A collection of articles that originally appeared in the Chicago Daily News from March 1939 through February 1941, presenting "a blend of historical, biographical, architectural, and social facts" for each entry.

The suburban residential area running north above Chicago along

Stretching south from 47th Street to the Midway Plaisance and east from Washington Park to the lake’s shore, the historic neighborhood of Hyde Park—Kenwood covers nearly two square miles of Chicago’s south side. At one time a wealthy township outside of the city, this neighborhood has been home to Chicago’s elite for more than one hundred and fifty years, counting among its residents presidents and politicians, scholars, athletes, and fiery religious leaders. Known today for the grand mansions, stately row houses, and elegant apartments that these notables called home, Hyde Park—Kenwood is still one of Chicago’s most prominent locales. Physically shaped by the Columbian Exposition of 1893 and by the efforts of some of the greatest architects of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries—including Daniel Burnham, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies Van Der Rohe—this area hosts some of the city’s most spectacular architecture amid lush green space. Tree-lined streets give way to the impressive neogothic buildings that mark the campus of the University of Chicago, and some of the Jazz Age’s swankiest high-rises offer spectacular views of the water and distant downtown skyline. In Chicago’s Historic Hyde Park, Susan O’Connor Davis offers readers a biography of this distinguished neighborhood, from house to home, and from architect to resident. Along the way, she weaves a fascinating tapestry, describing Hyde Park—Kenwood’s most celebrated structures from the time of Lincoln through the racial upheaval and destructive urban renewal of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s into the preservationist movement of the last thirty-five years. Coupled with hundreds of historical photographs, drawings, and current views, Davis recounts the life stories of these gorgeous buildings—and of the astounding talents that built them. This is architectural history at its best.

Excerpt from Old Illinois Houses As almost all Of us know, half Of the population Of Illinois lives in Chicago. To this half belongs John Drury. It took considerable foreign and domestic travel in his earlier years, however, to make him realize that his native heath is just as good a place to write about as any other spot on earth. As a romantic-minded young man, he lived in New York's Greenwich Village, worked as a cub reporter in los Angeles, served on merchant ships to South America and London, traveled in Canada, and cruised the Spanish Main aboard a luxury liner. In time, though, John Drury felt the call of his native Midwest and here, after returning to it, he began his writing career. In addition to his Chicago residence, he now maintains a summer home at Chesterton, Indiana. It was just after the University Of Chicago Press published his Old Chicago Houses in 1941 that John Drury began work on the articles which form the contents Of this book. One day in the early spring Of 1941, when snow floated down between gloomy Loop buildings and hissed on the cold surface of the Chicago River, he loaded into his car his Wife, his dog, and his typewriter, and began the first Of three circular motor tours through southern, central, and northern Illinois, totaling some miles. His quest was historic Illinois houses. The results Of his journeys appear in this book Where they are reproduced from a series Of weekly articles published in the Daily News. Having covered thehistoric-house field in his native city and native state, Mr. Drury, quite naturally, expanded his horizon again, and thus there appeared, in 1947, his Historic Midwest Houses. This volume involved a -mile tour Of the Midwest which was made possible by a Regional Writing Fellow ship awarded him by the University Of Minnesota. Readers of Old Illinois Houses will find this book a rather complete, though informal, history Of our state. Here are described houses that represent the French period. Other chapters deal with dwellings used during the English occupaiion, and here, too, are residences Of the American aristocrats appointed in Washington to administer the frontier government. How can anyone understand the enterprising bankers who came early to Illinois, without seeing the house Of John Marshall at Shawneetown? On Rock Island stands the mansion Of George Daven port, fur trader, and this expresses his affluence better than can be done in a thousand words. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.