Our weekend continued as we made our way into Chicago on an early Sunday morning. There were a couple of places I wanted to check out as we made our way across the city.
First up is the Pullman District. Built in the 1880s by railroad car manufacturer George Pullman, the neighborhood was a model for a company town. Pullman was determined to make a town that met all the workers needs, thus resulting in attracting better workers.
They built many homes throughout. While most of the workers lived in row houses, there are a number of single family homes.
A strike in 1894 brought to light the fallacy of some of Pullman’s statements, as the workers struggled to make ends meet.
The neighborhood however lived on until the 1950s when many people left to move to the suburbs.
Threatened with the possibility of the entire neighborhood being bulldozed for an industrial park, community leaders pulled together a civic organization and lobbied the city to save their neighborhood.
By the early 1970s the Pullman Historic District had received landmark status. Today it is a National Historic Park, as well as a neighborhood that people live in.
There is still more to do, but it does live on as a showcase for the South Side.
Further into town is the Fountain of Time, a sculpture that is 126′ wide x 10′ high. Completed in the early 1920s, it was designed by Lorado Taft.
It’s location is at the edge of Washington Park and the Plaisance Midway.
Nearby is Jackson Park, and the 59th Street beach. The grasses protect erosion from Lake Michigan.
The Golden Lady is a 24′ gilded bronze likeness of a statue that was known as the Republic. The original was a 65′ high statue that was displayed in the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.
She sits in the general area they are planning on building the Obama Library.
With the University of Chicago nearby there are a number of architecturally interesting buildings in the area.
The most important building in the area is the Robey House, a classic Frank Lloyd Wright design.
They are restoring the interior so we opted just to check out the exterior and return after the restoration work is done for a full tour.
Even from the outside the style and grace of FLW is noticeable.
The area that the park and the university is located is known as Hyde Park. This was President Obama’s Chicago home, which he still owns The block is off limits to traffic, but someone has modified the ‘Residents Only’ sign to be more appropriate.
Leaving the South Side we headed downtown, passing Soldier Field. Originally built in 1924 in a Neoclassical style, with columns lining the sides, it has undergone numerous renovations.
The last in the early 2000 added a strange modern look sitting on top the classical columns.
Passing through downtown, we crossed the Chicago River on Lakeshore Drive.
While not technically on the south side the Washington Library is Chicago’s main branch.
Definitely not on the south side, the 606 is a bike/walking path on former elevated train lines (similar to the High Line in New York). It’s name comes from the zip codes for the areas it passes.
Originally a rail line known as the Bloomingdale Line, it was converted to a trail starting in 2009. At 2.7 miles long it is twice as long as the High Line.
RDZ Photography 