It does gmgxu, it speaks also to how ugly and blah some of modern architecture looks, that old house looks inviting and quaint, the new building looks like a great place to be locked up in. Very institutional.
The two earlier comments said exactly what I felt immediately: the street looks so much more small town in the early photo, and the trees were so beautiful then. I regret that any old homes were ever torn down, and I wish the parkways still existed where now there are sidewalks to the curb.
Uptown Rising. The tracks are down the center of the top photo I use to take it to school during bad winter storms, the fare was 2 cents, then city was outraged when the fare when the was raised to a nickle.
Thanks IP and Ralph. Very interesting to see how such a large piece of infrastructure and public service can be bankrupted and shut down in just a matter of years. Damn people and their automobiles.
IP did you notice that "ghetto" was a "point of interest" listed on the map towards the bottom of that forum?
I'm going to guess that given the proximity to Maxwell Street the word "ghetto" was used in the archaic Jewish sense. Through at least the twenties that neighborhood was largely Jewish. One archaic meaning of "ghetto" would be "Jewish neighborhood or area".
I noticed the term "ghetto" used too, and I am quite certain that referred to what others called "Jew Town" (and I don't think that was used pejoratively at all). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell_Street
Interesting: the Wikipedia history that I just posted claims that area was mostly African-American after 1920. I still think the term ghetto here refers to the old meaning of the word.
Geez, the 1958 photo makes that intersection look almost pastoral!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful photo (b&w). It's also a good reminder of when our streets were lined with elm trees, before Dutch Elm disease struck.
ReplyDeleteIt does gmgxu, it speaks also to how ugly and blah some of modern architecture looks, that old house looks inviting and quaint, the new building looks like a great place to be locked up in. Very institutional.
ReplyDeleteThe old days were better in some ways.
The two earlier comments said exactly what I felt immediately: the street looks so much more small town in the early photo, and the trees were so beautiful then. I regret that any old homes were ever torn down, and I wish the parkways still existed where now there are sidewalks to the curb.
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity: Where did that streetcar (I'm assuming?) run?
ReplyDeleteAsk and thou shall receive Uptown Rising.
ReplyDeleteA map of Chicago Streetcar lines from 1935.
The streetcar map is near the bottom of that link.
ReplyDeleteUptown Rising. The tracks are down the center of the top photo I use to take it to school during bad winter storms, the fare was 2 cents, then city was outraged when the fare when
ReplyDeletethe was raised to a nickle.
Thanks IP and Ralph. Very interesting to see how such a large piece of infrastructure and public service can be bankrupted and shut down in just a matter of years. Damn people and their automobiles.
ReplyDeleteIP did you notice that "ghetto" was a "point of interest" listed on the map towards the bottom of that forum?
Uptown Viagra,
ReplyDeleteI missed that.
I'm going to guess that given the proximity to Maxwell Street the word "ghetto" was used in the archaic Jewish sense. Through at least the twenties that neighborhood was largely Jewish. One archaic meaning of "ghetto" would be "Jewish neighborhood or area".
I noticed the term "ghetto" used too, and I am quite certain that referred to what others called "Jew Town" (and I don't think that was used pejoratively at all). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell_Street
ReplyDeleteInteresting: the Wikipedia history that I just posted claims that area was mostly African-American after 1920. I still think the term ghetto here refers to the old meaning of the word.
ReplyDelete