Old Chicago Photographs

[chicagogeorge]

Chicago snowstorm in 1935 reported by the NY Times




Ready for blackout. August 12, 1942.
The city goes dark as it holds a 30-minute blackout test. "It looked as if somebody had turned over a giant inkwell," said crib keeper Edward F. Warner. This photo looks north on La Salle Street.


False V-E Day. April 29, 1945.
Chicagoans at Randolph and Dearborn streets celebrate the first flash of news-later proved false-that Nazi Germany had surrendered.



Wishful thinking. October 8, 1945.
Manager Charlie Grimm celebrates Game 6 World Series victory. The Cubs lost the series.



"The Loop during a dull day." Photo by Bill Sturm, November 4, 1947.
From under the El tracks, looking south from State and Lake streets.


Gypsy funeral. Photo by John Mendecino, Dated March 2, 1947.
Mourners march down the 700 block of West North Avenue.



Heading west. Photo by William DeLuga, June 29, 1951.
The route of the Congress Expressway is cleared. This photo was taken from the Main Post Office looking west. It was Chicago's first superhighway and was later renamed the Eisenhower Expressway.


We like Ike. July 1952.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower tours Chicago during the Republican National Convention. He defeated Senator Robert Taft to win the nomination at the convention.


The long drive home. Photo by Bill Knefel, 1956.
Motorists slowly make their way though a blizzard on North Lake Shore Drive


The great blizzard of 1967





The West Side is burning. Photo by Bob Kotalik, April 7, 1968.
A helicopter passes over burning West Madison Street. This photo looks east toward the Loop.


Sign language. Photo by Duane Hall, August 1968.
A demonstrator at the Democratic National Convention fights off tear gas as he walks in front of a police barricade at the Conrad Hilton Hotel


Toppled from its tracks. Photo by Chuck Kirman, February 4, 1977.
Terrified passengers fill a Chicago El train that hangs at Wabash Avenue and Lake Street during evening rush hour. Eleven riders were killed.


Fighting Jane. Photo by Henry Herr Gill, December 1979.
CTA workers go on strike during the height of the Christmas shopping season after Mayor Jane Byrne challenged the union. Here she rides an El train in the Loop at the evening rush hour on December 18.





Last ride through Bridgeport. Photo by Fred Stein, December 23, 1976.
Funeral cortege leaves Nativity of Our Lord Church in Bridgeport and carries the mayor's body past his home on South Lowe Avenue.

[UrbanSophist]

^ Fantastic!

[UrbanSophist]

[SNL]

Originally Posted by The Urban Politician

^ Now that pic right there says "fuck you" to those sunbelt cry-babies

Exactly.

[UrbanSophist]

Maybe that kid should become the official symbol of Chicago.

Some more pics:

Bird's-eye view of a sailor from the Signal Corps., Wigwag, standing on top of the Otis Building, located at 10 South LaSalle Street in Chicago, Illinois. The view includes a crowd gathered on LaSalle Street below and the Security Building. 1917


View of home of Dr. Eva Shaver and son Clarence Shaver at 1120 North Sedgwick Street (building in the center) in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois. Wood frame, neighboring houses on either side are visible in the image. 1915


Exterior view of the police station and courthouse at 1123 West Chicago Avenue in the West Town community area of Chicago, Illinois. 1917


View of a crowd lining both sides of the street in front of the Palace Opera House for a visit from President William Howard Taft. A line of automobiles is visible along the curb in front of the operahouse at 1139 South Blue Island Avenue in the Near South Side community area of Chicago, Illinois. 1912


View of the Lake Street Bridge, raised over the South Branch of the Chicago River in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. 1916


Image of the C. H. Hackley, a ship carrying Christmas trees from Michigan to Chicago, viewed from across the Chicago River. The ship is moored in front of the John A. Rusk Building at 104 South Water Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. Pylons and a dock are visible in the foreground. 1915


View of Sherman House 4 site at 100-14 West Randolph Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. Streetcars and automobiles are driving in the street near the site, and many pedestrians are walking in the street and on the sidewalks. 1909


Image of large arch shaped monument erected across East Monroe Street at South Michigan Avenue in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. The view is looking west showing Labor Day participants gathered under the arch. The buildings in the background (left to right) are the Illinois Athletic Club building at 12 South Michigan Avenue, the Monroe Building at 104 South Michigan Avenue and the University Club Building at 75 East Monroe Street. 1918


Exterior view of the Fort Dearborn building, located at 105 West Monroe Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. This building was later called the Nixon and the Standard Trust & Savings Bank Building. It is now known as 105 West Monroe Street building. An advertisement reading Little Boy Blue... is posted on the building. 1916


Exterior view of the Mandel Brothers Store, a department store, new building under construction at 1-15 North State Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. 1911

[UrbanSophist]

Marshall Field's

View looking east toward the Marshall Field & Company Store construction site at the intersection of North State and East Washington Streets in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. The sidewalks alongside the site are covered with boards. Pedestrian and vehicle traffic are visible in the street. 1907


