The Subposts within this Post:
1) Manufacturers along the River
1) Manufacturers along the River
2) Manufacturers along the Tracks
3) The Land Scars of the Manufacturers
that includes
Clay Pits & Ice Ponds
This post is about the manufacturing companies that once
blanketed the Township/City, District of and finally Community of Lake View. Most manufacturers from the 19th and early 20th century were once located near rivers & railroads for easy
and efficient access to their marketable areas.
The Chicago area had
abundant of both. I will highlight the most notable manufacturers while addressing
the fact that Lake View was a blue-collar area much like the rest of Chicago
at the turn of the 20th century. Manufacturing was the 'bread & butter' for
labor and prosperity in old Lake View as well as the Chicgo and the nation.
In my opinion the decline of manufacturing in Old Lake View began during the Great Depression of 1929. Thousand of jobs were lost many never to returned to thier formal status.
The Vintage Manufacturers
of Old Lake View:
1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map along the river
once part of the Township/City of Lake View
and finally the District of Lake View
The history/list I provide in this section of the post includes manufacturers that were hub and attached to popular forms of transportation in the mid-19th century - rivers and railroads. The north branch of the Chicago River between Fullerton Avenue and Diversey Parkway had a hub of companies that drew thousands of employees to the Township/City of Lake View and then after the annexation of 1889 the then newly formed District of Lake View. The other means of transportation that drew thousands of workers to Lake View was the Chicago & Lake Superior railway and the Chicago & North Western Railroad that shipped product north and south of old Lake View. These railroads would have several names during their own history's. The most prominent and first railway to geographical cut through old Lake View was the
that no longer exists but is remember of the elders of old Lake View most noblely due railways proximity to Wrigley Field.
photo - Industrial History:C&E Milwaukee
The Vintage Manufacturing Companies
along the Tracks
The railroads through Lake View in 1904 in blue lines
with the red shapes that indicates manufacturers/plants
with a list onf manufacturers along its route
of the Chicago & Evanston Division
zoomed view below
List of Companies
William Deering & Company's Agricultural Works
M. Lassig Bridge Works
Illinois Malleable Irons Works
from School Street to Addison
photo - Forgotten Railways of Chicago
Within the red box is the most visible 'right of way' of the former
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul RR - Evanston branch that sliced through Lake View using Google Earth. Some residencal development was contructed in alignment with the 'red rectangle' using Google Earth. The most southern end of this line
linked up with the Kingsbury Street line, once part of Chicago Terminal. Countless of local manufacturers built their factories along this RR are now replaced by houses, apartments, condos. This branch of the railroad was meant only for freight for such companies as Reed Candies and Best Buy Brewing and among others I will mention in this post.
a 1880's bill of sale for a candy shipment
from the
Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company
part of my collection
The Vintage Manufacturing Companies
along the Chicago River
in what we would call today as an industrial park;
Fullerton to Diversey, the river to Ashland
1887 Rascher's Atlas
a zoomed view below
Malleable Iron Works
this company had three plants, all near-by
North Western Terra Cotta Company/
True Hottinger & Company
An Unnamed Brick Yard
Lake View School #3
and to known later as Prescott Elementary
The List
of Manufacturers
by Name:
An Iron Casting Company
Established in 1880
Established in 1880
Township of Lake View
The General Office was located at
The General Office was located at
1801 W Diversey Parkway
1891 invoice - part of my collection
images from Internet Archive
plant #1
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
plant #2
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
plant #3
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
an aerial view below of the area - 2018 Google Earth
Some of their products
on sale by Ebay for $2,500 in 2019
A Current Area View
Google Map Perspectives 2018
Some of their products
on sale by Ebay for $2,500 in 2019
A Company of Style
and Grace
2525 N Clybourn Avenue
Urban Remains item for sale
image - Columbia Digital Library
According to a company called Urban Remains the original named company was 'True, Brunkhorst & Co.' organized in 1877. The five founding
members were John Brunkhorst, Gustav Hottinger, Henry Rohkam, John Tank and John R. True. The True, Brunkhorst & Company continued to do business as the North-Western Terra-Cotta Works until 1887, when it was officially
incorporated as the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company.
