Grace Hall is No More

Yesterday, the historic Grace Hall in Woodstock, Illinois, was torn down according to the April 30th Northwest Herald. There had been a valiant attempt to save it by local preservationists, but to no avail.

I've seen it on several occasions and it was a striking Prairie-style brick structure that had at one time housed students at the Todd School for Boys. Probably the best-known resident was one Orson Welles, but also, Robert R. Wilson, architect of the Fermi National Laboratory was a student.

It was demolished by the Christian Life Services in order to build a duplex for seniors.

The cost of transforming Grace Hall would have been $150-160,000 more than building a whole new building.

This destruction is too bad, especially in light of Woodstock's constant efforts to keep their village of yesteryear theme and that wonderful downtown square where the movie "Groundhog Day" was filmed.

Here's hoping the replacement structure is in keeping with Grace Hall.

A Sad Day. --RoadDog

A Bus Trip to Chicago's Wrigley Field-- Part 2

The first entry was April 20th.

In the late 70s and early 80s, we used to go to Wrigley very often. During summer vacation (Three Good Things About Teaching: June, July and August) I'd get up and say, "What do you want to do today?" Liz would say, "The Cubs are in town," and off we'd go.

We'd either drive there, stopping at the White Castle on Irving Park Road (one of the few around) and then finding a parking place on a street, or, we'd drive into Evanston, catch the elevated and get off at Wrigley.

Back then, there were always tickets available and Cub fans tended to not be of the yuppie variety. You could also afford the tickets, usually around $7 for lower grandstand. The only problem was when the Cardinals were in town and tickets were hard to get.

Of course, this all changed when the Cubs got lights. The local residents were worried about guys urinating in their yards and a parking sticker law was enacted where only people in the neighborhood could park in the streets. This immediately caused prices to go up in the parking lots.

After that, I don't think I have been back, until now.

Bring Back Daytime Baseball. --RoadDog

America's Ten Prettiest Cities

Forbes has listed America's ten prettiest cities according to natural beauty, unique identity or combination of the two. Photos and information accompanied the article.

THE LIST

Union, Washington
Crescent City, California
Deadwood, South Dakota
Cape May, New Jersey
Marfa, Texas
Savannah, Georgia
Lake Placid, New York
Guttenberg, Iowa
Cambria, California
Burlington, Vermont.

Well, I've been to exactly one of these really pretty places, Savannah. My sister lives near there.

Guttenberg isn't too far away, so I'll have to check it out sometime.

But, Will I Be Able to Afford the Gas This Summer? --RoadDog

Apping Chicago Architecture

April 17th Chicago tribune "Historic buildings on app parade" by Blair Kamin.

The next time you're in Chicsgo and would like to learn more about the many historic buildings downtown, all you really need is an iPhone or Blackberry and get an app guided walking tour and off you go.

You can get lots of information on ten famous Chicago landmarks including the old Carson Pirie Scott, Marquette Building and the railway exchange Building.

This was put together by the Chicago-based Society for Architectural Historians as a public service for which they get no money. They have posted signs in the various lobbies with a bar code to feed the information to Web-enabled phones.

You can download the free Tag Reader App through Apple's App Store or at gettag.mobi

Of course, if you're like me and iPhones and Blackberries are alien technology, it will do you no good.

I think the same group offers walking, bus and river cruises using older technology as well. And, of course you can also book a fantastic walking tour with Chicago Route 66 expert Dave Clark by going to his Windy City Road Warrior website.

It is Always Interesting to Find Out the History Behind Those Old Buildings. --RoadDog

100 Years and Still Going Strong

This past Saturday, i went with my wife Liz to the one hundreth anniversary of the school she went to from kindergarten to 8th grade in Chicago. It is Our Lady of Grace, a Catholic school, located a couple blocks from where she was living at the time.

One hundred years is a long time and it is my opinion that Catholic schools offer one of the best educations around. They would have to as parents have to spend money above and beyond what their taxes pay for in public schools.

