The Evolution
& Their Stories
This post is in two parts
Police & Fire
events in Lake View
The township existed between 1857-1887
and as a city from 1887-89
photo - Ravenswood Lake View Community Collection
Lake View's Town Hall
1884 History of Cook County
by Alfred Theodore Andreas
Lake View Town Hall cops & wagon
probably betweeen 1889-1907
photo - via Robert Zamora via Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
The Town Hall was converted to the 42nd precinct according to this 1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
The Kaiser Garten could have been the place to meet-up
by public officials. Below is a postcard of mine of their beer garden
to be replaced by a new building in 1907
1920's photo - Calumet 412
the below photo from Wikipedia shows a more modern look
Town[ship]of
Lake View News
1879
The Tiny Jail
Town[ship] of
Lake View News
1885-86

A Police 'Shanty'?
Apparently there were these police mini-stations that dotted the landscape per this 1923 Sanborn Fire Map or were they another name for Calabooze??
Stories from
District of Lake View
After the annexation of City of Lake View in 1889 the same territory was referred to the District of Lake View until Communites were established by the City of Chicago
in the 1930's
'The drama began on November 23rd, 1892, when a man in
Lake View was approached by man riding a horse who wore a mask covering his eyes with stiff derby hat and a sandy mustache.
The “highwayman” ordered him to set all his money on the ground and just go away.'....
Troubles on Stratford Place
in 1897
A Religious Anarchist in 1888
in the City of Lake View
with the Mayor's Approval
City of Chicago takes over the
former City of Lake View's Town Hall in 1891
The Illegal Pier
off Cornelia Street in 1894
This became a police matter due to a complex legal
issue concerning ownership of water rights along Lake Michigan and the desire
to expand the park northward beyond Belmont Avenue. A State of Illinois
sanctioned Lincoln Board of Commissioners earned the right to over-ride riparian
legality and to order the police to remove the privately owned pier so the
landfill for the park could continue northward with the development of Belmont
Yacht Harbor. The harbor was approved in 1913 and opened in 1916.
(My Facebook Album)
This non-fiction murder mystery story took place in the City of Lake View in 1889 months before the annexation to City of Chicago and now part of my private collection
District of Lake View Justice
in 1901

Trouble on Stratford Place
in 1901
Hotel Vice & Closure
District of Lake View
in 1909
a 1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of the location
Abuse on Stratford Place
in 1943
The State of Illinois
Gets Involved in August
Residents Heat
in 1958
Over-lap at the Commercial District in 1960
Murder and
Kidnapping in 1965


Keeping the Kids in School in 1965
Police Support Tenents
in 1972


Violence and Politics
in 1979
Cops Honored
in 1982
New Town was basically Lake View East. I guess the neighborhood needed to be re-branded for real estate markeing reasons. The new name lasted for about a two decades from the
late 1960's to the early 1980's
Anti-Semitism
in 1987
Walking the Beat
in 1988
Chicago Police District
Re-Mapping
photo - Ravenswood-Lake View Community Collection
Captain Sullivan and firemen of the Lake View Fire Department Hook & Ladder company pose on a fire truck. R. Ribbon, the driver of the horse-drawn fire truck, is seated at the wheel hub.
*location unknown*
A fire-tower somewhere in the District of Lake View 1896
photo - Chicago Public Library via Calumet 412
As of 2021
Lake View is in
Fire District 2, Battalion 12 (EE 55)