and postcard - Urban Remains
A Narrative
from their 1926 catalog
image via Ebay
A Billing Receipts
from Urban Remains
zoomed from above
Northwestern Terra Cotta Company was Chicago's largest
manufacturer of architectural terra cotta. With headquarters at 1750 Wrightwood
Avenue in Chicago, NWTC operated from ca. 1877 until its last factory, located
in Denver, closed its doors in 1965. The firm was a leader in development of
the architectural terra cotta industry and provided building elements for
numerous Chicago buildings, including the Wrigley Building, Chicago Theatre,
and Civic Opera House according to https://snaccooperative.org
The Company's Location as of 1887
Rascher's Atlas
X marks the location on Terra Cotta Street
(enlargement)
1892 advertisement
Art Institute of Chicago via Explore Chicago
a 1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map view
The Fire of 1911
a 1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map view
The company once had three locations
The Fire of 1911
the new building
1911 Chicago Daily News advertisement
Terra Cotta's Use and Populaity
by 1912
Their Workers
at Work
Workers feeding the kiln
mixing area
men with chisels
men working with molds
polychrome (painting or decorate) room
Sculptors working on architectural molds models
and
the drafting room
'By 1920 the firm's Clybourn Avenue plant covered 24 acres and was the largest in the world. In addition to operating a second facility in Chicago Heights, the company subsequently acquired plants in St. Louis and Denver.
Northwestern Terra Cotta targeted its client base by advertising in trade journals such as American Architect. The company wasted no time promoting its involvement in the construction of the distinctive Wrigley Building—the first skyscraper completely clad "from sidewalk to searchlight" in terra cotta. Not only was the gleaming white-enamel office tower Chicago's tallest structure at that time, it was the first of a series that inaugurated new development north of the Chicago River.' - National Building Museum
Advertisement for Northwestern Terra Cotta Company
featuring Windermere Hotel, Chicago, C. W. & Geo L. Rapp, Architects
Chicago Daily News Advertisements
1909
Some Designs
from Urban Remains
for the Carson Pirie Scott & Company 1899
Art Institute of Chicago via Explore Chicago Collection
Art Institute of Chicago via Explore Chicago Collection
1925 photo below - Chicago History Museum
The Company's President
image (unknown date) - Amazon
The president lived on what is regarded today
The president lived on what is regarded today
as Terra Cotta Row in Lake View
... his death in 1929
The Presidents' Home
1054 W Oakdale Avenue
built in 1886 when Lake View was a township
Adolph's Home
1054 W Oakdale Avenue
built in 1886 when Lake View was a township
and built in 1901
when Lake View was referred to as a District in Chicago
after the annexation of 1889
The Rokham House is dubbed the Queen of the Row
Theodore Karls was the architect built in 1887 when the status of Lake View changed from township form of government to a city with the same territory. The residence is part of an area known as Terra-Cotta Row that is made of four houses on the same block.
on Oakdale Avenue
photos - Altas Obscura
The Company's Salesman
Samples
photos from Ebay and now part my collection
This is a 6" wide and 4 1/4" tall
Another Salesman's Sample
photos - Garry Albrecht
10 inches tall and 2lbs
another keepsake
of mine
photos via Urban Remains
http://www.saintbonifaceinfo.com/photos/index.html
of the school
12 x 6 in size
top and side views
Other Samples
of their Works of Art
(not part of my collection)
a tile
selling at Ebay for $675 as of 2017
It measures 15.75" x 12" x 1"
another salesman's calling card - Ebay
apparently before casting of the terra cotta
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photos - Ebay
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indicating the original name of the company
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This Christmas tree stand
The Union Stock Yard
"This terra-cotta arch from the Union Stock Yard, 1888, Chicago, designed for the office of Burnham & Root that was manufactured by Northwestern Terra Cotta
Company, Chicago. Originally this arch stood in the Union Stock Yard at the
National Live Stock Bank of Exchange Avenue and remained there until the
stockyard fire of 1934. Flanking the doorways are figures of a southwest
cattle rancher (left) and John D. Gillett (right), a prominent Illinois cattle
rancher. In 1984 it was donated to the Chicago History Museum."
