Trip 97: Another Saturday Afternoon Drive

Date: March 19, 2011
Trip: 97
Landmarks Visited: 5
Landmarks To-Date: 270
Landmarks Remaining: 83


I took another Saturday afternoon drive to see a few landmarks.

1. Indian Boundary Park Fieldhouse

According to this plaque, this architectural artifact in the park was actually part of an early city hall building in Chicago. It's odd that it ended up in a park that is quite far from downtown.

2. Laramie State Bank Building

I've noticed this building before just driving past. The detailed tile work on the facade (and the color) is unusual for a bank building I think.

3. West Town State Bank Building

This building looks more like a 'typical' bank design.

4. Sears, Roebuck and Company Administration Building

This building is part of a complex that was the headquarters of Sears before the company moved to the Sears (now Willis) Tower in the Loop. (The company has long since left the Loop and is now located in the far northwest suburbs.) The administration building was the company's headquarters and is connected by pedestrian bridges to a couple of other buildings in the complex.

The tower in the photos is all that remains of the 3.3 million square foot merchandise building.

5. Shedd Park Fieldhouse

Trip 96: South on State Street and Wabash Avenue

Date: March 5, 2011
Trip: 96
Landmarks Visited: 8
Landmarks To-Date: 265
Landmarks Remaining: 88

This trip was actually the first anniversary of my starting this project. So I officially haven't met my goal of seeing all 353 landmarks within a year, but I'm not feeling too bad about covering 265 in that time. Chicago is actually bigger than I realized, so it's more time consuming than I anticipated to travel between locations. This trip I drove 36 miles and spent over 3 hours to see 8 landmarks. Still, I think I can finish over the next couple months. The longer days and nicer weather of spring will help.

1. Vorwaerts Turner Hall

This building originally housed a neighborhood German athletic club. According to a quick Internet search the letters FFST on the facade stand in German for Healthy, Upright, Strong & True.

2. Quinn Chapell

According to the landmark plaque, this is the oldest African American congregation in Chicago.

3. Wabash Avenue YMCA

4. First Church of Deliverance

This is one of the most unique churches that I've seen. I would really like to see the interior. I guess it would be considered art deco in design. Apparently the towers where an addition to the original building.

5. Engine Company 61

6. Overton Hygienic Building

This building housed a number of early African American owned businesses in the city, including a cosmetics company, a life insurance company and a bank. The architect who designed the First Church of Deliverance building above, also had an office in this building.

7. Chicago Bee Building

This building was home to an early African American Newspaper. The floral detail on the facade is really beautiful. It is just south of the Overton building and was in fact built by the same person.

8. Crown Hall

This is another landmarked building on the Illinois Institute of Technology Campus. And it goes without saying that it is a Mies van der Rohe building. The day I was there was unseasonably warm and the front doors were left open. I looked in and saw a dozen or more architecture students building wooden models. I didn't know they still did that--I assumed that everything would be digital now. It made me think that van der Rohe would smile if he saw the same scene.