image abovoe - Lake View Saga 1847-1985
The current area stations as of 2020
1052 W Waveland,
2718 N Halsted,
3813 N Damen,
on Barry
aka Fire House built in Old Lake View
The Barry Firehouse was located at
2214 W Barry Avenue (now brick exterior)1929 photos - Chicago History Museum via Explore Chicago
fireman Ray Dwight
Fire Insurance Patrol No. 8
3921 N Ravenswood Avenue
This former Fire Dept building was built in 1907 according to Redfin. The Fire Insurance Patrol’s job was to go into buildings after firemen and record goods and assets due to water damage and thievery. It was especially concerned with protecting major industrial interests in the city. The building is currently residential and marketing at over one million dollars. The building was for sale in 2016.
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map View
X marks the Fire Insurance building
and Fire Station House No. 112
the 1950 map indicates the building remained
but for only a oil research laboratory
2017 residential photo view
from Redfin
garage or no garage look
1990ish photo - Karls' Fire Photos via Smug Mug
the crew in 1930 photo - DNAinfo
The firehouse at 3921 N Ravenswood Ave. is a little
different in that it housed a private insurance patrol, according to the Fire
Museum of Greater Chicago. From 1871 to 1959, fire insurance companies operated
patrols that salvaged furniture, machinery and other items in burning
buildings. Patrols also did maintenance work on sprinklers, roofs and doors to
protect them. "Patrol units responded to fires with lights and sirens
along with regular fire units and, in an emergency, would man a hose line,
raise ladders or render first aid to fire victims," wrote museum director
Ken Little in 2006. "This service was performed at no charge, and whether
the occupants had fire insurance or not." - DNAinfo
Wooden Water Mains

'The term 'fire plug' dates back to the early 1800's, when
water mains were made from wood. The fire department (usually volunteers) would
head out to the fire, dig up the cobbles down to the main, then chop into the
main so that they could secure the hoses from their pumpers. When finished
fighting the fire, they'd seal the main with -- you guessed it -- a "fire
plug." The next time there was a fire in the neighborhood, they'd dig up
the plug and not have to cut into the main.
Hence the term fire plug. The first firefighters to put water on the
fire were paid by the insurance companies. The competing local fire departments
would often fight, coming to blows, over the privilege and the payout
afterward. Engine crews, knowing that
whoever controlled the water would extinguish the fire, would send the meanest,
toughest, goons they had ahead of the pumper to guard the plug. Anyone from another crew who came near it
would have to fight him.' - Irving Park Historical Society

(article with instruction video)
The Sanborn map collection
consists of a uniform series of large-scale maps, dating from 1867 to the
present and depicting the commercial, industrial, and residential sections of
some twelve thousand cities and towns in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Sanborn maps are detailed maps of U.S. cities
and towns in the 19th and 20th centuries. Originally published by The Sanborn
Map Company (Sanborn), the maps were created to allow fire insurance companies
to assess their total liability in urbanized areas of the United States. These