- testimony from Rolf Achilles
Another Project was
Union Station
The Company's
other Advertisements
both sheets are part of my collection
images - Ebay
ad - Ebay
zoomed below
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The Northside HQ
still remains on a street called Terra Cotta Place
photo - Andrew Jameson via Wikimedia Commons
with a Google Map view
Their Downtown Office Lobby
Remaining Artifacts
by Urban Remains
with a Google Map view
Their Downtown Office Lobby
Remaining Artifacts
by Urban Remains
as of 2018
pieces from St. Boniface School building
pieces from St. Boniface School building
that was part of a salvage operation in the 1990's
Wrigley Chewing Factory office building
The House on
Wrigley Chewing Factory office building
Wellington Avenue
503 Wellington
photo - Chicago History Museuum via Explore Chicago Collection
The entire exterior of this house that was once located
531 W Wellington was embedded with terra cotta. According to Windy City Historians-Facebook by a contributor named Greg Brewer, "The house was built in 1900 for Mrs. Margarette True,
prior to her marriage to Horace Brand in 1910. The architects were Huehl and
Schmid. The garage was built in 1910; the architects were Tallmadge and Watson.
The property was apparently sold following Mrs. Brand's death in 1919. The
house was demolished and replaced by an apartment building."
below photo - Chicago History Museum
& Company
A Farm Equipment Company
1880 - 1902
merged 1902 - closed location 1930
the property view - Ebay
built in 1880
Artist Bror Julius Olsson Nordfeldt's depiction
illustration - Art Institute of Chicago unknown date
Receipt dated 1888
when Lake View was a city in Illinois from Ebay
Trade Cards
illustration - Art Institute of Chicago unknown date
when Lake View was a city in Illinois from Ebay
Trade Cards "functioned as
advertising and also as maps, directing the public to the merchants' stores (no
formal street address numbering system existed at the time). The trade card is
an early example of the modern business card. The use of trade cards in America
became widespread from the mid-19th-century in the period following the Civil War" according to Wikipedia
and the reverse side
from my personal collection
trade cards from Ebay
with the reverse side
the reverse side
photos - Ebay
1891 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map below
The Area by 1923
indicating Deering Works as a divsion of
The Area by 1950
as a public housing location
More
Advertisements & Pamphlets:
William Deering & Company advertisement pages
image above - Ebay
image below - Amazon
image above - Ebay
image below - Amazon
images - Ebay
Their Catalog
Their Catalog
6 photos - Ebay
A Storybook for the
Chicago Columbia Exhibition
photos - Ebay
booklet pages - Ebay
postcard - Ebay
Photos of the
booklet pages - Ebay
postcard - Ebay
McCormick Deering Chicago Cast
Iron Sickle Grinder
photo - Ebay
photo - Ebay
Photos of the
Deering Plant
The Merge in 1899
with the backside of it has a meshed photo of the property
images - Ebay
1922 advertisement - Throwing Wrenches
'By 1910, when International Harvestor -IH grossed about $100 million in annual sales, it had over 17,000 workers in the Chicago area, making it the leading employer in the region. By that time, IH had established its own steel mill on the city's far South Side, which it named Wisconsin Steel, as well as manufacturing plants in Sweden, [post czarist] Russia, and Germany. A manufacturer of trucks as well as tractors, during the first years of the twentieth century the company moved away from animal-powered equipment and toward motorized vehicles. By the 1930's, as the nation's leading manufacturer of trucks.' – Encyclopedia of Chicago
image - Ebay
An International Harvester
of America advertisement
In the first quarter of the 20th century International Harvester had a particularly in Imperial Russia & the Soviet Union during the early
part of the 20th century.
The Owner
Sausage Works
established in the
District of Lake View
Albert, the Saugage King
The company's location in 1894
As your recall Fullerton Avenue was the southern border to the township/city, District of Lake View
zoomed below
North of International Harvester facilities within the manufacturing area or industrial park was Adolph Luetgert's Sausage Works once located on Diversey Parkway near the north branch of the Chicago River also near Northwestern Terra Cotta Company and the Deering Works.
'Albert Luetgert had established a packing house and stockyard on
the city’s north-side, at the 1700 block of West Diversey Avenue, in 1879 when Lake View was a township. It had become very successful over the
years, from an initial investment of four thousand dollars to a point where the
A.L. Luetgert Sausage & Packing Co. was considered the ‘sausage king’ by 1890’s' according to the Ravenswood-Lake View Historical Association website.
Albert Luetgert
photos - Ebay
illustration - Alchemy of Bones
The Area as of 1950
manufacturing became CHA public housing
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map below
The Daniel Boone
Woolen Mills Inc.
