…for the first time this Saturday, September 10th, at the Berwyn Route 66 Car Show! It will be given away free with every purchase of one of my books: Route 66 in Chicago, Exploring Route 66 in Chicagoland, and The Roads that Lead to Lincoln
Both of the photos show the same view, just 111 years apart. On the left we see Ogden Avenue in Berwyn as it appeared in 1900 looking east from Home Avenue, and on the right is the current view of 2011.
Ogden Avenue in Berwyn has a long history as a public highway. It became one of Cook County’s first official highways all the way back in 1831. It became part of the Illinois state highway system in 1918 as Illinois 4 and 18. In 1926, U.S. Highways 32 and 66 were aligned on Ogden. 32 was replaced with 34 in 1933. Although there is no current route designation on Berwyn’s portion of Ogden Avenue, it is still under the jurisdiction and maintenance of the Illinois Department of Transportation.
So, this postcard shows the “before” and “after” of Ogden as a U.S. Highway. And it can be yours if you make you way to the Berwyn Route 66 Car Show this Saturday and buy a book (autographed, of course!). I will be at the registration table! See you there!
Update: I have had some inquiries on Facebook from people that cannot come to the Car Show this weekend, but they would like the postcard. I will happily include a Berwyn postcard with any book purchase from this Web site In the next few weeks I will evaluate whether to offer this as a standalone purchase item or perhaps it might be added to the color postcard set I already offer. However, in the mean time, feel free to order a book if you have been putting it off!
…one of the other US Highways to begin where US 66 begins in Chicago. This video shows a rainbow from horizon to horizon–the only one I have ever seen. It was 2009 on US 34 in western Illinois. View it at YouTube by clicking here
is about Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive and the Battle of Streeterville. The eastern beginning point/terminus of Route 66 is at Jackson Boulevard and Lake Shore Drive in Chicago’s Grant Park.
The cover story for the Summer 2011 issue of Route 66 Magazine is about the Chicago Lakefront--Lake Shore Drive and The Battle of Streeterville.
I wrote this article to tell the story of how this parkway along the city’s beautiful lakefront came to be built–and indeed how what once was an industrial eyesore along the waterfront was transformed into the parkland we see today.
A colorful part of the story is the legend of Cap Streeter, a ne’er-do-well who founded a shanty town along the shore north of the Chicago River, much to the chagrin of his millionaire neighbors who accused him of squatting on land they claimed to own. There were three decades of gun battles, murders, forged deeds, and lawsuits to settle the question–who REALLY owned “the shallows” of Lake Michigan?
The magazine has been out since June and it may still be on some magazine stands. You can find out more information about the issue and subscribing to Route 66 Magazine at their website. Enjoy!
A company that produces construction materials will pay $40 million to the Illinois Department of Transportation after a 12-year legal dispute about a section of Joliet Road in McCook.
Vulcan Materials Co. does not admit liability in the settlement, which was reached after three weeks of negotiation, IDOT said Tuesday.
The one-mile stretch of Joliet Road from 55th Street to East Avenue was closed in May 1998 because the road was substantially damaged and unsafe for vehicular traffic. The one-mile stretch runs through the middle of two Vulcan open pit quarry mines, one to the north and one to the south.
IDOT experts concluded the roadway was destabilized from years of mining by Vulcan and any attempts to repair and reopen Joliet Road would require frequent and expensive maintenance, including lane closures, IDOT said. Vulcan at the time would not agree to state-requested mining setbacks and land contributions necessary to implement repair options.
The lawsuit was filed by the state in 2001. Vulcan has ceased mining activities in the two quarries and has announced plans to fill and develop the north quarry.
Quoting from a press release and announcement through the PRNewswire:
Vulcan Materials Company today announced the settlement of a lawsuit filed against the Company by the State of Illinois and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). IDOT will receive a total of $40 million in full and final settlement of the lawsuit.
Under terms of the settlement, IDOT will receive $20 million within 10 days. The remaining $20 million will be paid as Vulcan receives funds from its insurers, with the full amount to be paid no later than nine months from the date of the settlement. While Vulcan believes that the settlement is covered by insurance policies and is taking appropriate actions to facilitate recovery from its insurers, the ultimate amount and timing of such recoveries cannot be predicted with certainty.
More information about how this section of Joliet Road is important to Route 66 is available in two recent blog post on this website, click here or here to see those earlier blog posts.
In the Winter 2004 issue, we continued down Jackson through Chicago’s Loop to Lake Shore Drive. Spring 2004 saw us driving west on Adams Street from Michigan Avenue to Halsted Street in Chicago’s Greektown neighborhood. In the Summer of 2004, we continued on Adams Street to Ogden Avenue. Finally, in Autumn 2004 we took a trip down Ogden Avenue through Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood and the suburbs Cicero and Berwyn.
All five of these Driving Tour articles are now available online on this website for viewing or printing. They are in Adobe .pdf format and they are scanned as originally published in the Federation News. They are a part of my ongoing archive of articles that have appeared in the Federation News since 2002.
Some changes have inevitably occurred along Route 66 since these articles were originally published, and I try to describe those changes on the archive page. However, the general info and directions in the articles remain as useful today as when originally published.
I of course would love it if everyone would like the more detailed information available in my book, Exploring Route 66 in Chicagoland, available on this website for purchase. Please buy the book! But for those of you that would like a free overview of the Route 66 driving corridor in Chicago, please use this free resource for yourselves.