Exterior view of Marshall Field and Company department entrance decorated with evergreen trees and festoons with automobiles parked along the street in front of the store. The store was located at 111 North State Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. 1907


View of the Marshall Field and Company department store clock. The store was located at 111 North State Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. 1907


Exterior view of Marshall Field & Co. department store entrance at 111 North State Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, draped with United States flags and stars and stripes bunting, with a horse drawn carriage by the curb in front and a man walking in the street. Pedestrians are walking by on the sidewalk. Text on the negative reads: Lincoln decorations. The bottom left corner of the negative is broken off. 1909


------

Image of the lion on the south side of the steps outside the South Michigan Avenue entrance to the Art Institute of Chicago in the Loop community area in Chicago, Illinois. The University Club building across the street is under construction in this image. 1908


View looking north toward South Water Street of horse drawn wagons and carriages being driven between rows of parked vehicles along North Dearborn Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. H. J. Trumbull Company building at 112 South Water Street is partially visible in the background. 1909


Image of a crowd standing outside the Blue Island Savings Bank at 1147 South Blue Island Avenue in the Near West Side community area of Chicago, Illinois. 1915


View of people crowding the trading floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange. Two columns are visible on the right side of the image. The Chicago Stock Exchange is located at 115 Dearborn in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. 1926


Exterior view of the Grand Opera House which was located at 119-121 North Clark Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. Neighboring buildings are visible alongside it and a horse drawn cart is parked on the street nearby. 1906


Cityscape view looking south from the roof of the County Building across Madison Street with Clark Street on the left of the image and the back of the New Brevoort Hotel on the right of the image in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. 1907


View of men building the Madison Street tracks, looking west on West Madison Street from North Clark Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. This image shows carts lined up in the street with men digging near the wheels. The Hotel Breevort is visible on the right of the image (with canopy over the sidewalk), located at 120 West Madison Street. 1909


Bird's eye view of South LaSalle Street in front of the Postal Telegraph building at the time of a telegraph operators strike. The view is looking north toward the Illinois Trust & Savings Bank building from over the roof of the Van Buren elevated train station, showing the Postal Telegraph Building on the left facing LaSalle. The Postal Telegraph Building was located on the northwest corner of South LaSalle and West Van Buren Streets in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. 1907


Exterior view of the Unity Building at 127 North Dearborn Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. The building was later called the American Bond and Mortgage Company Building. This image shows the view looking northeast, probably from the roof of a building on the west side of North Dearborn Street around West Washington Street. 1913


Image of a balloon man walking past St. Stanislaus Kostka Church at 1327 North Noble Street in the West Town community area of Chicago, Illinois. Boys are playing behind him, in front of the church. 1911


View of Lake Shore Drive in front of Potter Palmer's house at 1350 North Lake Shore Drive in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois. The image was published on July 3, 1915 relating to story about beautiful boulevards. 1915


Exterior view of Potter Palmer's residence, located at 1350 North Lake Shore Drive in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois. View is of the west side of the residence, taken from across the street. Palmer was a merchant and real-estate promoter in Chicago. 1914


View of Stone Street with snow on the ground, looking toward the Palmer residence, which was located at 1350 North Lake Shore Drive in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois.1909


Group portrait of parade of unemployed men marching to City Hall. On the right of the image, Myron D. Staiger Drugs Store is visible, located at 1356 South Racine. Harry Feldman's Barber Shop, located at 1214 West 14th Street is also visible in the background, located in the Near West Side community area of Chicago, Illinois. 1914

[UrbanSophist]

[UrbanSophist]

1958


Palmolive Building from La Salle Street, 1958


Medinah, Tribune & Wrigley Towers from Wacker & Clark, 1958


Mather Tower above new buildings along Chicago River, 1958


1958




Loop Building Seen from Racine & 13th Across demolition scene of slums, 1958


North on Michigan from Congress, 1958


2628 Prairie Avenue, 1958


View north from the Prudential Building, 1963


View north from the roof of the Prudential Building, 1963


Northwest from the Prudential Building, 1963


Southwest from the Prudential Building, 1963


West from the Prudential Building, 1963

[Frumie]

Thanks UrbanSophist. Having arrived in Chicago in 1961, I greatly appreciate these images for providing me with a baseline by which to gauge the city's truly remarkable transformation.

[UrbanSophist]

[UrbanSophist]

[spyguy]

Why'd they have to destroy all those beautiful mansions?

[UrbanSophist]

Amazing that the city didn't fight to preserve and restore this place.

[tpe]

Originally Posted by spyguy999

Why'd they have to destroy all those beautiful mansions?

Because they needed room for new 4+1s.

[UrbanSophist]

1968

[UrbanSophist]

[UrbanSophist]

[UrbanSophist]

^ Amazing how bare River North looks!

[UrbanSophist]

29th and Wabash, 1946


Today



1400 N. State, Then


Today



State and Washington, 1963


Today

[richardsonhomebuyers]

This has to be one of my favorite threads ever. Love looking at those old pictures.