Letter from a Former Uptown Resident

I get a lot of readers, but I don't always hear a lot of feedback on this little ol' history blog, so e-mails like this just make my day:

I really love the website that you have created, I’m a product of uptown, I lived there from the late 1950’s until 1970 and the moved back for 2 years in 1975. Your website has brought back many memories, I went to school at Stewart, then transferred to Brenamen on Clarendon & Montrose and from there I was sent to Catholic school at St. Thomas of Canterbury on Kenmore and Lawrence. I had my first paper route delivering the American on Winthrop from Lawrence to Argyle in 1962. We use to go to the Lakeside theater on Saturdays and see three movies for a quarter, and the Uptown theater was the coolest, you get lost in that place and it was so fabulous inside, I remember a section that was hard to find that was all enclosed in glass and was located in between the upper balcony and the lower balcony all the seats were blue velour with polished brass it was definitely made for the elite. I spent many days at the Robert R. McCormick Boys Club on Sheridan and Gunnison what a great place for a boy to stay out of trouble. I can’t think of many places in uptown that I didn’t see as me and my brother wandered the streets all summer. Well I could go on forever about the great life I had there, so keep up the good work and if you ever have any questions about uptown I would love to share. -- R.C.

Thanks for reading, R.C.!

And what's your favorite memory of Uptown? Write me at blog(a)compassrose.com and I'll feature it here!

Kenmore Avenue near Buena

Image courtesy John Chuckman.

Graeme Stewart School, circa 1918

Trivia: Before he moved to Park Ridge, and long before he went on to Hollywood to star in such films as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Bladerunner, American Graffiti, and Patriot Games, Harrison Ford lived in Chicago and, along with his brother Terry, attended grade school at Graeme-Stewart Elementary.


Does anyone out there know if G-S has any other famous alumni or attendees?

Huszagh & Hill New Lawrence Hotel for Sale

The Lawrence House, located on the northeast corner of Kenmore and Lawrence, is for sale. Originally an upscale apartment hotel, it was designed by Ralph Huszagh and Boyd Hill, and built in 1928. The architectural team is also responsible for the Aragon Ballroom.

The New Lawrence Hotel was an art deco dream and had an indoor swimming pool, exercise room, rooftop garden, and all the modern conveniences of the day. Known as the Lawrence House today, the majority of its tenants are 55 or older, although it is not officially a senior building.

The pricetag is $19 million. Full details can be found at Crain's Chicago.

Author of "Lavender and Old Lace" Lived and Died in Uptown

Who would guess that a world-famous author had offed herself in her flat at Foster and Kenmore a century ago? Myrtle Reed was as popular in her day as Stephen King or J.K. Rowling are now. Her most famous work, and one that was even made into a silent movie in 1921, was Lavender and Old Lace. The entire text of the book can be found at CompassRose.org, and a terrific biography of the author, a preview of which is below, was published recently in Chicago Magazine:

Hell in Paradise Flat

Largely forgotten now, Myrtle Reed dazzled as a best-selling romance novelist and Chicago socialite 100 years ago. But in her personal life, a happy ending proved sadly elusive

by Dan Carlinsky

It started with an old book at a yard sale, a book I judged, frankly, by its cover: mauve with a gilt art nouveau floral design. The book was Lavender and Old Lace by Myrtle Reed, copyright 1902. Turn-of-the-century romance, Edwardian chick lit. I figured I'd never read the thing, but it was attractive, and the price was a buck.

At home, I spread the covers, fanned the pages, and caught a folded brown newspaper clipping as it fell loose: Author a Suicide, Puts Blame Upon Model Husband; Myrtle Reed, Who Wrote "Lavender and Old Lace," Takes Poison Dose...

Complete article can be found at Chicago Magazine.