Inland Steel Complex, East Chicago.
Time to pay another brief visit to Chicago in the early ’70s, a city we have paid a couple of visits to in the last year (Previous posts, HERE and HERE). Once again, the images belong to the UIC (University of Illinois) online collection and were taken between 1971-1975.
As for an intro to the images and city, how about borrowing these words about Chicago from CC reader VanillaDude:
“HOME! I can smell those bus fumes, hear the CTA tracks rumble, squeak and roar, feel the cold wind on my face and hear the crunchy black snow as I try to cross the streets! I can also hear the occasional metallic hum of studded snow tires…
As to autos, they were shades of Avocado green, rattled like a road train, and were made in either Detroit or Kenosha. They were rear drive and easily stuck in snow. The cars were low, wide, long and sported battering ram bumpers. Lots of the cars burned oil. Lots of cars leaked oil and anti-freeze. Lots of cars were missing mufflers or had rusting exhaust pipes tied with wire coat hangers… Chicago was ripe for an auto brand that stayed screwed together.”
Does that sound like Chicago in the early ’70s? Sure it does!
Gately’s People Store (blue sign), on Michigan Ave.
Loyola and Sheridan Station, North Sheridan Road.
Parking lot, Linden CTA Terminal.
Sedgwick Street and Sedgwick CTA station.
Prairie Shores Apartments, looking north along South Martin Luther King Drive.
West Loyola Avenue.
South Commercial Avenue and Immaculate Conception Church.
W. J. Saunders Office Supply Store on Ashland Avenue.
Paulina Street, north of Howard.
Downtown Elmhurst, from the Chicago and North Western Railroad station.
In the Sedgwick Street photo, the house right next to the tracks looks like the house Carol Hathaway on “er” bought .
Also love the Simca 1000 in the Linden CTA lot photo!
Yes, who was driving a Simca in 1970’s Chicago? Probably a pretty interesting person.
The gray two flat, I lived there for three months after getting out of the Corps 1965, Born and raised on the South side; Chatham Grand Crossing Avalon Park.
Photo #1: We were talking about Jean Shepherd the other day; Shep worked at Inland Steel as a kid. Note the older cars in the parking lot–they were known as “mill cars”, i.e. old, virtually worthless cars that no one really cared about. They ran well enough just to get you to your job at the mill and back. Mill cars were known for their patina of surface rust caused by fallout from the steel mill’s smokestacks.
Photo #6: South Martin Luther King Drive (like Prairie Avenue) was once one of Chicago’s finest streets–it was originally called Grand Boulevard, then South Park Way, then MLK Drive. A few of the grand old Victorian mansions remain. Photo below is South Park Way & 37th in 1930s.
Opel in front of a Vega in front of a Bug on West Loyola. Bug seems to have been rode hard and put away wet. Three different approaches to small car design. Which would you choose ?
There’s an interesting Wikipedia history of the Gately’s Peoples Store in the southeast side Chicago Roseland neighborhood. When we were in St. Ethelreda Catholic grammar school in the 1960s on the southwest side of Chicago, Gately’s was the official place to buy our school uniforms.
The once – thriving Roseland neighborhood is now very much de – populated, it almost resembles streetscapes from the 2009 series “Life After People”… whole blocks have reverted to a wild “rural” milieu, a few ruined structures dotting the landscape:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_After_People
“Life After People is a television series on which scientists, mechanical engineers, and other experts speculate about what might become of planet Earth if humanity suddenly disappeared…
The series’ episodes thematically offer examples of urban and biological decay. The focus is on specific locations such as skyscrapers, religious icons, bridges and dams, and government buildings, and the fate of certain related objects, such as artifacts, documents and human bodies…”
Second photo, camper top on a 67/72 straight side Chevy pickup, I would think that was unusual for down town Chicago.
The “Paulina Street, north of Howard” view is still largely the same, even that Certified grocery store on the left is still there. Years ago I worked at the Howard Area Community Center, which occupies the (now) converted storefronts beyond the “Auto Service” busines on the left (IIRC that business is still there). The street is now devoid, though, of most other businesses, as these have been replaced by homeless shelters, religious missions, Section 8 housing, and the like. This is now a *very* high – crime area, with gang shootings, drugs, etcetera even during weekday daylight hours – I once witnessed a gun murder around the corner on Howard Street on a sunny Spring Friday afternoon! So, not a safe place, and a major reason I sought emplyoment in a safer milieu (just to the north, in Evanston). IIRC many years ago this area was a major hub for Jewish – owned businesses and life…