User:BOBOJR63/Woodlawn chicago 1943 - 1953

Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood

I have read postings about Woodlawn in the 20s and 30s about Woodlawn from the late 50s until today. They have all been well written and informative covering the rise and fall and now the rise again of the great neighborhood. This posting will cover what I consider the glory years of Woodlawn. I lived on 61st St. between Ingleside and Ellis Ave... To my friends and me the neighborhood was clearly defined by Cottage Grove to the west, the Lake to the East, the midway to the North and. 67th St. to the South... Within the area as defined above, the (Unofficial) racial makeup was 99.5% white. Predominantly Irish and Polish but there were Germans, French, Scandinavians and almost any other white ethnic race from around the world. It was a lower middle-class to upper-middle-class neighborhood filled with apartment buildings and retail shops, but very few single-family homes. Until the war there were a lot of unemployed people who were on relief, or as my family called it “on the dole”. Once a week we would go to the relief office and receive food, potatoes, beans, canned goods and occasionally canned meat. As soon as work became available the neighborhood economics improve considerably. It was safe to walk down any street anytime day or night. I remember as youngster seven or eight, years old during the summer vacation we would leave the house in the morning and be told “be home by the time the streetlights came on”. There were many wonders to behold within our neighborhood. Starting on the west boundary Cottage Grove Avenue (at that time the unofficial racial boundary between the white neighborhood and the” black belt”) Up until 1949 or 50 you very rarely saw a black person east of cottage Grove, and we never ventured West of Cottage Grove, unless we were on a streetcar taking us to the West side.. Some of the wonders in our neighborhood Cottage Grove gave us between 59th St. and  64th St At 59th St. the National Guard Armory and horseback riding stables. As 62nd St. the Trianon-ballroom in its day  one of the best and most beautiful ballrooms in the country but by the late 40s and early 50s he had  become a venue for rock ‘n roll bands and even featured professional wrestling. Just North of 63rd St. Was the Midway Theater, Just South of 63Rd was a magnificent Tivoli Theatre, that although it was now showing its age stood as a reminder of the great and very ornate movie palaces of the 20s and 30s. Cottage Grove also had many retail shops, bars, restaurants, car dealers, barbershops and Grocery stores. Between Cottage Grove and Stony Island Avenue The other theaters as you were going East on 63rd, on the Southside near Drexel the Maryland, on the North Side the Arc, further east between University and Woodlawn on the North Side of the street stood the Lex and just down the block the Woodlawn, still going East at Kimbark, about a half a block north of 63rd was the Kimbark Theatre. Continuing east to near Stony Island was the Tower Theater, another magnificent jewel from the glory days of movie theaters. 63rd St. between Cottage Grove and Stony Island was a wonderland for everyone of any age. 63rd is a relatively narrow street yet streetcars rumbled down the middle in both directions and automobile traffic moved on either side of the tracks with ease. The streetcars were bright red had Wicker seats that were reversible so the car could be used going in either direction. It was a two-man operation the motorman in front and a conductor in back taking the money and controlling the movement with a Bell System that told the motorman when it was safe to start In the 50s it was replaced by the Green hornet a modern sleek version of the streetcar. The elevated train rumbled overhead it was very rarely quiet on 63rd St. it was an exciting place with people on the move day and night. 63rd St had retail shops of every size shape and description, not only at ground level, the second floor Windows were covered with hand-painted signs advertising everything from Dance Studios to Turkish baths, there were pool halls, bowling alleys, bars and show lounges, clothing stores, grocery stores, candy stores drugstores and more. There literally was something for everyone. I will give you an unofficial and I know incomplete list of stores and businesses on 63rd starting at Cottage Grove and going east to Stony Island. I am working from memory, some research and the memories of four other guys from that era. On the corner of 63rd and cottage Grove with the entrance just south of the corner was a Nicks billiard parlor (a first-class operation) on the northeast corner United cigar store now going East on 63rd  Mailings shoe store, National Tea food store, Mary Ann’s ice cream shop, the Crown Propeller lounge, the United cigar store, F.W. Woolworth, Walgreens drugstore WT Grants, some smaller retail stores SS Kresge, Fox drugstore, High Low Foods, Queen Mary’s ice cream shop. The Woodlawn bowling alley and pool Hall, Johnny Coulons gym A never-ending supply of doctors, dentists, and fortuneteller’s furniture stores clothing stores (I would like to see someone fill in the names of the stores I am missing on 63rd St.)... Stony island Avenue had its share of hotels bars restaurants and shops between 59th St. and 67th St. It also was the entrance to Jackson Park The area also contained many churches, schools and recreation areas. To just name a few there was Hyde Park high school, St. Rita high school, St. Cyril’s Catholic school, John Fiske public school and Holy cross Catholic grade school. There were many churches Catholic and Protestant. 61st St. was pretty much the dividing line between the city and the University of Chicago, the South side of the street held a few retail stores the North Side of the street from Cottage Grove to Drexel. There was the Grove Inn bar and restaurant and the Woodlawn hospital. On the Southside, a small grocery store and a coffee shop. The North Side and 61st St. was mostly vacant land owned by the University after the war some of that land between Greenwood and Woodlawn was used for veterans housing, they put up hundreds of small prefab houses with almost no space between them... I’m not really sure how long they were up, or when when they took him down. I do know they were gone in the early 50s. .On the North West corner of 61st. and Ellis was Jerry Lunnies Standard oil gas station. On the South side of 61st St. and Ellis Ave. is a string of retail shops starting with Readers Drug store, Max Brooks cleaners, Sams barbershop  and Verns food Mart. There was a small grocery store and ice cream shop called Nells on University just south of the corner. I cannot remember any other retail stores going East on 61st. It ended at Blackstone Avenue, blocked by the U of C power station. The street turned and ended at 59th St. you had to turn light on 59th St. and go under Illinois Central railroad tracks to continue east of Stony Island Avenue... It was truly a great neighborhood grow up in. You could play baseball on the school playgrounds or the fields University of Chicago provided for students that we used frequently for football and ice Skating We Had the Midway, it was a little over a mile to swim in Lake Michigan play in and around the Museum of science and industry, or play ball and Jackson Park. It appears as though Woodlawn is coming back at a great and diversified neighborhood. It would be wonderful to think another generation could grow up in a safe clean environment with all the entertainment venues that are available in Woodlawn. Bob O’Neill

I’