Chicago Lords of Uptown

While surfing the Net one night, I found this site: Chicago Lords of Uptown.

It provides a brief history of the Sunnyside and Magnolia Set of the Almighty Gaylords, a Chicago street gang with roots stretching back to the late forties/early fifties.

Since living in the neighborhood, I've found that people love to talk about and somewhat glamorize the early gang history of Uptown, the "Al Capone was here" kind of stories, or else they will have a lot to say about Uptown's current gang problems. Very few talk about the times in between, and the groups that, for good or ill, made their mark on the neighborhood.

The Chicago Lords of Uptown were prominent from the seventies through the late nineties. From the site:

"Uptown was a battle zone! Today, Chicago's Uptown community is more known for its jazz clubs and coffee houses than its gang wars. This area is one example of how the City of Chicago is eliminating its ghettos—almost overnight. The cleanup effort is good for the city, but the blood lost here battling for these blocks should not be forgotten."

To learn more about the history of Chicago's street gangs, visit the UIC Chicago Gang History Project.

Magnolia Apartments

Corner of Magnolia and Wilson Avenue.

Image courtesy John Chuckman.

Carlton Terrace

I found this advertisement for Fenestra Casements in the July 1927 issue of The Architectural Record. The image is of Carlton Terrace, now the Carlton Terrace Apartments at 4626 N. Magnolia. The text reads: "In the beautiful Carlton Terrace, Chicago, the windows are an important factor in the architectural design. Here, as in many of the country's finest apartments, Fenestra Casements have proved to be an adaptable medium in the hands of the architect. Their delicate lines and attractive panes are in full harmony with the structural details of the building. And these Fenestra advantages of design and construction are invariably augmented by real window convenience and comforts for the occupants of the building. The latest Fenestra catalog provides the architect with all information required for accurate detailing, together with illustrations of many attractive installations. Send for a copy."

Click on the image to get a larger version.