The village of Oak Park was settled in 1835 and incorporated in 1902 when it separated from the town of Cicero. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright settled in Oak Park and heavily influenced its architecture. It is home to the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio and the Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District. Oak Park is accessible by the CTA EL blue and green lines and Metra. Oak Park has beautiful and historic houses, churches and downtown center.
Oz Park is located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, at 2021 North Burling Street, which is at the corner of Lincoln and Webster. The park features statues from the Wonderful Wizard of Oz book written by Chicago reporter L. Frank Baum. He was a resident of the Lincoln Park neighborhood in the 1890s. Fans of the Wizard of Oz would gather in the park for an Oz festival annually and in 1974 the park was officially named Oz Park. The Oz Park Advisory Council raised money for the creation and placement of sculptures of Dorothy and Toto, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion by sculptor John Kearney.
The Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago is bounded by Bryan Mawr and Peterson on the North, Montrose on the South, Ravenswood on the East and the Chicago River on the West. The commercial hub of Lincoln Square is at the intersection of Lincoln, Lawrence and Western. It is a traditionally German area founded by Lyman and Joseph Budlong who arrived from Germany in 1857. In 1925, to honor Abraham Lincoln, it was named Lincoln Square. There are many German shops and restaurants still in the area, but it is a diverse area with an Asian presence as well. The Lincoln Square neighborhood is special to me because my Aunt, Uncle and Cousins lived there, so I spent a lot of my younger years there and have great memories of the area!
Paseo Boricua is a section of North Division Street between Western and California Avenues in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago. The area is more commonly known as Little Puerto Rico. The gateways to Paseo Boricua are at each entrance and are Puerto Rican Flags that are 59 feet tall! Many businesses are named after Puerto Rican towns and many building facades are made to look like they’re from San Juan with Spanish Colonial architecture. There are many murals paying tribute to Puerto Rican heroes. I will be doing a series of posts showing photos of Paseo Boricua, because it’s impossible to show them in one post. I took over 100 photos when I went there!
The National Audubon Society has been protecting birds and their habitats since 1905. The Rogers Park murals of 2016 depict species of birds saved through the efforts of the Audubon Society.
There are many beautiful houses on West Caton Street in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood, and this house at 2152 West Caton is one of them! It was built in 1891 in the Gothic Revival style by architects Faber and Pagels. The house has many Art glass windows. The dragon design above the door is also very ornate.
The house also has a very sordid and sad history! The first owner was Max Tauber. He was a livery contractor for the City of Chicago and was friends with the mayor. He lost everything in the 1929 stock market crash. He worked with banker Joseph Noel (of Noel State Bank) to pay back all of his debts. Tragically, he then murdered his wife and committed suicide in the 1930s. The house then became a rooming house.
Mile of Murals is a community art project in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. It started in 2007 with a goal of painting a mile of murals along the CTA Red Line tracks on Glenwood from Estes to Pratt. It was a ten year project. The photos below are of the 2011 murals. Stay tuned for other years!!
Last week I visited the Lakeview East neighborhood of Chicago. This vibrant and iconic neighborhood really made me appreciate Chicago in all it’s beauty and variety. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed the neighborhood. I’m going back there this week to visit two thrift stores!
I hope you enjoy this virtual walk down Lincoln Avenue through the Lincoln Park neighborhood in Chicago!
The I Am a Man mural is located near the CTA Blue Line at the corner of Milwaukee, Wood and Wolcott in the Wicker Park neighborhood. It shows a Black man holding a sign that says, “I Am a Man”. It is a recreation of a famous photo from the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It honors an iconic moment in Black History.
The mural project was led by Darius Dennis and artists that worked on it were Ephraim Gebre, Robin Alcantara and Jared Diaz. The actual photo that the mural depicts was taken by Bob Adelman in 1968 at Dr. King’s funeral in Memphis. Dr. King was assassinated the day after the photo was taken. King was in Memphis to help with the sanitation workers strike and the I Am a Man sign was carried by the striking workers. It is now a popular sign at civil rights protests.
*Note – Some of this information is from a Block Club Chicago article.
