House History!
BEN: Ever since I heard about the Chicago Workers Cottage Initiative, I’ve wanted to connect with them and learn more, and I finally got my chance!
Our Bridgeport home, like many in the neighborhood, is a circa 1885 Workers Cottage. This style of home was built all over Chicago from the 1870s until the 1910s, when the larger bungalow style gained popularity. Workers Cottages are easily identifiable by a set of distinct characteristics, but are also incredibly diverse. Working-class families built very simple cottages, while those built by wealthier folks are adorned with elaborate Queen Anne-style facades and carved wood details. Many were built as simple 1-story structures and later raised to add a second story or a basement. When Chicago raised its street level to install sewers in the mid-1800s, many poorer families inhabiting Workers Cottages (like our house!) could not afford this expense, leading to the “sunken house” phenomenon common in neighborhoods like Bridgeport and Pilsen that escaped the Great Chicago Fire.
Which brings us to today’s reason for a visit to the Bucktown-Wicker Park branch of CPL: a house history seminar put on by the Workers Cottage Initiative! I’ve always wanted to research the history of our house – I’m fascinated by wondering who else has sat in this kitchen over 130 years, just as I am now, and how different their lives must have been from mine. This excellent seminar yielded a host of historical research resources, from looking up “old” house numbers and street names before they were all changed in the early 1900s, to building permits, property records (in the basement of City Hall!), and old newspapers. A huge project – perhaps to undertake when Project 81 is complete…
SAM: The library was packed today, with a line of people waiting for help from the reference librarian, so we had to skip our usual interview with a librarian and looked for something tasty to eat nearby. Irazu Costa Rican Restaurant was highly recommended to us but unfortunately, it was not open today. We landed instead at Bon Bon Vietnamese Sandwiches for banh mi and delicious curry fries.
What about transit?
DANIEL: The Bucktown/Wicker Park Branch has a few transportation options. First, the CTA bus routes 72, 50, and 56. These are all good options if you want to take the bus. As for the ‘L’, ride the Blue Line to Damen, which is 0.3 miles away. Clybourn Station on the Metra UP/N and UP/NW Lines is 1.1 miles away. I don’t know WHY you would want to take Pace, but even if you wanted to, I have no apparent idea of where the nearest stop is. But knowing Pace, it’s probably in like the Loop or something…
There is a parking lot and bike racks available.
Something I should mention: What’s that thing that looks like an old railroad overpass, but you see people walking on it? It is The 606! The 606 is a trail that uses the old Bloomingdale Line, which was an old freight railway corridor used by the Chicago & Pacific Railroad. Later, the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company took over operations. In 2003, the City of Chicago held public meetings to discuss the Line’s future, since trains were rerouted and service stopped. It eventually became the nice, science path it is today. You should visit and take a walk (as long as it does not feel like -1000000 degrees out there). Anyway, let me review this.
CTA Bus: ✅
CTA Train: ✅
Metra: ✅
Pace: ❌
Parking/Bike racks: ✅
Overall: 4/5. (I honestly didn’t expect better…)
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