Arcadia Ballroom, 4450 Broadway at Montrose

The Arcadia Ballroom on Broadway at Montrose opened in 1910. During the 1920s, it was one of the most popular dance halls in the city and one of the few establishments were white audiences danced to all-black jazz bands. You can read up on its history at Jazz Age Chicago, which also has an exterior shot of the building.

The Arcadia suffered a bad fire in the 1950s and was demolished.

Somerset Hotel, 5009 Sheridan at Argyle

The Somerset Hotel, on Sheridan at Argyle, looking north. What a great image! I wish the terracotta buildings just to the south were still there, instead of the mid-rise.

This is how the hotel looks today. Now known as Somerset Place, it functions as a nursing care facility. Image from Google street views.

The Somerset was designed by Samuel N. Crowen and opened in 1920. It originally had 441 furnished rooms arranged in 205 suites of one to four rooms. It was described as "the ideal dwelling place for those desiring the homelike atmosphere and privacy of an apartment combined with all the modern conveniences of a hotel." Jazz Age Chicago has an excellent history of the hotel.

Dover Street Historic District

From today's Sun-Times:

Dover Street residents have been successful in making their street a historic district. From left to right are block president John Holden and residents Tim Hamilton and Nancy Polich.
John Stewart / Sun-Times

Dover Street blocks get landmark status

February 22, 2008

BY BONNIE MCGRATH Special to the Sun-Times

In 1891, Graceland Cemetery Corporation decided to sell some land adjacent to what is now the celebrated eternal resting place of rich and famous Chicagoans.

The area became known as Sheridan Park -- bordered by West Montrose and West Lawrence avenues, North Broadway and North Clark, with Wilson Avenue running down the middle -- and was built to create an eight-square block suburban-style haven for the well-to-do in Uptown.

The streets and lots were laid out by landscape architect Ossian Simonds, who also had a hand in the design of Graceland Cemetery across the street...

For rest of story, go to Sun Times.

Wilson Yard, 1961

My guess is that this picture was taken from a top floor in the Uptown Bank Building, looking south toward Wilson Yard. You can spot the Broadway Building in the foreground, the distinctive tower of St. Mary's Church at the top of the photo, and the McJunkin Building just below that. It is one of the many fabulous photos that appear in The Chicago "L" by Greg Borzo.

Caption reads: "In 1908, the 'L' extended service to Howard and beyond to Evanston at ground level. In 1914-1922, it elevated the track from Wilson to Howard on an embankment rather than a steel structure. This was done to support the weight of freight cars that the 'L' handled from 1920 to 1973 between Church Street in Evanston and Irving Park Road in Chicago. A huge yard was built at Wilson in 1900. Much later, a massive four-track repair and maintennce building, seen in the center background of the view south in 1961, was added. A continuous four-track main line had just been completed here, replacing a two-track bottleneck."

Greg Borzo is a co-author of The Windies' City: Chicago's Historical Hidden Treasures.

My birthday is coming up on Thursday (hint-hint), and this would make a terrific addition to my book collection. :-)

Interview with Bob Balaban

Yesterday's Chicagoist had an interview with Bob Balaban, the well-known actor whose father was one of the Balaban Brothers responsible for the Uptown Theatre. If only he would be an active voice for the Uptown! (His cousin, David Balaban, has written a book about the Balaban and Katz theatre chain in Chicago.)

Interview: Bob Balaban

A native Chicagoan, it's no wonder that Bob Balaban was bitten early on by the movie bug, since his family is the Balaban of the Balaban & Katz movie threater chain. What's more surprising is how many hats he's worn. He's a character actor royale, appearing in films by everyone from Woody Allen and Christopher Guest to Terry Zwigoff and Robert Altman. (But he's probably best known for playing the NBC exec who's obsessed with Elaine in five episodes of "Seinfeld"). He's also a children's book author and a filmmaker.

Since his feature directorial debut, the jet black cannibalism comedy Parents, he's also directed episodes of TV shows like "Strangers with Candy" and "Oz." His newest film Bernard and Doris premieres tomorrow on HBO. It's an imaginary portrait of billionaire Doris Duke, whose will left her entire fortune to her Irish butler Bernard...

Read more at Chicagoist.