LOGAN SQUARE — Back at the start of the Great Depression, Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square was a destination whenever you needed something new to wear.
Clothing stores lined the street, based on a map made in 1930 that is in the archives at the Chicago History Museum.
An electric streetcar went right down the middle of Milwaukee past a series of shoe, clothing and hat stores. There was even a Walgreens.
It's unclear why, but it seems that at the start of the worst economic collapse in American history, Logan Square was a bustling place.
"My guess is that it was made by developers trying to promote that [the] neighborhood has an active retail strip on the North Side," said Peter Alter, the museum's archivist.
Levy, Arthur & Company map of Logan Square, Chicago, Illinois, 1930. Includes views of 2700-2809 Milwaukee Avenue (N. Sawyer Avenue to Kimball Avenue and Diversey Avenue). [Chicago History Museum]
See a high-resolution version of this map.
The centerpiece was the Harding Theatre, a movie palace completed in 1925 that was demolished in the 1960s, shown on the left side of the street below.
[Creative Commons/DavidZornig]
[Creative Commons/tntim]
Now in its place? Sunrise Fresh Market.
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