In order to continue giving you the kinds of historic railroad images that you have come to expect from The Trolley Dodger, we need your help and support. 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." A few years later, the CHA placed a light-skinned Black woman named Betty Howard in the previously all-white Trumbull Park Homes. Visit the website (wttw.com/firsthand) to explore the elements of the project. (Wein-Criss Archive), Northbound CTA PCC 7206 is on Western Avenue, passing a two-car train of PCC rapid transit cars on the Garfield Park temporary trackage in Van Buren Street. 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. 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. The streetcars shown here were Western Ave. cars, running east on 69th St. to get to the Vincennes / 77th St. barn. The State Street Subway Illinois Terminal: Required fields are marked *. Building Chicagos Subways is in stock and now available for immediate shipment. 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. 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. There were three subway anniversaries in 2018 in Chicago: Shameless fans, you are welcome to come inside the gate and take pictures on the porch, a sign in front of the house reads. There were 28 buildings which was originally housed for 11,000 residents but soon became over 27,000- Population Crisis 13. Southern Iowa Railway: All copies purchased through The Trolley Dodger will be signed by the author. With its neighborhoods, parks, museums, and universities, the South Side continues to play an important role in the social, cultural, political, and economic life of the city. The Dearborn-Milwaukee Subway 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. This view is looking south along Western at 71st St. CHICAGO Perched along a quiet, tree-lined street on this city's South Side, the worn brick and concrete building on South Champlain Avenue is hard to miss.The tall structure stands out among . For a few months, Madison-Fifth continued as a shuttle operation between Madison and Pulaski, using older red streetcars. Press ESC to cancel. Mexican residents of the area around Jane Addamss Hull House settlement housetodays University Villagehad a similar fate as the Puerto Ricans. https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic512.jpg Baltimore Transit: 3. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA prewar PCC 4008 is southbound on Wabash at about 900 South. 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? The plan was ostensibly intended to decentralize Black poverty and relocate residents to mixed-income housing in integrated neighborhoods. Take a trip underground and see how Chicagos I Will spirit overcame challenges and persevered to help with the successful building of the subways that move millions. This is one reason why the CTA began repainting these cars with a darker green around 1951-52. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4004 is on Western at 26th on June 7, 1956. Recent publications have variously mentioned that either 107th St. or 109th st. was the south end of the Halsted lines private right-of-way segment in this area. ), Now Available On Compact Disc 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, 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. The developments were primarily clustered into six groups in addition to scattered sites with low-rise buildings and row houses. 4:34 PCCs #1708, 1752, 1727, 1739, December 6, 1953 The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.Read the press release here. https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic558.jpg Note the difference in fonts used for the numbers. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. 06. Chicagos first rapid transit subway opened in 1943 after decades of wrangling over routes, financing, and logistics. Chicago, city, seat of Cook county, northeastern Illinois, U.S. With a population hovering near three million, Chicago is the state's largest and the country's third most populous city. 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. 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. The original objective was to treat basic illness and to train nurses and interns. 16. 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. Second, they were all shared with our readers by Jeffrey L. Wien of the Wien-Criss Archive. From the Original Master Tapes I see no turning track from southbound Western to eastbound 69th. What is the South Side of Chicago called? Another treasure trove of photos thanks to the Wien-Criss Archive. Western Ave. cars had used the carbarn at 69th and Ashland until it closed. During the 1950s many residents called the northeast . Along with hundreds, or perhaps even a few thousand other onlookers, I watched as 30 ft flames gutted the building that July evening. Altoona & Logan Valley/Johnstown Traction: 01. It appears that the street has already been made a one-way, which did not happen until November 16, 1953. 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 South Side is the area of Chicago lying south of the citys large Downtown area. John White/U.S. Chicago Southside 1950's 95 square miles of the 228 square miles were considered the "south side". There are different types of segregation beyond the Black-white binary that normally, and rightfully, comes to mind. 04. The bulk of the items are from the 1920s-1950s. https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic534.jpg Disc Two Racially restrictive covenants were also common in the Chicago area, as in the rest of the country. 02. 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 . (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7193 has three followers at Western and 69th on October 13, 1953. The purpose was to find residents that were given Section 8 vouchers vs those who did not receive them. What was South Side Chicago like in the 1950s? But by then, the Pullman PCCs were systematically being retired and shipped to St. Louis, where they were scrapped and parts were reused in rapid transit cars. 2. This bar is well-known by DePaul University students who frequent here on the weekends, and god knows also the weeknights. Dates: 1936-2004. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4028 is on Western at 27th on November 20, 1955. Great Photo Set! (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4375 is at 69th and Hamilton on November 5, 1954. Despite the Citys first settler, Jean-Baptiste Point DuSable, being of Haitian descent, Chicagos infamous segregation is still intact, and it joins a list of large cities with similar rates of racial polarization, such as Cleveland, Newark, Philadelphia, and Houston. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7157 is northbound on Western at 67th on June 15, 1955. Chris Goes of Goes Lithography Co. had a plant at 61st Street beside the Dan Ryan. The Gallagher House is the home of the Gallagher Family. Photo 513 has a pet peeve caption as far as I am concerned. Foursquare. 5:17 The 1919 Race Riots, which were part of the racial violence seen across the country during a period known as the Red Summer, were provoked by an attempt to enforce segregation in the waters of Lake Michigan. Here are some shots around Illinois during the 1950s. The first waves of Black migrants fleeing the Jim Crow South were relegated to a vertical strip of land near Lake Michigan. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 453 and 190 are on Halsted at 63rd Place on May 21, 1954. Roger W/Flickr 2. Re: pic508, car 4008 on Wabash Avenue. 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. 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. Their numbers fell off during the Depression amid intensified immigration crackdowns, according to researchers. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7156, sporting unusual yellow numbers, is on Western at Van Buren on August 13, 1954. Another fantastic series of photos. Under the Plan for Transformation, the City began to knock down the projects one by one like dominos. $5 from the sale of each set will go to Kenneth Gear, who has invested thousands of dollars to purchase all the remaining artifacts relating to William A. Steventons Railroad Record Club of Hawkins, WI. The station was closed in 1952, probably just a few months before this picture was taken. 17. 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. From the 1920s through the 1950s, Chicago's South Side was the center for African-American culture and business. This northeast corner was originally occupied by the long defunct Becker-Ryan Dept. Buses terminate at the nearby Howard L station. Price: $24.99 (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA PCC 4108 is westbound on Madison at the Chicago River, running on the Madison-Fifth branch of Route 20. Visit the website (wttw.com/firsthand) to explore all of the elements of the project. Railroad Record Club Traction Rarities 1951-58 The construction of the Dan Ryan Expressway in the 60s further othered the Street State corridor. 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 . All Rights Reserved. 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. 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. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4393 is on Western at 21st on July 6, 1950. 4:35 August 27, 1954 03. PCC 7113 would be powered into the crossover while the conductor pulls the pole from the rear window, as the car then coasts onto the parallel track. Total time: 74:02 To replace workers at local factories, business brought in w. Displaced The CTA Pink Line runs there now, although there arent any stations on this segment. But when industrial employment dried up in the 1950s and '60s, it descended into poverty and crime. The date is June 16, 1954. Many immigrants were fleeing poverty and war, with many others coming to Chicago in pursuit of economic prosperity. The stores from left to right are: S S Kresge, on the southwest corner; The Ace department store on the northwest corner; and Sears Roebuck, the huge building on the northeast corner (with a Hillmans grocery in the basement). (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4020 on Western at 73rd during track work on June 26, 1955. 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. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4059 on Western at 28th on November 20, 1955. The tracks going to the right were for the 67th/69th/71st line, which used Western to travel between 69th and 71st. 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. Chicago, Illinois, December 17, 1938 Secretary Harold Ickes, left, and Mayor Edward J. Kelly turn the first spadeful of earth to start the new $40,000,000 subway project. Jimmy Emery from Chicago Heights was particularly involved, as written in the preceding article. During the 1940s Mercury Records was founded from a Chicago base and emerged as a viable rival to the established major companies. 4:51 (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7236 is at Archer and Western on November 17, 1954. 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. Open in Google Maps. 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. National Archives Stateway Gardens, a housing project on Chicago's South Side, housed nearly 7,000 people in 1973. Chicago Photos . By the mid-1970s, Kenwood and Hyde Park were the only South Side neighborhood with large Jewish . 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. 1. Note that the platforms have been moved to the east and no longer extend over Halsted St. Includes both Electroliners, standard cars, and locomotives. 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. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA prewar PCC 4039 is at Cottage Grove and 115th, south end of Route 4. Chicago's South Side in black & white May 12, 2016 SJNN By Alden Loury Looking West down 79th Street at Western Ave, Chicago, IL. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7240 is at 69th and Morgan on October 25, 1954. 10. Median income and employment plummeted, and L ridership fell. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7123 on Western at 66th on July 9, 1950. 09. Type in the name of your neighborhood or select one from the list below. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7243 is on Western at the Chicago River on June 10, 1956. US-born citizens make up 85.22% of the resident pool in South Side Chicago, while non-US-born citizens account for 7.1%. By 1928, there were at least six Mexican settlements parallel to Lake Michigan that were referred to as colonias. Look at this classic car in Rockford back in 1956. 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. 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. 75 years since the State Street Subway opened (October 17, 1943) All those seem to date between 1952 and 1954. The segment actually ran not quite two and a half miles from 89th St. to the 10800 block of Vincennes (where 108th St. would have been had it gone through). (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7239 is on Western at the Douglas Park L on November 11, 1955. 05. 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. 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. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4373 is on Western near the Douglas Park L on October 5, 1953. All rights reserved.. Espaol: Gua de recursos COVID-19 en el sur de Chicago, The Geography of Fear: Policing a Segregated Chicago. 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. They were not all taken at the same time, however. Chicago's South Side April 1941: Life In 'The Black Belt' In April 1941, Russell Lee and Edwin Rosskam arrived in Chicago, Illinois. Burned in 1980s and in what was a real mindblower, the reporter on scene actually called it an old CTA facility. PCC 7151 is a two-man car, and passengers are boarding at the rear. We're talking about the 1950s. I trust that the Trolley Dodger blog will continue as it is regardless of the future of ChicagoTransit. A wooden Garfield Park L train is nearby, on temporary trackage. Your email address will not be published. (Wien-Criss Archive), An unidentified CTA red car is on Halsted at 63rd Street on September 16, 1953. Yusay beer stands out on a lot of the photos. The University of Illinois at Chicago's digital photo collections . But future waves of immigration in the mid-twentieth century and, later, in the 1980s and 90s bolstered their numbers in the city. 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