1700 block of Diversey Parkway
A steel company
1882-1900
established when Lake View was a township
image - Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway
a 1894 Sanborn Fire Map that highlights the location
south of Diversey & Lakewood (Henderson)
2019 Google Earth view
The company manufactured steel for the
Diversey Avenue Bridge - Chicago River
image of map - Ebay
The first bridge opened September 11, 1896 [when Lake
View was a still a relatively newly formed ‘district’ of Chicago and seven
years after the annexation of the City of Lake View in 1889.] The original bridge was 184 feet
long and 35 feet wide. It was a steel hand operated swing bridge. Designer was
unknown [according to this website]. Superstructure Contractor was Lassing
Bridge and Iron Company and the substructure contractor was Lydon and Drews Company. The cost was $31,345.
[As of
2018 this bridge was on its 2nd design.]
An Iowa Project
a blueprint in sections
Manufacturers
along the Tracks:
The Chicago & Evanston Railroad was chartered Saturday, February 16, 1861.It was built from Chicago to Calvary Cemetery (10.8 miles), and opened, Friday, May 1, 1885.The railroad was succeeded by the Chicago, Evanston & Lake Superior Railroad in 1885.
1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
zoomed below
to be later called
Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway - Evanston Branch
this section of the railway was for freight traffic
Some of the Manufaturers
along this Route:
& Company
manufacturers of ice boxes and hinges
for Butcher Boy Refrigerators
photo - Worth Point
Butcher Boy was established in 1885 Lake View was a township.
This Chicago based company started by manufacturing and selling equipment to the meat
processing industry. In the late 1800's people were cutting ice from the lakes
and storing it for use during the summer months. Storage houses would be built
along the lakes and rivers, and the ice would be stored in these houses. They
would line the walls with straw, then fill the houses with ice and cover the
ice with more straw. As time went on, there were doors placed on the storage
houses. Around 1894 Butcher Boy manufactured some insulated doors that were
used on the ice storage houses. Thus, we became manufacturers of cold storage
doors. Most of the original doors were swing type doors constructed of wood and
insulated with sawdust or mineral wool. As time went on, requirements for
different types of doors were needed: double swing doors, Dutch type doors and
horizontal sliding doors. As technology changed, so did the doors.
photos - Ebay
They were not only manufacturers of Buther
Boy refrigerators but blocks, knives, beef racks, meet hooks, larders, skimmers,
meat choppers, bone mills, brushers, scrapers, scales, sausage stuffers,
cutters, etc. Furnaces, caldrons, scalding tubs. Portable smoke houses.
Windlasses. Engines. Spices, casings, preservatives. Oiled orveralls, aprons,
frocks, etc. Grocery counters, butter coolers, tea and coffee bins, and tilting
bins.
a 1923 Sanborn Fire Maps of a factory property location from
Altgeld to Fullerton, Southport to the tracks
a 2019 Google view of the area
the straight line of park cars was once the Evanston Branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul RR
St. Nicholas
Manufacturing Company
Township of Lake View
City of Lake View
District of Lake View
producer of bicycles
1879-1898
(click to enlarge text)
a 1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
District of Lake View
990 W Fullerton Avenue
with a sample of their product - drafting tool kit
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
zoomed & rotated
'Anyone who has spent any significant time around the
DePaul University campus in [Community of] Lincoln Park will also likely recognize the
impressive four-story red brick building at the corner of Fullerton and
Sheffield Avenue. Its key feature, most would agree, is the unusual vintage
sign above the side entrance door—a sort-of Art Nouveau, bas-relief design
displaying the name of the Eugene Dietzgen Company along with a stylized logo
of a draftsman’s compass, t-square, and triangles. The number 1906 is also
prominently featured, marking the year that this former factory first opened,
destined to become a leading producer of “precision equipment and supplies for
engineers, draftsmen, surveyors, and scientists.' - Made in Chicago Muesum
photo below - Ebay
1921 catalogue
Googebooks
photos below - Ebay
(Facebook Album)
a publishing company
1900-1956
located along Racine with the main office on Roscoe
located along Racine with the main office on Roscoe
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
and an advertisement
from the Chicago Examiner in 1917
some of their products
their World Fair exhibit
postcard images - Ebay
1902 Chicago Tribune
8x11 Lithograph Inserts
via Ebay
doll cut-outs - Ebay image
part of my private collection
... also located at 1800 W Fullerton Avenue
the plant on Fullerton Ave
The Rutter
Coal Company
1246 W Melrose
property was north & south of Belmont
zoomed below
images - Ebay
property was north & south of Belmont
matchbook - part of my collection
a 1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
now part of my collection
The owner
image - Ebay
Candy Company
1245 W Fletcher Street
and their products ...
