CTA Montrose at Wilson Yard, 1972

This photo (ebay 251084055383) originally ran in the Daily News in 1972. The caption reads: Two youngsters skip happily past the Montrose Ave entrance of the CTA's Wilson Av. yard, one of the potential danger areas uncovered during a Daily News and Better Government Assn. investigation of CTA practices and property. The gates should be kept closed, but several times when Daily News photographer Perry C. Riddle visited the site they were wide open. And no security guards were on the scene. A sign on the gate reads: "Danger Electric Current keep out." What would happen if someday a youngster did not skip past but entered the area?

Wilson Yard, An Aerial View of Uptown Chicago in 1996

While trying to verify another image of Uptown, I stumbled across this aerial view of the neighborhood, taken in 1996. Follow this link to see more skyline view of Chicago from this time period at SkyScraperCity.com.

How much the city has changed in only 14 years! Fire burned the shops at Wilson Yard on October 26, 1996. The site was cleared soon thereafter. Today, it is home to a Target.

New Auditorium, Arcadia Ballroom, Broadway Between Montrose and Wilson, Uptown Chicago

Interior view of the auditorium of the Arcadia Ballroom, once located at 4450 Broadway (previously Evanston Avenue) between Wilson and Montrose. The spot currently is home to Wilson Yard. Thanks to Ben B. for the image.

Wilson Yard

Thanks to Jennifer B. for this photo of Wilson Yard; I'm not sure what the date of it is. In the upper right corner, you can see the Sheridan Plaza Hotel.

Montrose Avenue, 1989

Photo by Genial23. From the caption: "This old viaduct was part of a freight line that once ran all the way to Milwaukee. It was torn down some time around the turn of the decade. Note the old CTA Wilson Avenue Shops (destroyed by a mysterious fire in 1997) at right."

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.