Andi Marie/Chicago Patterns

On a recent trip to Ottawa, IL, I spent some time in the space where Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas first debated. When I looked at statue of Stephen Douglas, my thoughts instantly went to the Chicago’s South Side.

I imagined the past with trees, farmland, cottages, and Camp Douglas, the prisoner of war camp, to present day Lake Meadows, Groveland Park, and Bronzeville.

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John Morris/Chicago Patterns

A few months ago columnist Gabriel X. Michael surveyed West Side houses with inscribed numbers that didn’t align with the current address. This was the result of the 1909 adoption of Edward Brennan’s plan which standardized addresses across Chicago.

Though this change affected most of the city, there was a large swath that escaped the 1909 change, including the house above.

A pre-1909 inscription on the entryway with an accurate address was quite curious.

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John Morris/Chicago Patterns

This greystone six-flat at Wabash and 37th in Bronzeville‬ is square on the left, round on the right.

This week in our long overdue Flashback Friday series, we look at a holiday greeting postmarked Dec. 23, 1908 on a picture postcard of Chicago’s famed Drexel Boulevard on the South Side.

Although most, if not all, of the homes pictured above have since been demolished, the boulevard still boasts some of the city’s grandest homes.

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