Chicago History Today

Once upon a time, Chicago had never been the home of the President of the United States.  And so, whenever a president arrived in the city, it was major news.  On this particular occasion, the presidential visit turned out to be a footnote to world history. Mayor Richard J. Daley had played an important role […]

1927–Lawrence Avenue @ Narragansett Avenue, view east 2026–the same location Lawrence Avenue (4800-north) and Narragansett Avenue (6400-west) are both full section-line arterial streets. However. because some early surveyors did not co-ordinate their work, in this part of the Portage Park neighborhood both Lawrence and Narragansett are local side streets. The 1927 photo document...

America was treated to a real Chicago TV program on May 20, 1957.  That’s when “M Squad” premiered on NBC. Cop shows were popular in the 1950s.  Los Angeles had “Dragnet,” San Francisco had “The Lineup.”  The new series was about an elite unit of the Chicago police. There wasn’t really anything called the M […]

1939–Ogden Avenue @ Oakley Boulevard, view southwest 2026–the same location In the 1939 photo, Oakley Boulevard is the street coming in from the right. Roosevelt Road is the major thoroughfare crossing Ogden—hence the business called “Ogden-Roosevelt Furniture.” Looking down Ogden, we see that the streetcar tracks curve into the local lanes. The center lanes were […]

Last week I posted some photos of an articulated bus that CTA was trying out in 1974. But during the 1950s the city already had an actual articulated electric trolley bus. Nicknamed the “Queen Mary” because of its impressive physical presence, bus #9763 began its service on the Diversey Avenue line. Later, when Diversey was […]