Barack Says Bye, Bye to Chicago
flickr; 1920s era apartment building, Amber Rhea via flickr /Artwork: designslinger]
Barack Obama bid a teary-eyed goodbye to his Chicago home as he headed off to his new
place of residence in Washington D.C. He's leaving some swell digs behind in the city's South Kenwood neighborhood, an area I know well from all my years of living in the Windy City. The area is full of old, large, single family mansions; elegant, luxury 1920s-era apartment buildings; and a very famous house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Kenwood/Hyde Park borders one of the poorest, physically decaying neighborhoods in the city; though I hear things are changing.
flickr /Artwork: designslinger]
The Kenwood neighborhood is divided by a major city thoroughfare, 47th Street, which
became the line of demarcation between the poorer residents north of 47th and their wealthier neighbors to the south. The larger homes were south of 47th, and had once been the residential enclave of some of the biggest names in Chicago business circles. Gustavus Swift, the meatpacking king, and multi-millionaire and philanthropist, Julius Rosenwald, President of Sears, Roebuck & Co., called Kenwood home. It was also home to Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb who killed Richard's 14-year-old cousin (and neighbor) just to see if they could get away with it. All three young men were from very wealthy, prominent Kenwood families. If you want a good read about the entire saga, I highly recommend, For the Thrill of It; Leopold, Loeb and the Murder That Shocked Chicago, by Simon Baatz.
with the Museum of Science and Industry in the background, Casino Jones via flickr /Artwork: designslinger]
During the tumultuous 60s, as Chicago went through vast demographic changes, the
southern portion of Kenwood became linked to its neighboring community of Hyde Park. Hyde Park is home to the prestigious University of Chicago which dominates the entire area. Founded in 1891 with money from John D. Rockefeller and land from Marshall Field, the University is Chicago's answer to an Ivy League school. Its where our President-Elect taught, and his wife, until recently, was a University Hospital bigwig. Another dominant feature is Jackson Park, and the large building that houses the Museum of Science and Industry, vestiges of Chicago's 1893 World Columbian Exposition.
Kenwood/Hyde Park has been neglected for decades in terms of the attention given to
Chicago's other historic lake front communities. All the press, the hype, the money, and the services were focused on the neighborhoods that were north of the city's downtown business district. That is now history. Not only is the area back on city's radar, but the world has been introduced to a long forgotten gem on Lake Michigan's shores.
Posted by designslinger at 1/6/2009 10:18 AM 
Categories: Cities, Architecture, History, Preservation
Categories: Cities, Architecture, History, Preservation
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