maps always have been accepted as the most accurate and detailed building and
construction record extant. Sanborn maps are crowded with detail and color. So
is their history. Daniel A. Sanborn created these maps for one, very specific reason:
to provide insurers a catalogue of city structures that could be fire risks. He
was a social scientist, and a memorialist of American transcendentalism who
wrote early biographies of many of the movement's key figures. He founded the
American Social Science Association, in 1865, "to treat the great
social problems of the day".
The Historical Fires of Lake View:
and yes ...
The Chicago Fire of 1871
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 caused the citizens of Lake View Township some concern. The fire blew across Fullerton Avenue at one point - (the southern border with Chicago). Apparently, rain and wind saved the day but some residents of the township were watering down their homes just in case. Apparently, a few terrified Chicagoans who traveled north found safe harbor in homes from township citizens and as far north as Belmont Avenue.
entering Lake View Township
The Experience
of Fear & Escape
These sample pages from a book I purchased by Ebay
called Chicago and the Great Conflagration
by Ellas Colbert & Everett Chamberlin 1872
These passages tell a tale of the terror that was the Chicago Fire
Fleeing toward Lincoln Park, the park northward
illustration - Ebay
According to this book about the fire, "the principal officers of [Chicago Fire Department] were appointed to their positions through political influence, which is saying perhaps saying enough of to indicate the officials degree and direction of their talents."(p 370)
The Chicago Fire of 1871 led to a reorganization of the
Fire Department that included military-style disciplines. The City was divided into 18 battalion districts, the companies in each comprising a battalion, under the charge and the administration of an Assistant Fire Marshal or Battalion Chief. But it was not until 1889 with the annexation of City of Lake View did the City of Chicago begin to have any influence & authority.
illustration below- Ebay
reads 'temporary mogue on Milwaukee Avenue'
The Ruins that was City of Chicago
from a the book called Chicago:growth of a metropolis
Lake View High School
Fire of 1885
eleven years after its establishment
1885 photo - Chicago Public Library
The high school would survive
the second building and the newer one to the left a snippet of news in 1880
The second building is gone are replaced decades laterI have a separate post on the high school along with over 30 yearbooks in my personal collection that begins in 1907 Move Issues
and
Changes:
A Departmental Procedural Issue
in 1895
at St. Luke's Parish
in 1899
images - 'Lake View' by Matt NickersonThe First Fire in 1899 image above - 'Lake View' by Matt Nickerson The new church
and original school in 1960
image - 'Lake View' by Matt Nickerson
30 Cars Didn't Make It
in 1907
but first ...
*51-55 Evanston Avenue*
2856 N Broadway
Evanston Avenue currently called Broadway
had many names but not sure if Dummy Road which was used in the press was the roadway's official name.
Also, for a brief time, Lake Shore Plank Road mentioned above was called Lake View Plank Road prior according to a map
... but I digress
Postcard Fires
part of my private collection
pre 1909 address 1054 N Lincoln Avenue
and
post 1909 address 3155 N Lincoln Avenue

