Prairie Avenue

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Prairie Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the south side of Chicago which extends from 16th street in the Near South Side community areas of Chicago, Illinois, USA discontinuously to the city's southern limits. During the last three decades of the 19th century a 6 block section of this street served as the residence of many of Chicago’s elite families and an additional 4 block section was also known for grand homes. The upper 6 block section is part of a city-designated historic landmark district.

1 History
2 Background
3 Preservation
4 External links
5 Notes
6 Other references

[edit] History

In 1812, the area that is now the northern section of this street was the site of the Fort Dearborn massacre. Over time, the district has evolved from an upscale neighborhood to a factory district and back to an upscale neighborhood. 1853 zoning anticipated residential development although only one grand villa existed. By 1877 the 11 block area of Prairie Avenue as well as Calumet Avenue housed elite residences. By 1886 the finest mansions in the city, each equipped with its own carriage house, stood on Prairie Avenue. By 1911 warehouses and factories cramped the Prairie Avenue District. Large industry overtook the district by 1950. Early twenty first century deindustrialization, urban congestion, and historic preservation has brought the return of trendy buildings and restored as well as renovated structures. New infill housing is resuscitating the district.^[1]

[edit] Background

In the 1850s railroad related industries prospered near the lumber district along the South Branch of the Chicago River. Thus, the business district began to supplant the elegant residences along Michigan and Wabash Avenues south of Jackson Boulevard.^[2] Shortly after the Civil War, the city's wealthy residents settled on Prairie Avenue due to its proximity to the Loop less than a mile away and the fact that traveling there did not involve crossing the Chicago River. In 1870, Daniel Thompson erected the first large upper Prairie Avenue home. Marshall Field followed in 1871 with a Richard Morris Hunt design.^[3] Prairie Avenue was the most posh Chicago address by the time of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.^[2]

Many of South Michigan Avenues elegant villas were destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.^[4] The post fire South Side of Chicago grew rapidly as all economic classes left the city’s center. Many of Chicago’s elite families settled along Prairie Avenue. By the 1870s and 1880s, Prariie Avenue was the location of elaborate houses between 16th Street and 22nd Street (Cermak Road).^[5] In 1886, the urban elite, including George Pullman, Marshall Field, Philip Armour and John B. Sherman all owned family homes in this area that created an opulent Prairie Avenue streetscape reminiscent of European city streets;^[4] as such, it was widely regarded as the city's most fashionable neighborhood. Additional grand homes (including many Queen Anne Style architecture and Richardsonian Romanesque) were located on Prairie between 26th and 30th Streets starting in the mid 1880s.^[3]

However, as the turn of the century came industry’s pervasive reach, including railroad soot, and an encroaching vice district caused the area to become less desirable and the social elite vacated the region for quieter neighborhoods such as Kenwood, the Gold Coast and more commonly the suburban North Shore.^[4] Light industry and vacant lots overtook Prairie Avenue by the mid and late twentieth century. The elegant mansions were mostly torn down or fell into extreme disrepair.^[3]

[edit] Preservation

Historic preservation in Chicago has saved some of Chicago’s architectural heritage. The efforts of the Chicago Architecture Foundation and the Landmarks and Preservation Council of Illinois have been at the forefront of these efforts. The Commission on Chicago Landmarks (now part of the city’s Department of Planning and Development) has designated the Prairie Avenue Historic District as a city landmark on December 27, 1979.^[6] A few of the mansions of the heyday still remain in the 1800 block including the National Historic landmark designated John J. Glessner House designed in 1886 by architect Henry H. Richardson.^[2] These provide provide some sense of the street's former character. This district also includes two other housed from the late nineteenth century as well as the Henry B. Clarke House, which although twice relocated is purported to be the city’s oldest standing house. Both the Glessner House and the Clarke House are on the National Historic Register and now serve as museums.^[6]

[edit] External links

Official City of Chicago Near South Side Map

[edit] Notes

^ Conzen, Michael P., Douglas Knox and Dennis McClendon, Neighborhood Change: Prairie Avenue, 1853-2003, Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 The Encyclopedia of Chicago, pp. C4-5. The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9
^ ^a ^b ^c McClendon, Dennis, Near South Side, Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 The Encyclopedia of Chicago, p. 562. The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9
^ ^a ^b ^c Carey, Heidi Pawlaoski, Prairie Avenue, Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 The Encyclopedia of Chicago, p. 644. The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9
^ ^a ^b ^c Conzen, Michael P. and Douglas Knox, Chicago’s Prairie Avenue Elite in 1886, Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 The Encyclopedia of Chicago, p. 772. The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9
^ Pacyga, Dominic A., South Side, Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 The Encyclopedia of Chicago, p. 771. The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9
^ ^a ^b Sciacchitano, Barbara, Historic Preservation, Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 The Encyclopedia of Chicago, p. 383. The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9