Our Lady of Grace was built the same time as the tragic Our Lady of Angels and was of the same design. Liz was in school that day and survivors of OLA attended her school until a new school could be built.

When Liz attended, most students were Polish, but there were some Italians and Irish as well. We sat at a table with several members of the Mullins family. Today, most students are Hispanic as the neighborhood has changed. Sadly, classes during the 50s and 60s when Liz attended, usually had 40+ students and there were four or more of them, but the whole Class of 2009 had just 12. This does not bode well for the school's survival.

Liz even remembered exactly where all her classrooms were and we got photos of all but one. According to Liz, they looked amazingly the same as when she attended.

There sure was a lot of history in that building. Liz's Class of 1965 had one of the biggest turnouts of all, with about 12 grads.

I graduated 8th grade from Winston Park Junior High School in Palatine, Illinois, in 1965. That building probably was built in the early 60s.

A Real Piece of History. --RoadDog

What'sa Chicago Indian Boundary?-- Part 3

The Treaty of St. Louis ceded land for white settlement along a 20-mile corridor. Today, Rogers Avenue and Forest Preserve Drive roughly follow it. Although, it was never a straight-through street.

Sometime around 1900, the name Indian Boundary Road was changed to Rogers Avenue which is why today so few Chicagoans know of its historic significance.

However, there is an Indian Boundary Park along Rogers Avenue. The field house has a bas-relief of a Indian head on one of the entrances.


PHILIP ROGERS

So, who was this Philip Rogers who had the road named after him and for whom the Chicago neighborhood of Rogers Park was named after?

He was born in Ireland in 1812. He immigrated to the US and came to the area that is now Rogers Park at the northeast corner of Chicago and bought 600 acres of land from the government for $1.25 an acre. Eventually he expanded his holdings to 1600 acres.

He first lived in a log home at the corner of today's Lunt and Western avenues and he established a trading post. As of 1925, the house Rogers later built still stood on the northwest corner of Rogers Avenue and Clark Street, but no efforts were made to preserve it. Today its site is in the parking lot of a Walgreens.

The area Rogers owned was named after him in 1844 and it became a village until annexed by Chicago in 1893. Rogers died in 1856 and was buried in Lincoln Park, but his remains were relocated to Calvary Cemetery in 1863. His son-in-law, Patrick L. Touhy, inherited the land. (There is also a Touhy Avenue in Chicago.)

Some Chicago History. --RoadDog

What'sa Chicago Indian Boundary Line-- Part 2

From Forgotten Chicago.

Rogers Avenue runs diagonal across Chicago, one of the few roads to do so in the carefully laid-out Chicago street grid. It follows an old Indian trail.

On August 24, 1816, the Treaty of St. Louis was signed which marked the boundary in Illinois between Indian and white territory from Lake Michigan to Ottawa, Illinois. Whites could settle south and east of it. The Ojibwa, Ottawa and Pottawatomie Indian tribes signed it.

The 1833 Treaty of Chicago moved all Indians in Illinois west of the Mississippi River.

The Rogers Park area in northeast Chicago was named for Philip Rogers, an early settler. There is a historical plaque at the corner of Clark Street and Rogers Avenue. Clark Street is named for George Rogers Clark, a hero of the Revolutionary War and brother of William Clark (of the William and Clark Expedition) who was one of the signers of the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis, which opened Illinois to settlement.

So, now you're learning about Chicago streets and avenues.

More to Come. --RoadDog

What'sa Chicago Indian Boundary Line-- Part 1

There was one in Chicago back in the early 1800s and it was a line separating Indian lands from those open to white settlement as per the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. Today, Rogers Avenue and Forest Preserve Road follow it through Chicago.

Most people do not know this. I definitely had not ever heard of it either until I came across an article by Nina Metz "Return engagement for forgotten byway" in the April 16th Chicago Tribune.

Experimental filmmaker Thomas Comerford has made a 41-minute film "The Indian Boundary Line" which takes you through Chicago's northeasternmost neighborhood. He took the name from the early 19th century border between Indian and white lands, a boundary that last for 17 years until the Chicago Treaty of 1833 pushed the remaining Indian tribes west of the Mississippi River.

