Garden Artillery
[C. Herman Plautz Residence (1877) /Image & Artwork: designslinger]
When C. Herman Plautz built his home in Chicago's Wicker Park area in 1877 he did not
place a cannon in his front yard. The large piece of military artillery arrived years later under different owners who had a new use for the house. It is one of the oldest homes in the neighborhood and one of the most ornate with all of its Second Empire detailing.
[Pulaski Post, No. 86, American Legion (1927) /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
Plautz was one of a number of successful German-American businessmen who settled
near the small green triangle known as Wicker Park who built large homes to show-off their newly acquired wealth. He served as the City Clerk and City Treasurer, owned a drug manufacturing company for a while, was the president of Northwestern Brewery and Vice-President of Garden City Bank. By the 1920s the neighborhood had changed from a predominantly German and Scandinavian immigrant community into Chicago's largest Polish community. So in 1927 a group of Polish veterans purchased the Plautz residence to serve as the home of American Legion, Pulaski Post No. 86, appropriately named for Casimir Pulaski the Revolutionary War hero.
[Sommers Residence, Hoyne Avenue, Wicker Park, Chicago /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
The cannon showed up in 1934, and believe it or not was requisitioned by the U.S. Military
for service during World War II. The Polish Post met in the 800 square foot living of the former Plautz place until 1972. By that time the members weren't getting any younger and the neighborhood was undergoing another huge change from Polish to Puerto Rican. So off went the Legionnaires, leaving their cannon behind. By the time Carol and Nick Sommers purchased the home in 1977, the once elegant mansion was a mess. Neglected and worn the Sommers gave the house the kind of love and care it deserved, and preserved Chicago's only artillery-decorated home.
Posted by designslinger at 8/23/2010 1:25 AM 
Categories: Architecture, History, Preservation
Tags: Wicker Park C. Herman Plautz German American community
Categories: Architecture, History, Preservation
Tags: Wicker Park C. Herman Plautz German American community
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