Butterscotch Patties, Hoarhound Patties, Chocolate Flavored Patties, Sure Good, Clan Butterscotch and more
text of products above - Blue book of Commerce 1940
image below- Chicago's Sweet Candy History
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map - X marks the spot
the buildings were located on both sides of Fletcher Avenue
below image - Ebay
from LakeView Historical
* not located near tracks*
the various locations
The first one was
and then shortly after that
and there were more
*I collected stationary and invoices
of all their former locations for my collection*
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
Stationary with the Briar address
730-58 Briar Place
a matchbook - Ebay
one of the favorite products
image - Craig Lost Chicago
HQ office building on
Diversey/Broadway
Another location
622 Diversey Parkway
an invoice from the main office on Diversey/Broadway
This invoice is part of my collection
1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
Their office location was on northeast corner of Diversey and Broadway within their own building that was simply called the Curtiss Building according to this 1950 Sanborn Fire Map
Another location was on Belmont/Seminary
The Belmont location letterhead stationary
- part of my collection
4 images - Ebay
1943
1947
a window display below that indicates the location on Broadway
The display is part of my collection
Advertisements:
1933
1962
The warehouse location was at
which was originally the Wieland Dairy
at the turn of the 20th century
photo - Layman Guide to Beer
This building listed in the
National Registry of Historical Places
as of 1987
The Best Brewing Company of Chicago was located along the CM&P so to economically transport their product to market. The building was originally owned by brewers Klockgeter & Company in 1885 and then Kagebein & Folstaff one year later. The buildings occupants were many but all related to brewing beer. Their beer products of this company were the ‘Hapsburg Bock’ (1933-1962), ‘Hapsburg Beer’ (1933-1962), and ‘Best Ale’ (1937-1962). Currently, the building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 and used for residential space.
1887 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
X marks the spot
1891 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
stationary - Ebay
now part of my collection
article below from
1964
Lake View anniversary magazine
photos - via Christopher Brandt,Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
photos - Garry Albrecht
photos below - Ebay
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‘By 1880, with an average of over 1,500 men on the payroll at any given time and as many as 4,000 during the peak season to process $17.5 million worth of meat, Armour was Chicago's leading industrial enterprise and employer. By the late 1880s, Armour slaughtered more than 1.5 million animals each year and reached about $60 million in annual sales. Many of those sales derived from the processing of all the parts of the animal “everything but the squeal” making such products as glue, lard, gelatin, and fertilizer.’
- Chicago Encyclopedia
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
one of their products below via Ebay
The Tracks Begin to
Fade Away at Diversey South
Tracks begin to appear and disappear as late as 2012
- view north and south on Diversey Parkway
photos - Garry Albrecht
Peerless Confection
Company
a candy company
est. District of Lake View
Community of Lincoln Park
1914-2007
photo - Chicago: ChiTown/My Town-Facebook
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
one block south of Diversey Parkway
C&E heading towards Peerless Confection - 2000
photos - Chicago Switching
their tin of candies - Ebay
And
The Other RR Tracks
Chicago & North Western Railroad Route
was following:
follow the X's
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rotated below
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a publisher & printing company
once located at the southeast corner
of Ravenswood Avenue & Irving Park Road
postcard - Ebay
'The Curt Teich Company was founded in Chicago, Illinois, by Curt Teich (1877–1974) in 1898. The company printed postcards, view postcards, and advertising cards, and became the world's largest printer of postcards.'
postcard - Chicago History in Postcards
'In 1909, when Congress passed the new Payne-Aldrich tariff imposing an import duty on all postcards printed from Germany. The American printing companies celebrated their good fortune. Only one, however, was truly in prime position to fill the production gap from Europe. “It takes one to know one,” as they say, and nobody knew the latest German printing methods quite like Curt Teich, owner of Curt Teich & Company. Teich’s increasingly eye-catching designs and growing fleet of offset presses (soon able to print 100+ cards on one sheet and roughly 500,000 cards per day, per machine) sent his business blazing into the 1910’s. A team of 10 print shop workers back in 1901 had grown to 80 by 1906, and 190 by 1911, when the company purchased an expansive new headquarters at 1745 W. Irving Park Road. Many of the employees making the move to the new building were fellow German immigrants and uniquely trained artists, specializing in photolithography, as well as drawing and retouching.'