Als #1 Italian Beef, 601 W. Adams (Westbound Route 66), Chicago
A famous Chicago eatery now has a new location on Adams Street (westbound Route 66). Al’s #1 Italian Beef invented the beef sandwich back in 1938 in Chicago’s Little Italy neighborhood. Their sandwich started as a way to stretch scarce beef during the Great Depression, slicing it thinly and serving it with au jus gravy and a choice of hot or sweet peppers on a large roll. Their business began as delivery only, catering to the needs of workers at nearby hospitals and businesses. For years, their only location remained in Little Italy at 1079 W. Taylor Street. The menu expanded over time to include Italian and Polish Sausage, Chicago-style hot dogs, and their famous hand-cut French fries. New ownership began franchising Al’s in 1999, and the restaurant at Adams and Jefferson Streets is one of their newest.
Als #1 Italian Beef at night
The building now occupied by Al’s Italian Beef on Adams Street was previously the location of restaurants named Angelo’s and West Loop Cafe. It is located near Union Station and an easy walk from Sears Willis Tower. The new Adams location features a fanciful giant soft drink cup over the entrance. I believe the largest drink on the menu comes in a somewhat smaller cup
For more information on Al’s Italian Beef, check out their website at www.alsbeef.com
International Tailoring Company Building, circa 2003 when the clock tower was still sheathed in ugly corrugated metal.
The International Tailoring Building at 847 W. Jackson Boulevard (eastbound Route 66) in Chicago has been on the National Register of Historic Places since June 2008. It is currently undergoing an interior renovation as Tailor Lofts, to be used as off-campus student apartments for the University of Illinois-Chicago. More importantly for Route 66 travelers, the beautiful exterior restoration has brought the building back to its original look. For years, a four-story clock tower was sheathed in ugly corrugated metal.
The gleaming enameled terra cotta now shines again, and the four clock faces show the current time in all directions just as they did when the building first opened in 1916.
The restored International Tailoring Building as it looks today.
The second decade of the 20th century was a volatile time in the Chicago garment industry. Most large clothing companies farmed piecework out to sweatshops that employed immigrants for low pay in deplorable conditions. In the aftermath of several worker strikes, companies like International Tailoring decided to build large modern factories and to hire the workers directly, thus putting the sweatshops out of business. This building is a legacy of that period in Chicago history.
The building was built in 1916 from designs by the architectural firm of Mundie & Jensen, formerly Jenney, Mundie & Jensen. This firm was established originally by William LeBaron Jenney, the architect and engineer responsible for building the Home Insurance Building in 1885, the world’s first skyscraper to use steel beams in its structural skeleton. The firm also designed the downtown building used for a Sears Store at the southeast corner of Van Buren and State (currently Robert Morris University), and the Union League Club at 65 W. Jackson.
Many of our Walking Tours meet next to the Lions at the Art Institute of Chicago
I have conducted walking tours in Chicago since 2005, mainly focusing on the history and architecture to be seen along the Route 66 corridor in Chicago’s Loop. Although these Route 66 walking tours have become my specialty, I have conducted all sorts of custom tours as requested as well. Some recent custom tours have included:
A walking tour that traveled from the Tribune Tower to Millennium Park highlighting the Burnham Plan of Chicago
An architecture tour of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in Chicago’s Loop
A driving tour of vintage Chicago movie theaters and studios, from the location of the old Essanay Studios, to the Biograph and Chicago Theaters.
All of the tours, whether focusing on Route 66 or a custom topic or theme, generally include some discussion of Chicago’s history, transportation, culture, and architecture.
A brochure describing my tour offerings is available by clicking here
The cost for a 2-hour walking tour is usually $15 per person. However, in light of the ongoing economic woes, I have decided to offer a special price for a limited time. For parties of four or more, you will be able to take a walk on Chicago’s Route 66 for just 66% of the normal price–that is just $10 per person!
Anyone who would like to take advantage of this special price can contact me via email:
Snuffy's 24 Hour Grill, a McCook institution since 1964, a 2010 inductee into the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame
Following up on yesterday’s blog post about the pending lawsuit IDOT v. Vulcan Materials, I have resurrected the two articles I wrote back in 2006 about the damaged portion of the Mother Road in McCook and some related historical information.
The McCook Sante Fe Depot of 1925 handled westbound passenger traffic as a flag stop until Amtrak took over U.S. rail service in 1971. The tracks now handle freight traffic only. From History and Progress: Village of McCook.
From the 1938 USDA Aerial Photography Project, along the now-closed section there were two quarries south of 66/Joliet Road: Consumers Company to the northeast, and Dolese & Shephard to the southwest. North of the road most of the property is Stinson Airport, with a plant for Standard Lime and Refractories in the northeast section.
I wrote another article around the same period that appeared in the Spring 2006 issue of The 66 News, the quarterly journal of The Route 66 Association of Illinois. This article was title “A Look at McCook.” I have placed this article on a blog page along with color versions of all of the photos (black and white in the published version). Click here to read “A Look at McCook.”
Used and new items for sale and auction, including books, CDs, household items, Barbie sets, Ty Beanie Babies, and die cast models of Disney/Pixar's Cars characters:
…for the first time this Saturday, September 10th, at the Berwyn Route 66 Car Show! It will be given away free with every purchase of one of my books: Route 66 in Chicago, Exploring Route 66 in Chicagoland, and The Roads that Lead to Lincoln