The street that came to occupy the space was called Indian Boundary Road until around 1900 when the name was changed to Rogers Avenue, named for an early Chicago landowner.

More to Come. --RoadDog

Down Da 66: Stilt Time-- Farm in Danger-- Bridge in Danger

Getting this in a bit late as I went by bus to Springfield to participate in a 15,000 person rally to Save Our Schools here in Illinois. More on it tomorrow.


Some New News About an Old Road.


1. STILT TIME-- The April 19th Pontiac (Il) Community News reports that Manu Cuadra arrived in town as part of his 2200 mile trek across Route 66. A lot of people have done this, but Cuadra intends to do it on STILTS, averaging 40 to 60 miles a day. He has a blog at: http://echassier.unblog.fr/. That sure would be something out of the ordinary.


2. FARM IN DANGER-- The Manske-Niemann Farm in Litchfield, Illinois has been put on Illinois' list of ten most endangered places. It consists of 21 original farm buildings and has been called one of the most intact examples of late 19th-early 20th century agricultural examples. It is located on Route 66, but I am completely unfamiliar with it.

It has been owned by the same family for 160 years.


3. BRIDGE IN DANGER-- First the Merramec Bridge in Missouri, now Emily Priddy reports that Catoosa, Oklahoma's 1936 Bridge has deteriorated to the point where it can not be saved. It is one of a pair of bridges near the Blue Whale which are must-photo ops for Route 66 travelers.

(Thanks for the spelling tip, Lulu.)

Here's Hoping Some Way Can Be Found to Keep the Bridge.

A Bus Trip to Chicago's Wrigley Field-- Part 1

This past Tax Day, April 15th, I drowned my $5,200 additional taxes I had to pay by taking a bus trip from Antioch, Illinois, to the famed Home of the Chicago Cubs.

The week before, we had been at the Sequoit Lodge on Main Street watching the Sox and Cub season opener ($1.50 Old Style pints, free peanuts and hot dogs), and had seen a flyer for the bus trip to see the Brewers play. We used to go to Wrigley Field on a regular basis back BEFORE, but rarely go any more. We couldn't even remember the last time we went.

BEFORE refers to before Wrigley got lights and along with that, on-street parking permits. It used to be you could drive down early, do a little cruising and find free parking on the street. But no more, now you have to have a parking sticker or get towed by an outfit like Steve Goodman sang about in his "Lincoln Park Pirates." You can't afford that ripoff.

The cost was $65 apiece, but we didn't buy at the time as we wanted to wait until closer to the 15th to see what the weather was going to be like. By Tuesday, we saw forecasts of sunny, windy and temperatures in the 80s, so decided to go. Unfortunately, they had just sold the last two tickets, but we were placed on a waiting list and Wednesday were told there were two tickets available.

Going to Wrigley!! --RoadDog

New Lincoln Highway Book

Review of Brian Butko's "The Ship Hotel: a Grand View Along the Lincoln Highway" in the April 12th Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Patricia Lowry.

She describes Butko's book as "Part scrapbook, part family album, part communal memoir, this visually bountiful, right-sized book" is definitely one you should get.

Before it was the Ship Hotel, it was Grand View Point with a remarkable view and a place to sell stuff located 80 miles east of Pittsburgh, 17 miles west of Bedford and a mile east of Bald Knob Summit, at 2,906 feet the highest point along the Lincoln Highway/US-30 in Pennsylvania.

In 1928, Herbert Paulson built the Grand View Point Hotel based on a castle theme. In 1931, he enlarged it to resemble an ocean liner and changed the name to the Ship Hotel. Due to the rough terrain of the site, 18 steel piers had to be sunk 30 feet into the rock to hold the structure.

Six telescopes were available from which to view the striking scenery for those not spending the night.

In 1978, it was sold and the name changed to Noah's Ark. On October 26, 2001, a fired consumed the whole building.