postcard - Ebay
'The decision was made to invest in several new high-speed, offset rotary presses—massive machines that could rapidly print 32 different card designs, in full color, on one sheet. As an added wrinkle, Curt also devised a cost-saving hybrid method that was inspired by German trends, but still uniquely his own. It essentially involved combining traditional letterpress printing (with a black halftone base) and offset lithography, which could overprint four-color inks. When the “golden age” of postcards ended, i.e., when the initial bubble burst on sales slowed just before World War I, hundreds of publishers either folded or counted their losses and moved along to the next trend. Curt Teich & Company was one of the exceptions; not only surviving, but thriving. Yes, machining and technical prowess had played a large part in the firm’s emergence as the standard-bearers for the trade, but mass production only mattered if you also had the orders to fill, and Teich mobilized client acquisition better than anyone else.'
'By the 1910’s, Curt Teich & Company was producing about 150 million postcards annually, a large percentage of which were being purchased at so-called “five and dime” stores, such as F. W. Woolworth, where racks of local interest cards were routinely picked over and restocked. Teich saw this development early on, and became an exclusive supplier to Woolworth and other similar retailers. 
both postcards - Chuckman Collection
Per the National Register Nomination for Chicago, the Curt Teich and Company, Inc. building is a heavy timber and masonry loft industrial structure. It consists of an original three story (west) section and a five story (east) addition.' The building is located on the southeast corner of Irving Park Road and East Ravenswood, along the light industrial corridor next to the railroad tracks in the neighborhood known as Ravenswood. The building faces north on Irving Park Road. It was known as the world's largest volume printer that manufactured postcards. The company operated from 1898 to 1978.
Before Curt Teich
images - Ebay
'J. S. McDonald & Company by 1901. J.S. McDonald & Co
produce loose-leaf ledgers. It was then purchased by Curt Teich in 1910. Though the exact date and the architect of this building are unknown, it bears resemblance to the Dearborn Street station at Polk and Dearborn, built in 1885 and designed by architect Cyrus L. W. Eidlitz. It is built of red pressed brick in a Romanesque design.'
- National Register Nominations For Chicago
images - Ebay
tri-image postcard with a linen surface
According the publication 'Hidden History of Ravenswood & Lake View' by Patrick Butler (p. 116) "salespeople would take pictures of local landmarks or businesses and try to get those businesses to order postcards to promote the local attractions".
'Welcome to Chicago' Postcards
part of my collection
a 1910 Booklet
photos - Ebay
Appleton Electric
Company
*not based in Chicago*
1701 W Wellington Avenue
photo above - 75th Lake View anniversary magazine
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
there was five additions from 1937-1946 (brown)
manual - Ebay
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Manufacturing to Residencial in 1999
Hermitage Avenue Extended
A Google Earth View
A Google Map View
of the now residential area
Automobile Accessories & Radio's
District of Lake View
Community of North Central
Property Area
from George Street to Diversey Parkwy,
Wolcott to a once Deering Yards to the east of the factory
The factory is constructed in sections from
1915-1923
their offices zoomed below
'The company was founded as Stewart & Clark Company in 1905 by John K. Stewart. Their speedometers were used in the Ford Model T. In 1912 John Stewart joined with Edgar Bassick to make vehicle instruments and horns. Bassick owned Alemite Co. and Stewart had bought the Warner Instrument Company; thus the name was changed to the Stewart-Warner Corporation. The company started in Chicago and built a manufacturing plant on Diversey Parkway. The building kept expanding and finally covered one million square feet (93,000 m²) and six floors. At its peak S-W employed 6000 people at the Diversey complex. They also made radios and refrigerators, among other products, and produced the ubiquitous "zerk" grease fitting, named after its inventor, associated with the company. In the last years of the company's Chicago factory, it owned a number of aging six-spindle Brown & Sharpe and New Britain screw machines.
