Coverage spans 1839-1928 but no directories are available for 1840-1842, 1918-1922, and 1924-1927. They were not all taken at the same time, however. Effectively acting as sundown towns, suburbs such as Cicero utilized police and mob violence to draw a line in the concrete. Disc Two As a field interviewer I had to look for displaced residents from the projects. There were 300 Pullmans in all. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7213, the last streetcar to operate in Chicago, is on Western at 21st on July 16, 1951. Chicago's historic South Side neighborhood is a largely residential community defined by its red brick houses and tree-shaded sidewalks. and These demarcations were shaped by racist sentiments toward Black residents and non-whites and manifested through urban planning, housing policies, discriminatory banking, and other practicesall effectively confining people from different demographic groups to certain parts of the city. Total time (3 discs) 215:03. The materials include articles, correspondence, flyers, news clippings and reminisces. Railroad Record Club North Shore Line Rarities 1955-1963 https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic558.jpg 07. Mexicans and Mexican Americans account for the vast majority of the 819,518 Latinx residents currently living in Chicago and continue to live in or right next to polluted industrial corridors on the Southeast, Southwest, and Northwest sides. Maps of Chicagos early ethnic composition show that immigrants and their descendants lived in clusters. (312 . But this must be a reroute, since it is definitely after 1949 (the car has advertising on the side) and its running Route 36 Broadway-State. # of Discs 1 When I got to Western they ended and I recall seeing a few feet of track bent down from the last support. 2008- University of Michigan launch a study Moving Towards Opportunity. It is such a same they did not have the foresight to keep these lines going. Note that the platforms have been moved to the east and no longer extend over Halsted St. Disc One Type in the name of your neighborhood or select one from the list below. The growing Black population eventually formed settlements farther south and up north in isolated and undeveloped areas along the Kinzie rail lines, Roosevelt, and the North Branch of the Chicago River. Poor neighborhoods were razed and replaced. Chicagos first rapid transit subway opened in 1943 after decades of wrangling over routes, financing, and logistics. 04. 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. 05. The Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad Company was the first to successfully obtain right-of-way and permission to build an elevated passenger railway in Chicago. Chicago Southside 1950's 95 square miles of the 228 square miles were considered the "south side". It was converted to apartments in 1985. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections. Pennsylvania Railroad GG-1s: https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic568.jpg 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 Census Bureau didn't begin to identify "non-Hispanic whites" as a separate category until 1980, when that group accounted for . https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic535.jpg 11. Western Ave. cars had used the carbarn at 69th and Ashland until it closed. Twentytwo of the targets has been restaurants. Capital Transit: The car at right has a 1953 Illinois license plate, but when this picture was taken, Dearborn was still a two-way street, meaning it is prior to November 16. In 1991 the Chicago White Sox began to play in a new Comiskey Park across the street from the old stadium. (1) The red-and-white bus in the background belonged to the South Suburban Safeway Lines. 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 03. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7118 is southbound on Western at Van Buren on November 3, 1954, with a train of wooden L cars about to cross Western on the temporary right of way for the Garfield Park L during expressway construction. Potomac Edison (Hagerstown & Frederick), Capital Transit, Altoona & Logan Valley, Shaker Heights Rapid Transit, Pennsylvania Railroad, Illinois Terminal, Baltimore Transit, Niagara St. Catharines & Toronto, St. Louis Public Transit, Queensboro Bridge, Third Avenue El, Southern Iowa Railway, IND Subway (NYC), Johnstown Traction, Cincinnati Street Railway, and the Toledo & Eastern 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. To date, we have received over 559,000 page views, for which we are very grateful. Look at the bottom of the photo. 5:02 Streamliner #300, northward from Edwardsville, February 14, 1955 Photo 530 is at the south end of the Vincennes Ave. private right-of-way segment at the 10800 block of Vincennes (108th St. did not go through to Vincennes, there were no intersections along Vincennes between 107th St. and 109th St.). IND Subway (New York City): Photos depict intersections, streets, bridges, snow removal and other traffic features in the city, mainly along major streets. So the suburban bus line went as far as 63rd Place and Halsted (next to the L station). https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic530.jpg 07. There are pictures on my blog, and also in my book Chicagos Lost Ls. You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store. 