Chicago photos, the way it was.

[uberalles]

I think you can have a better understanding of the present if you sometimes visit the past. I find some of the old photos of Chicago facinating.



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.

source

[uberalles]

"Gestapo tactics." Photo by Gary Settle, August 28, 1968.
Mayor Richard J. Daley and son Richard M. Daley jeer Sen. Abraham Ribicoff at the Democratic National Convention as he criticizes Chicago "gestapo" tactics.



Help for his father. Photo by Perry C. Riddle, December 20, 1976.
Richard M. Daley signals to paramedics as he rushes his stricken father to the hospital. Mayor Richard J. Daley died of a heart attack at age 74 after a visit to his doctor.

source

[uberalles]

Image of smoke rising in front of and over the VIM Company building and neighboring buildings. A sign on one of the buildings reads The VIM Company, located at 10 West Lake Street (formerly 68 Lake) in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. 1908.



Exterior, vertical view of the Masonic Temple on the northeast corner of State and Randolph Streets in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. The image shows a light portion of the building that has been cleaned and a dark uncleaned portion. 1904 Sept. 12.

[uberalles]

View of the Chicago skyline in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, looking west across South Michigan Avenue from Grant Park. The Congress Hotel, located at 504 South Michigan Avenue, is visible in the background. 1925



Image of the downtown skyline of the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, looking west from the lakefront. Cars are parked in the foreground, and the skyline is visible in the background. 1926



Elevated view of the Chicago skyline. Two tall buildings are visible in the background. (More smoke) 1926



View of the Chicago River and the Chicago skyline in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. The river is turning a corner in the foreground. 1927.



Image of a print of the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan. Looking north. 1928



View of the downtown buildings of the Chicago, Illinois, skyline viewed toward the south at night. The foreground is a reflection of light on the water. 1929.



View of the Chicago skyline looking from a construction site near Congress Parkway in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. Two men and two horses are standing in the foreground, and a man is sitting. 1929.
(Willoughby Tower U/C? Construction on it ended 1929)


Source (Search page)

[Wu-Gambino]

Wow, this one made me sick to my stomach


Keep posting more.

[uberalles]

I will. I'm just about done for tonight, but will try to do periodic updates.




upper floor reconstruction



Aaron Montgomery Ward, the main proponent for keeping Grant Park building free, had his office here
Who agrees that the tower should be rebuilt?

source

[wickedestcity]

awsome pics man . you should post them in the thread thats already dedicated to old chicago pics though

[uberalles]

Newbie mistake. Can you tell me where it is? I'd like to visit the thread myself.

[UrbanSophist]

Originally Posted by uberalles

Newbie mistake. Can you tell me where it is? I'd like to visit the thread myself.

http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=273147

[spyguy]

They aren't going to fix Ward like it used to be, right? Cheap bastards

[ardecila]

Not bad pics, although this one is incorrectly flipped:
http://memory.loc.gov/ndlpcoop/ichic...30/n083023.jpg

It sorta confused me until I flipped it in Photoshop.

[Chicago3rd]

Now that feels better...

Great find!

[uberalles]

Ahhh, much better, I tried flipping it in my head with no success. It just made my brain hurt.

UrbanSophist, thanks for the link. Looks interesting already. My posts will go there instead.

spyguy,

I agree, that would be quite cool if they rebuilt the tower. The city should make them do it.

[spyguy]

I remember reading somewhere that they were considering to restore the top portion but decided against it. If you're going to renovate the building then bring it back to its full glory. Considering that this was the building Ward looked out to which led to Grant Park and eventually Millennium Park, that's the least we could do.

[Hecago]

Originally Posted by spyguy

They aren't going to fix Ward like it used to be, right? Cheap bastards

I sure hope so.

[uberalles]

I was reading up on Aaron Montgomery Ward and he fought for the longest time to keep Grant Park free of buildings. The Art Institute only made it because of a forged signature. He considered getting the Art Institute removed after it was found out. He spent $50,000 of his own money fighting legal battles. He said if he would of known it would have been this much a battle, he never would have done it.

His only wish is that the common man appreciate what he did. I think the best thing anyone could do would be to restore his building to its original glory. After all it was for a time the tallest building in the U.S.