1918 advertisement - Ebay
The Diversey Parkway complex was the site of both S-W's international headquarters and the Instrument & Alemite manufacturing operations. "Alemite" referred to S-W's line of lubricating stations, and "Instruments" referred to speedometers and similar gauges. The front that faced Diversey was the location of corporate offices, while to the rear was manufacturing with a warehouse south of Diversey. A large employee cafeteria was inside the main building, which also included an underground garage for executives (including CEO Bennett Archambault, who arrived each morning by limousine) with an entrance off Wolcott just north of Diversey. Corporate archives were housed in the basement below the main tower, and executive offices were in the top floors of the tower. Stewart-Warner operated a free shuttle van service for employees who commuted by train to and from the Clybourn Metra (C&NW) station. In 1981 S-W experienced a labor strike at the Chicago operations. The Elgin site was eventually taken over by Middleby Corporation.' - Wikipedia
Some of their Auto Products
photos - Ebay
0-150 LB AIR PRESSURE GAUGE Race Sprint Car
Gauge Panel 2-1/4" O.D. Amperes Oil Pressure Temperatureand
Large Amperes Amps Gauge Curved Glass Tulip Needle
R535 Tube Radio Outer Casing Outer Bakelite casing
and AM/SW Tube Radio R1401A
Abbott
Alkaloidal Company
established in 1888
when Lake View was a city within Cook County
a medical kit - Ebay
medicine bottle - Ebay
Wallace C. Abbott
photo - Abbott Labs website
Abbott Laboratories traces its beginnings to 1888 when Dr. Wallace C. Abbott operated a small pharmaceutical facility in the kitchen of his apartment [and then later in the basement of his home on
4605 N Hermitage Avenue with images of billing with the factory address on them.
image - Ebay
images - Ebay
image - Ravenswood-Lake View Association
'[His company] produced pills called "dosimetric granules," which provided a uniform quantity of drugs. He sold his products to other physicians, and in 1900 the business was incorporated in Illinois as Abbott Alkaloidal Company. By 1905 annual sales grew to $200,000. The name was changed to Abbott Laboratories in 1915. During World War I, Abbott prospered by developing anesthetics that were previously only available from Germany. These included procaine, a replacement for German novocaine and barbital; a substitute for veronal. After the war Abbott built a manufacturing plant in North Chicago.' - Lehmann Brothers Collection
a vintage medicine bottle
part of my collection
District of Lake View
established in 1897
The finest mallet percussion instruments
ever created in the United States
ever created in the United States
'Chicago was arguably the epicenter of all things
percussive instruments in the early to mid 20th century, and two of its biggest
producers—Ludwig and Slingerland—are still familiar names. There was a time,
however, when the innovations and international esteem of the J. C. Deagan
Company topped them all—albeit for a slightly less rockin’ clientele. Deagan
didn’t manufacture snares, toms, or kick drums, after all, but rather chimes,
vibes, xylophones, and tubular bells—dings and tings heard everywhere from
vaudeville stages to symphony halls.' - Made in Chicago Museum
postcard - Chuckman Collection
photos - Century Mallet Instrumental Service
Currently, home of
Watch a video
about their instruments
once an engraving business
in 1908 moved to
when Lake View was still regarded as a district within Chicago
zoomed below
established in 1896
when Lake View was still regarded as a district in Chicago
Per Wikipedia, a ‘watchclock’ is a mechanical clock used
by security guards as part of their guard tour patrol system which require
regular patrols. The most commonly used form was the mechanical clock systems
that required a key for manual punching of a number to a strip of paper inside
with the time pre-printed on it.
photos - Ebay
4143 N Ravenswood
a sewage and treatment company
a sewage and treatment company
advertisement - Stor
advertisements - Antique Fans Supply Company
F.W. Steward
Manufacturing Company
image - Popular Science
advertisement - Antique Fans Collectors Association
text (red star) - State of Illinois Biennial Report of 1912
2018 Google Earth view 
Union Linen Supply Company was established in Chicago in
1911. Union originated in a garage in Waukegan; and primarily serviced Racine,
Kenosha, and Waukegan. However, Union utilized the train stations 2-3 times a
week to service customers in Chicago. In the late 1920s, Union moved into our
current location in what is now known as the Ravenswood community in Chicago.