5:09 Passenger interurban #9 https://chicagology.com/wp-content/themes/revolution-20/century/194063rdhalsted.jpg. Once a separate community, South Chicago began as a series of scattered Native American settlements before becoming a village. Railroad Record Club North Shore Line Rarities 1955-1963 Dr. Martin Luther Kings visit to Chicago during the Freedom Movement campaign for fair housing made headlines in 1966. Immigrants typically lived in inadequate housing near railroads and industryin bunk houses, boxcars, and section houses. 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 . 1. The streetcar is running on the Halsted/Vincennes/111th St. line, heading northeast on Vincennes. Southside of Chicago Capital of Black America By Carla Punla Suffered its first postindustrial crisis as the meatpacking industries began to close Robert Taylor Homes was known to be the largest housing project. 5,034 1950s Chicago Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images Images Editorial Video Creative Editorial FILTERS CREATIVE EDITORIAL VIDEO 5,034 1950s Chicago Premium High Res Photos Browse 5,034 1950s chicago stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. Over the last century, an array of political and cultural forces have created clear lines of division between racial groups. HOUSING SEGREGATION IN 1950S SOUTH SIDE CHICAGO 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. You can also see trolley bus wires, used on North Avenue. The address is 2119 N Wallace St, Chicago, Illinois 60609. The Chatham 14 Theatre . This move included the expansion of popular music styles, bringing jazz to Chicago and the rest of the country. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4028 is on Western at 27th on November 20, 1955. National Archives Stateway Gardens, a housing project on Chicago's South Side, housed nearly 7,000 people in 1973. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7156, sporting unusual yellow numbers, is on Western at Van Buren on August 13, 1954. While the Census doesnt follow traditional Chicago neighborhood boundaries, areas of Englewood, Park Manor and Woodlawn have poverty rates above 60 percent. The Dearborn-Milwaukee Subway Interesting experience for me,mind you I am Latina searching for African Americans to complete 2.5hrs survey ?and more details no problem. 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. 4 Board of Trustees/Directors minutes May 1952-Oct 1956 draft copy. # of Discs- 3 In the twenty years from 1890 to 1910, Chicago's African-American population increased . Interesting to look at photos 591 & 565 which show the same area on Western. Extending trolly lines is much easier and economical than L tracks. Southern Iowa Railway: Chicago Skyline Downtown Chicago Chicago Restaurants Chicago Illinois Chicago Area Chicago City White Castle Restaurant White Castle Hamburgers South Side Chicago African Americans were also denied access to white areas by means less violent, but no less destructive. In the 1960s, for instance, the advent of "free love" took a significant bite out of the vice trade. 5:07 December 31. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7236 is at Archer and Western on November 17, 1954. 4:51 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. In the 1950s, South Side Jewish communities also formed in Jeffery Manor, Beverly, and Calumet Heights. 80 years since subway construction started (December 17, 1938) 07. Greektown, the south side's Chinatown, South Asians on Devon Street, Pilsen's Mexican Americans, and the Polish Triangle are just a handful of the vibrant communities in Chicago - famously. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Visit the website (wttw.com/firsthand) to explore all of the elements of the project. But folks are also going back to the South, citing a lack of well-paying jobs and resources, as well as steady gun violence and a rising cost of living, as their main reasons for leaving the city. Keep up the excellent effort. Foursquare. Google view shows the approximate location from which #536 was taken. Toledo & Eastern: Chicagos suburbs, Indiana, and other Midwestern states are popular destinations for Black residents. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7044 is on Western at Leland on June 10, 1956. The Last Street Railway (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7038 is on Western at Van Buren on June 11, 1956. Third Avenue El (New York City): Another treasure trove of photos thanks to the Wien-Criss Archive. Looks like between 1950 & 55 Burke Desoto/Plymouth became Burke Ford. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7253 is on Western at Leland (by the Ravenswood L, now the Brown Line) on June 10, 1956. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4408 on Western at 66th on July 16, 1951. Two things in this picture: 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. Nowadays, transit agencies have style manuals, used to maintain consistency, but such was not the case in the early 1950s. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4060 is southbound at Wabash and Wacker, running on Route 4 Cottage Grove. 01. It appears that the street has already been made a one-way, which did not happen until November 16, 1953. This was later the end of the line for the Wentworth half of the line, between 1957 and 1958, when buses replaced streetcars north of here. In 1979 there were still 10,000 employees at the plant, which was a 50% reduction, but starting in 1980 thousands more were left unemployed. 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. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4227 is on the turnback loop at Clark and Howard, the north end of Route 22. 1950. 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. Length 128 pages By the mid-1970s, Kenwood and Hyde Park were the only South Side neighborhood with large Jewish . It costs money to maintain this website, and to do the sort of historic research that is our specialty. Constructed over alleys through the South side, the Alley "'L" opened for regular service on June 6, 1892. . This is post 1 of 6 in the series FIRSTHAND: SEGREGATION. There are different types of segregation beyond the Black-white binary that normally, and rightfully, comes to mind. From north to south, they were Hull House, the Stockyards, Blue Island, South Chicago, East Chicago, and as far as Gary, Indiana. 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. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4238 is southbound on Wabash, crossing the Chicago River. Those canopies were short-lived after the end of streetcar service, as buses eventually ran into them. I was born on the south side then raised in Logan Square. 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. During the 1940s Mercury Records was founded from a Chicago base and emerged as a viable rival to the established major companies. Note the dark areas where some touch-up painting has been done on the PCC. After its peak in the 1950s, a variety of changes influenced the direction the Outfit took. March 20, 2019. From the 1920s through the 1950s, Chicago's South Side was the center for African-American culture and business. White residents in several neighborhoods left the city for suburban areas, and the real estate industry made vast sums by blockbusting. 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. Second, they were all shared with our readers by Jeffrey L. Wien of the Wien-Criss Archive. Baltimore Transit: The comments about the photo at Division and Crosby are confirmed by the street sign at left showing that street to be Burling Street. The southeast corner building was nondescript, although at one point it was a Stineway drug store. https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic566.jpg The YMCA Hotel, seen in the background, opened in 1916 and closed in 1979. 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. Not quite CSL sold it in 1920s, but amazingly close! Rockwell is 2600 West. 04. One day I got off at Damen and walked under the tracks to see where they went. By 1964 most of the large packers had disappeared. According to the Hyde Park Herald, since 1916, restrictive covenants kept Chicagos neighborhoods white from the northern gates of Hyde Park at 35th and Drexel Boulevard to Woodlawn, Park Manor, South Shore, Windsor Park, and all the far-flung white communities of the South Side.. Western/Berwyn canopies lasted a long time, into late 80s, before they rusted off at the ground! (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 6154 is southbound at Halsted and Congress on October 5, 1953. 75 years since the State Street Subway opened (October 17, 1943) 02. PCCs were taken off Madison on December 13, 1953. You can find those pages on the Newberry Library's Chicago Ancestors website.. Prior to its more official naming, the media referred to the Bronzeville neighborhood and adjacent areas using derisive names such as the "Black Belt," "Black Ghetto," and even more appalling names such as "Darkie Town." Our resident South side history expert M. E. writes: I have a lot of comments about your latest post #241. 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. The bulk of the items are from the 1920s-1950s. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4037 is on Western at the Chicago River on June 10, 1956 just one week before the end of streetcar service on Route 49. The price of $23.99 includes shipping within the United States. 1454 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60605. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4060 is southbound on Western at 66th on October 9, 1955. 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. From the 1920s through the 1950s, Chicagos South Side was the center for African-American culture and business. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7012 at Western and Congress, crossing over the new expressway, on June 11, 1956. 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. Roger W/Flickr 2. I trust that the Trolley Dodger blog will continue as it is regardless of the future of ChicagoTransit. 1960. Total time: 74:02 04. 03. 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