the name of your neighborhood or select one from the list below. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4096 is westbound on Madison, crossing over the Chicago River. The postwar relocation of urban whites, known as white flight, was facilitated by the new expressways that connected them to the developing suburbs west of the city limits, where Black, Latinx, and the growing Asian population were kept out. This is one reason why the CTA began repainting these cars with a darker green around 1951-52. The City of Chicago broke ground on what would become the Initial System of Subways during the Great Depression and finished 20 years later. Chicago's South Side Building new lives in the 'Black Belt' by Alex Q. Arbuckle Image: Library of Congress In the early decades of the 20th century, millions of African-Americans began leaving. The streetcar in the photo is headed northbound, with the Rock Island Main Line to its right and Vincennes Ave to its left. In 1950, 5% of the Chicago area Jews lived in suburbs. I trust that the Trolley Dodger blog will continue as it is regardless of the future of ChicagoTransit. (Wien-Criss Archive). As a field interviewer I had to look for displaced residents from the projects. CHA admitted they lost track of thousands of displaced people as they moved to other Black neighborhoods. Native American tribesthe Potawatomi, Odawa, Sauk, Ojibwe, Illinois, Kickapoo, Miami, Mascouten, Wea, Delaware, Winnebago, Menominee, and Mesquakiewere forced out of what is now Chicago by early French and British settlers. During street car years, the Illinois Central RR owned the entire embankment. 5:07 December 31. (Wien-Criss Archive), Passengers are getting off northbound CTA 7192 at Western and Van Buren on October 10, 1952. First time I came across it and Im barely 23! It should be taught in school. Tom. This story was produced for WTTWS FIRSTHAND: SEGREGATION, an award-winning FIRSTHAND multiplatform, multi-year initiative focusing on the firsthand perspectives of people facing critical issues in Chicago. From the Original Master Tapes Over the last century, an array of political and cultural forces have created clear lines of division between racial groups. Last Run of the Hagerstown & Frederick: The station was closed in 1952, probably just a few months before this picture was taken. A wooden Garfield Park L train is nearby, on temporary trackage. 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. 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. Subways and Superhighways . Built between 1949 and 1961 at a cost of $183 million, the Eisenhower Expressway displaced an estimated 13,000 people and forced out more than 400 businesses in Chicago alone. At this time, the temporary Van Buren trackage was still under construction, and this picture was taken from the Garfield Park L station, then still in use. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7012 at Western and Congress, crossing over the new expressway, on June 11, 1956. The Near North Sides Cabrini-Green complex at one time had 3,606 apartments. 04. These were stipulations written into deeds of sale that prohibited Black residents and non-whites from buying, leasing, or inhabiting property in a determined parcel. We look forward to hearing from you. Many immigrants were fleeing poverty and war, with many others coming to Chicago in pursuit of economic prosperity. the streetcar tracks turning between Halsted and 63rd. There were 300 Pullmans in all. The first waves of Black migrants fleeing the Jim Crow South were relegated to a vertical strip of land near Lake Michigan. Photos 534, 535 & 536 Englewood, at 63rd & Halsted was one of Chicagos largest and most important commercial shopping districts outside of the loop. 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. The YMCA Hotel, seen in the background, opened in 1916 and closed in 1979. 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? It appears that the street has already been made a one-way, which did not happen until November 16, 1953. Buses terminate at the nearby Howard L station. Chicago's South Side April 1941: Life In 'The Black Belt' In April 1941, Russell Lee and Edwin Rosskam arrived in Chicago, Illinois. These 10 Photos of Illinois In The 1950s Are Mesmerizing Let's take a look back at some of the golden years of Illinois. Yusay beer stands out on a lot of the photos. (Wien-Criss Archive), PCC meets PCC in this famous Bill Hoffman photo, showing CTA PCC streetcar 4373 on Western Avenue, while a Garfield Park L train crosses on Van Buren temporary trackage. Located on the south side of Chicago, Bronzeville became an established neighborhood around the turn of the twentieth century. It was converted to apartments in 1985. 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. 07. The New York Times - August 2, 1964. 09. Chicago Hoods: West Side. In those days, the fastest way from the south side to the Loop was the Englewood L, which ended at 63rd Place and Loomis (1400 W.) And of course the Englewood business district was very prosperous. Your financial contributions help make this web site better, and are greatly appreciated. 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. . The PCC is going to go northbound on Route 22 Clark-Wentworth. Nowadays, transit agencies have style manuals, used to maintain consistency, but such was not the case in the early 1950s. In the background, you can see the viaduct which is now part of the 606 Trail. In the 1960s, the population of Chicago shrank dramatically. Railroad Record Club North Shore Line Rarities 1955-1963 (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4020 on Western at 73rd during track work on June 26, 1955. 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