Like our facility in Detroit, what is now a commercial laundry, was actually a
horse stable in the early 1900s. Pictured
below is Winter Olsen, owner of Union Linen Supply Company and our modern
fleet.
District of Lake View
1500 (East) Ravenswood Avenue (Park)
(pre-1909 address)
with a zoomed view below
a sample of their products
photos - Garry Albrecht, owner
The China-Painter
Boye Needle
Company
District of Lake View
located Belmont Avenue since 1902
When Lake View was regarded as a District of Chicago
photos - Yo Chicago
a sample of their craftsmanship
images - Elston Press
The Founder and his Legacy 1936
an article in 1984
THE LAST SEGMENT POST
The Manufacturing
Land Scars
The current scars of long gone manufacturing companies
are disapearing. Here are two of them as of 2021
Arrow Petroleum Company
1624 W Wolfram Avenue
and
a land area for their power plant
Illinois Mallaeble Iron Company
that had three different locations
2019 Google Map Views
a snap shot below - Cityscape
along Wolfram east
of the neighborhood - X marks the spot
same map and zoomed
zoomed further
Craft Plating &
Tinning Company
1225 W School Street
below - their profile from Buzzfile
pre 2019 photo aerial view - Cityscape
2019 Google Map views
'Lexington Homes plans to construct up to 12 single-family homes on the subject property. The development consists of nine lots on School Street and three lots on Melrose Avenue. The homes will range in size from approximately 4,000 square feet to approximately 5,000 square feet. Each home will have a 2-car garage accessed form the alley. Roof decks will be provided on the garages and top floor of the homes. Prices for the homes are expected to start at approximately $2 Million. Construction of the homes is expected to begin in Spring of 2022, with the completion of all of the homes projected in early 2024. In conjunction with the redevelopment of the site, environmental remediation work will be done, commencing in January 2022. The portion of the east-west alley between School Street and Melrose Avenue that was previously vacated will be rededicated as a public alley and reconstructed.'
The Contamination Issue in 1994
1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
The Clay Pits
&
Ice Ponds:
There was several companies that dug into the earth
for clay to manufacture bricks
a majority of the ponds/clay pits in modern Lake View
were located south of Diversey north of Fullerton
per this 1887 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
"When clay pits satisfied or nearly satisfied their usefulness, most often, the earth pits would be allowed by the owners to be filled-in with water (naturally?) causing ice ponds that kids would use for winter fun. But as the articles below indicate the summer months tell a different and much less fun story of the unhealthy conditions of the pits when the brick manufacturers abandoned their now useless pits. The article mentions that the pits were allowed to filled with garbage and other waste products in the humid and hot summer months with some of the pits located near schools. The odor was repugnant too to bare." - The Chicago Tribune article's text is dated June 17, 1892.
sectional map 1
sectional map 2
sectional map 3
the building on the lower right is Prescott School
west of Ashland
sectional map 4
Began in 1863 ...
from book called the
Lake View Saga 1837-1985
The Brick Yards Locations
of Old Lake View
Chicago bricks were tucked away on the back, sides, and interiors of buildings. You can still spot them there. In 1871 there were 5 brickyards in Cook County. By 1881 there were 60. By 1915, 10% of all brick made in America was made in Chicago. Chicago was transformed from a city of wood to a city of brick. The last Chicago Common brick maker was closed in 1981, and no Chicago Common bricks have been made since.
various locations:
Ashland Avenue in 1891
Some Other Locations
per 1887 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
Greenview to Ashland & Barry to Diversey
A few along Western Avenue
that was the western border of old Lake View
1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
Western & Grace
Labor Troubles in 1884
Who's Fault is It?
in 1892
The Clay/Ice Pits
Reclaimed their Space
Before the Big Tunnel in the 1970's
by Lance Grey
"Interesting how they took advantage of the ancient lake beds in the swath from Fullerton to Belmont. - Not only for brickyards, but in the Winter months for small artificial Lakes centered near today's Wrightwood Park, to build Ice Houses & Kilns (per Chas. Rascher 1887 maps) - And the role the clay plays in recurring flooding problems in the area- as experienced near this Quonset Warehouse known as Majestic Screw & Bolt where I worked in the '70’s just south of Diversey on Greenview. [Shown in a May-1955 photo]"
A Post Note:
There were many more business that I have omitted to mention in this post but not any less important to the history of Lake View.
Please follow me to my next post called
Important Note:
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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