4200 W. Lake Street: formerly the Best Beer tied house/tavern circa 1883 (top image: p. 49, Lost German Chicago, Arcadia Publishing), currently a residential building. (bottom image by Gabriel X. Michael/Chicago Patterns)

Built in 1883, the two-story frame building at 4200 West Lake Street has undergone several transformations, just like the surrounding West Garfield Park community area. Pre-dating the Lake Street Elevated Railroad (now the CTA Green Line Lake Branch), it originally served as a “tied house” or tavern controlled by the Milwaukee-based Best Beer Brewing Company.

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John Morris/Chicago Patterns

These twin Italianate three-flats are located on Carptenter near Hubbard.

Roeser’s Bakery with the #72 bus going by. John Morris/Chicago Patterns

Roeser’s Bakery, a fourth-generation family business that started in 1911, sits near the corner of North and Kedzie in Humboldt Park. The oldest family-owned bakery in the city continues to thrive,  due in large part to its commitment to quality and customer service, the Roeser family says.

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