It must have been a hot day!
Fire of 1911
This company is also highlighted another post called Blue Collar Lake View. This factory was located in the Township/City of Lake View.
The First Fire in 1911
page 2
and rebuilt that same year
The Second Fire
in 1934
Lake View
Mercantile Company
a before & after view
3-11 Alarm
on Lincoln Avenue
in 1933
photos - Ravenswood-Lake View Community Collection
postcard view below - Ebay

The Commodore Apartments
in 1935
former Lessing Apartments
The St. Alphonsus Church
Fire of 1950
image - 'Lake View' by Matt Nickerson
photo - Jeff DeLong via Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
photo - Jeff DeLong via Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
photo - Jeff DeLong via Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
photo - Jeff DeLong via Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
photo - Jeff DeLong via Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
photos - Jeff DeLong via Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
both photos below - Jeff DeLong via Forgotten Chicago-Facebook

Firemen
& Their Trucks
the initial firehouse on Waveland Avenue
before Weeghman Park aka Wrigley Field
in 1894
full page - 'East Lake View' by Matthew Nickerson


Located at 1529 Belmont Avenue 1936 photo - Engine 21
Clark Street/Belmont Avenue Fire
in 1959
another view of it below
The Lake View Ballroom Collapes
and
Bowling Alley Fire
once located at
3239 N Clark Street
The building had storefronts on the first floor, a
bowling alley on the second, and two ballrooms on the third. Due to poor
building inspection supervision their were two incidences, one in 1948 and the
other in 1961
image above
A Chicago Firehouse: Stories of Wrigleyville Engine 78
1950 Sanborn Fire Map of the building
X marks the spot
photo - Ebay
flyers - Explore Chicago Collection
photo - Dr. Jake's Bowling History Blog
There was this late 19th century building with a bowling alley and a second floor dance hall that apparently had a floor collapse in 1948, a shady reputation in late 1950's, and a fire in 1961 that gutted the building and the building north of it.
A Dance Floor Collapse
in 1948
A Side Story,
Gang Member Sleeps
in 1958
Another Fire in 1961
\
photos - An Engineers AspectCurtiss Candy
Warehouse
Fire of 1956
Manufacturing Building Fire
in 1960
1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map above X marks the spot
a vacant lot as of 2019 The Mister Softee
Arson Fire of 1965
The fire destoyed a 'Mister Softee' fleet of 56 trucks on 3100 block of Halsted Street in 1965. It was part of mob-related arson attempt to have the owner of the fleet sell his company and for the owner, to leave town.
there appears to be a tunnel to another building
Mob Related??
within this article was ....
The Melrose Fire of 1963
photos & video via WGN TV
2012 photo of fire fighter Rick Vega of Lake View
and a young Rick Vega at time of the fire
In 1963 Eddie Groya saved a then 5-year-old Cuban refugee from a burning apartment building. That little boy was Lieutenant Rick Vega, a Chicago firefighter working out of the same station as Mr. Groya on Halsted just south of Diversey.
Eddie Groya & Rick Vega below
Arson was Common
in mid 1970's
Fear Stirkes in Residencial in 1976Arson in the Area
by Forgotten Chicago
Discussion Group
Arson in Chicago increased 182% between 1974 and 1977.
The increase was so alarming that the state senate adopted a resolution on
December 12, 1976, directing the Illinois Legislative Investigating Commission
to explore causes and make recommendations. The Commission’s final report in
May, 1978, begins with, “The news media has made the public painfully aware of
the impact of arson in Chicago’s ... Lakeview and Uptown neighborhoods. Charred
shells of buildings line blocks of these communities – the sad remains of
arson-for-profit schemes, indiscriminate vandalism and revenge fires.” The
145-page report cites numerous reasons for the increase: recession; poor
training of arson investigators; poor enforcement of housing codes; inadequate
penalties for arsonists; a severe backlog of cases in housing court; vandalism
of abandoned properties; cursory investigations; poorly staffed crime labs;
legal penalties that forced insurance companies not to delay payments in cases
of suspected arson; and legislative loopholes that allowed slumlords to operate
for years without maintaining their properties or paying taxes. After the
Commission submitted its final report in 1978, the Legislature remedied many of
these issues. The report also noted several incidents of terrorism. Between
June 1975 and May 1978, it says that Chicago had at least 17 terrorist acts of
arson by explosives, allegedly committed by a Puerto Rican liberation movement
known as Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion National (FALN), which translates as the
“Armed Forces of National Liberation.” House Report 106-488 from the U.S.
Government Printing Office indicates that the FALN had a safehouse and
bomb-making factory at 736 West Buena in Uptown. I have no evidence that the
incident shown here was related to the FALN or was even a bombing. I mention
the FALN because it was a part of the milieu that affected the lives of Uptown
residents during this period.
in Feburay 14, 1976
6 More in Febuary
on the 22nd
Shaddowing the
Arson Unit in 1976
Arson Continues
in 1978
Hawthorne House Blaze
in 1969
Fire in 1977
( My Facebook Album)
photo - Ebay