Brian Butko was to have three book signings on April 10th.

Just another place I will never get a chance to see and visit, but this will have to do as I plan on getting a copy. Hopefully Brian will be at the Lincoln Highway Association's convention in Dixon, Illinois, this June.

Gotta Add This Book to My Collection. --RoadDog

How High's the Gas Prices, Father?

To paraphrase a Johnny Cash song, I'd say the answer here in the Fox Lake area in northeast Illinois is now $3.04.

The GRBs at Big Oil and hedgie-wedgies are back to their old tricks. Hurting regular folks, the economy and the United States in their blind quest for profit. They announced back in March that they were going to do this despite the fact that usage in the US is still way down and flat in Europe. They are not making enough profit. Of course, they use the long-time Chinese and Indian excuse.

Hey, these guys are cutting back production and laying off workers to make sure they have a reason.

Hey guys, I am already preparing to cut back seriously on my travel like I did the last time you did this in the summer of 2008. A lot of other people did just that as well.

Have you not learned anything or is your greed an overriding factor?

It's sad this happens again, but this time, hopefully, we have a government that will stand up to you, not like the last president who was one of your guys. It sure would be nice to have the government do something for me for a change instead of just helping the rich and poor.

All these wonderful bailouts has not helped me with the possible low interest rates helping me pay a couple hundred less on my taxes this year.

When you have most of your money in CDs, this really hurts.

Deja Vu, Folks. Deja Vu. --RoadDog

Genoa, Illinois' New Lincoln Highway Mural

Even though Genoa is not on the old road, it is part of the Lincoln Highway Corridor going across the state, so it gets its own mural as well. It is one of the Lincoln Highway's Coalitions 43 murals and is located at 232 Main Street.

This one features a horse pulling a sled in a contest. Back in the early days of road building, heavy horse-pulled sleds were used to pack and flatten road surfaces

There is also a new mural in Cortland at 55 West Lincoln Highway.

Both murals depict the early days of the Good Road Movement.

In addition to the murals which show various aspects of the Lincoln Highway, sixteen interpretive gazebos have been built along the Illinois stretch of the road.

I don't know of any other state along the LH doing as much as Illinois.

Way to Go Coalition!! --RoadDog

While On the Subject of Oxnard, California

While looking at the article about the Wagon Wheel Motel, I noticed that Bud Smith started his motel with surplus barracks from the Port Hueneme Naval Base. I'd never heard of it, so did the old Wiki thing and found out this base is still there and is the main base for the US Navy Construction Battalion, better known as the Seebees (which comes from the initials for construction battalion, I didn't know that).

During World War II, over 100,000 Seebees trained here after the base was established on May 18, 1942. Over 20 million tons of supplies and 200,000 men shipped out of here for action in the Pacific Theater.

This is also where the Seebee Museum is located. Groundbreaking was held last August for a new $12 million, 33,000 square foot museum to replace a run-down World War II building. Significantly, the new museum will be just outside the base for easier public access.

Something else to see in Oxnard.

Fightin' Seebees!! Right John Wayne. --RoadDog

Wagon Wheel Motel and Restaurant

From the March 10, 2009, Ventura County Star.

When I first came across this article, I thought it was about Route 66's Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Missouri, but this one was about a famous one in Oxnard, California.

This is a famous complex which also includes a bowling alley that is in serious danger of being destroyed. It is located at the intersection of US-101 and the Pacific Coast Highway and was a very popular stop for motorists traveling between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara from the 50s to 70s before closing in 2005.

Back in 2009, a suit had been filed by the Santa Bueana Ventura Conservancy versus the City of Oxnard to stop the demolition scheduled at the time. Evidently, it has succeeded because as of right now, the structures are still standing but a final decision is expected this summer.

A $750 million European-village themed development is planned for the site.

Martin "Bud" V. Smith started it in 1946 with three World War II surplus military barracks from the Port Hueneme Naval Base.

Here's Hoping the Wagon Wheel Remains with Us. --RoadDog