The Chicago Traveler

Chicago may be known for its warm and friendly Midwestern ways, but the city has plenty of spooky tales and creepy locations. Here are just a few that have been featured right here on The Chicago Traveler.
• The site of the Eastland Disaster is marked by a historical plaque, but some visitors to the historic location have reported hearing screams and cries for help coming from the Chicago River. In addition, the old armory building where most of the dead bodies were stored is still in use today. Many of its inhabitants have reported unexplained voices, sounds of crying, and …read more

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• The 44th Annual Chicago International Film Festival begins this weekend, featuring over 100 films from 46 countries. (ends Oct 29)
• More than five dozen vendors from Chicago will sell art, antiques, jewelry, and more at the Fall French Market. The fair also includes French cooking demonstrations and kids’ activities. (Oct 17-19)
• Sixty local and national chefs are featured at the 20th annual Celebrity Chef Ball, including Top Chef: Chicago winner Stephanie Izard, contestant Valerie Bonan, and Top Chef: New York contender Radhika Desai. (Oct 17)
• Oracle Productions holds their third installment of terrifying entertainment, Disturbed III. The audience stands …read more

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Mather Tower may be Chicago’s slimmest skyscraper, but unfortunately, it has not always been the most physically fit.
Completed in 1928, the Mather Tower was originally meant to have a twin, but after the stock market crash of 1929, plans for the second building were canceled.1 The tower (just steps away from the Seventeenth Church) stands 521 feet tall (159 m), and due to its slenderness, it has the smallest floors of any skyscraper in downtown Chicago.2
Unfortunately, as beautiful as the tower and its abundant ornamentation are, the four-story cupola was declared structurally unsound in 2000 and had to be demolished …read more

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I’ve always been an avid reader, and it always shocks me when any book—especially those that I read as a child—are proposed to be banned. How can people speak of defending our democratic freedoms when they want to take away our freedom to read?
Tomorrow begins Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read, an annual celebration of all books that have ever been banned or challenged. The American Library Association, along with the Chicago Tribune and the McCormick Freedom Museum, reminds us all not to take our books for granted.
Now celebrating its 27th year, Banned Books Week commemorates our intellectual …read more

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If you’re fortunate enough to take an architectural tour down the Chicago River, one of the most memorable buildings is the Civic Opera Building (a.k.a. Civic Opera House). Across the River from the Riverside Plaza and across the street from the UBS Tower, this limestone skyscraper is shaped like a gigantic armchair facing the River, with a 45-story office tower “back,” two 22-story “arms,” and a 12-story “seat” which is the opera house itself. It opened on November 4, 1929, just six days after the stock market crash.

Samuel Insull, “the Prince of Electricity,” was head of Commonwealth Edison and the …read more

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Today, a friend of mine is driving up to Madison, Wisconsin, and his trip inspired me to write about the Madison Street Bridge here in Chicago, also known as the Lyric Opera Bridge, near Riverside Plaza. Completed in 1922 and rehabilitated in 1994, this was the first bascule bridge in Chicago to raise the deck trusses above the deck to act as guardrails.1 (A bascule bridge is the movable type of drawbridge which people are probably most familiar with, in which a counterweight balances the span of the bridge, allowing it to swing at an angle. An animated example can …read more

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At Wacker Drive and La Salle Street stands a plaque commemorating the Eastland Disaster. While this was one of the worst tragedies in the United States, it is remarkably unfamiliar to most people.
The S. S. Eastland was a passenger ship that was used for tours in Chicago. On July 24, 1915, the boat was chartered to take employees from Chicago’s Western Electric Company to a picnic in Michigan City, Indiana. That morning, 5000 people (many of whom were of German descent or Czech immigrants) showed up at the Chicago River to begin boarding around 6:30 a.m., and in under an …read more

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• The Croatian Fest features a huge roast of 75 lambs and over 10 whole pigs at the St. Jerome Croatian Catholic Church. The festivities include homemade foods, ethnic dancing, and a beer garden. (Aug 15)
• This weekend marks the 50th Annual Chicago Air & Water Show. Arrive early and claim your spot at either North Avenue Beach or Oak Street Beach, where you’ll see the Blue Angels, the Golden Knights parachute team, an F-22 Raptor, and much more. (Aug 15-17)
• The third annual North Side Summerfest features live music from over a dozen artists and bands and plenty of …read more

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I know what you’re thinking. This 1928 24-story high-rise doesn’t look like interesting at all. And you’re right. There’s nothing about it physically that makes it stand out. Rather, what makes this building distinctive is its name… or perhaps, lack thereof.
Near the Seventeenth Church, what was formerly the Millinery Mart Building was renamed after its location: 65 East South Water Street. However, if you look up this address on a map, you’ll notice that it doesn’t actually exist!
Most people assumed that South Water Street ended at Michigan Avenue. Unfortunately for them, the building was located a good half block west …read more

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The Columbus Drive Bridge may not look like much, but it is actually the second-longest bascule bridge in the world. (If you happen to know which is the longest, I’d love to hear from you. I had difficulty finding this information.) A bascule bridge is the movable type of drawbridge which people are probably most familiar with, in which a counterweight balances the span of the bridge, allowing it to swing upward at an angle. An animated example can be found here. Completed in 1983, the bridge is 269 feet long (82 m) and cost $33 million to build.

Photo credit: …read more

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