A Blaze at
648 W Cornelia
A Chicago firefighter tries to free up an ice-encrusted hose while battling a blaze at 648 W Cornelia.
February 1979 photo via William Yates
Fire on Belmont/Clark
in 1978
northwest corner building, pre-Dunkin Donunts corner and currently the Target Store corner
photos - Jeff Burk via Forgotten Chicago Discussion Group
below - the building view in 1950's
photo - part of my collection
The Dominick Store Fire (My Facebook Album)
in 2005
both photos - Eric Herot via Flick
more photos below
both photos - Matt Bergstrom,a contributor to my sister site LakeView Historical
A Year had Past In fact, a decade would have passed!
RoadHouse 66 Fire
in 2013
2013 photo - LakeView Patch
Fire crews spent more than two hours battling a fire that
overtook a Wrigleyville building occupied by several businesses as it spewed
smoke that could be seen from the Loop. The fire, at 3330 N. Clark St., erupted
in a building that is shared by a bar, Roadhouse 66, Thai Classic and Samah, a
hookah bar, located just south of the L tracks that straddle Roscoe
Street. Fire department spokesman Mark Nielsen said the blaze began in Samah
and was called in by Roadhouse 66 just before 5 p.m. Investigators are working
to identify the cause of the fire, he said. - DNAinfo article
2013 photo - DNA info
2013 photos - DNA info
Fire on
Mansfield 2016
2016 photo - DNAinfo
'A large, smoky fire broke out north of the intersection
of Lincoln, Ashland and Belmont on Monday evening, officials said. The flames
started around 5 p.m. and involved three buildings around 3338 N. Marshfield
Avenue, near Dinkel's Bakery and Lake View YMCA. "It is an apartment fire
that started on the west side of Marshfield and it jumped porches. It seems
they have it under control," said Melani Domingues, owner of The Green
Lady at 3328 N Lincoln Ave.
"We were both getting home from work. This
our daily walk," Cohen said. "It's scary to know that older buildings
can catch fire in Chicago. It's scary how fast a fire can spread.
I hope
everyone got out OK." - DNAinfo article
2016 photo - Chicago Fire Wire
2016 photo - Chicago Fire Wire
2016 photo below - DNAinfo
The Diner Grill (Facebook Album)
Fire in 2016
A fire that broke out late Christmas Eve that has shuttered
the Diner Grill, but its owner plans to rebuild. The fire began around 9:30 p.m. Christmas Eve, after
employees had gone home for the one day a year when the 24-hour diner isn't
open, owner Arnold DeMar said Tuesday. Chicago firefighters were called to the
fire around 10:20 p.m. Saturday and found no one inside the diner, the
department said. A dozen fire trucks and engines responded. A cause of the fire
has not been determined, but investigators have narrowed the fire's origin to
refrigeration compressors in the back room, DeMar said.
– DNAinfo article
Rocks Lake View (video)
in Fire 2017
It will take several months to rebuild 'ROCKS Lakeview' after
a fire ripped through the building Wednesday, but its owners are hoping to help
out its employees in the interim. The fire began around 7 p.m. in the kitchen
and spread throughout the building, owner George Manta said. With its
insurance, ROCKS will be able to rebuild, but it will take several months. "Our
plan is to most definitely reopen, but we're in no position to make guesses on
that time frame," Manta said. No one was injured in the fire, but the bar
suffered "significant damage," Manta said. About 35 staff members are
subsequently out of work, and although Manta said he and fellow co-owner Tim
Shepardson are trying to help them find new jobs, "it's going to take
awhile," Manta acknowledged according to DNAinfo.
'Rocks' reopened that same October.
*photo source unknown*
Reusable
Fire Station Houses:
The Firehouse on Byron
1732 W Byon Street
photo - Midwest Fire Depts via Smug Mug
built in 1907 and closed in 2012
2010 photo - Karl's Fire Photos via Smug Mug
below 2018 photo - Google Maps
The Firehouse on School (My Facebook Album)
1501 W School Street
built in 1940 and decommissioned in 1979
and then used as the 44th Ward Streets & Sanitation House
Below is a view of it in 2018 via Google Maps
1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
with a zoomed view belowShowing off the Hook n Ladder
the building conversion plan in 2019
to be converted into three condo units Wrigleyville's Own 1052 N Waveland Avenue
part of my personal collection
published in 2001
According to this book the station house [/hose house] was first
established in 1884 when Lake View was a township. The initial location was at 3217 N Clark
Street (pre-1909 address of 1692 N Clark). According to my research the pre-1909
address on Waveland Avenue was 1306 Waveland Avenue. The number corresponds the directory of
1909 with a new address of 1052 N Waveland.
Following along
with Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
the movement of the station house
Year 1887
the hose house on Clark Street
follow the marked X's
by this year the 'hose house' was gone
and a storefront of some sort took its place
Apparently station house has not transfer to Waveland yet
Year 1923
at the new location on Waveland Avenue
zoomed below
The firehouse according to this book was constructed from wood - believe it or not. The framed firehouse made of wood was literal moved to its current location on Waveland. In 1915 the firehouse was replaced to its current brick construction but between the demo of the wooden and the construction of the brick the station was relocated to Halsted Street at Aldine. This old warehouse constructed by a former department store - Mandal Brothers served Engine 78 until the new construction on Waveland was completed - I believe the Mandel building would have been a better choice due to its size but distance from the new baseball park must have been the a major issue at the time.
photos from her book
patch - Ebay

Voting Station in 1991
photos - Ebay
2016 photo below from their Facebook page
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These posts are exclusively used for educational purposes. I do not wish to gain monetary profit from this blog nor should anyone else without permission for the original source - thanks!
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