Historic Homes, Cottages & Buildings Of Wicker Park

Stop 1 – Brief History Of Wicker Park

Wicker Park is sort of like an area that time forgot. The area speaks of a long-lost set of skills and of an elegant suburban lifestyle that once existed in Chicago. This very popular Chicago neighborhood has a most fascinating potpourri of Victorian architecture from lowly cottages to extravagant mansions. The area was settled predominantly by Germans and Scandinavians, both rich and poor. On this tour, you will see beveled, jeweled, leaded, and stained glass windows, carved doorways, carriage houses, gazebos, and gingerbread porches.

At the time of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Wicker Park was still mostly open prairie. The pyrophobia of the times is evident in the massive brick & stone structures they built. Ornamentation is mostly metal, not wood. The Fire did two things:

• Acted as a catalyst for the settlement of this area.
• Created a merchant class for those in the lumber & building trades.

Many of these nouveau riches settled here and conspicuously displayed their wealth. The wealthy Germans came who wanted to escape the German ghetto now known as Old Town. This new money was scorned by the WASP South Prairie Avenue Society where the McCormicks, Kimballs, George Pullman & Marshall Field lived.

• Chicago’s first horse-drawn streetcar ran from North & Milwaukee to downtown.
• These horse-drawn taxis were called “hacks.”
• Described as bumpy rides, long trips, and trouble with kids.

Photo 1 – Horsedrawn Hacks

Stop 1 – U.S. Labor History

In addition to its architecture, Wicker Park is also important in U.S. Labor history. After the Fire, times were hard for this new immigrant working class.

• Worked 10 to 12 hours days
• Contractors would often neglect to pay them
• Protests and riots occurred in the name of an 8-hour workday

Photo 2 – Poster For 8-Hour Workday

As a result of their grievances, the Germans, in cooperation with the newly formed American Federation Of Labor declared May 1, 1886, as a day of demonstration for the “Eight Hour Day Movement”.

It was a whole week of demonstrations and as part of it the “Haymarket Protest Meeting” occurred. Although the meeting had begun to break up by the time the police stormed it, the Riot still occurred, complete with a stick of the newly discovered explosive, dynamite.

Photo 3 – Haymarket Riot

Only 8 years later the Pullman Strikes started on May 11, 1894.  They lasted for two months and severely disrupted rail traffic in most of the United States.It marked the first time the federal government (4000 troops!) was called to break up a strike and it was ugly with many people being killed and millions of dollars of property ransacked.  To this day we celebrate Labor Day as a result of this time of unrest in the labor sector of our country. 

Photo 4 – Pullman Strike Destruction

Photo 5 – Pullman Strike Destruction

Photo 6 – First Labor Day Parade Poster

Stop 1 – History Of Workers Cottages

• Chicago’s Rapid Growth:
  • 1837: Chicago incorporated population ~4,000
  • 1850: Population grew to 30,000
  • 1871 (Great Fire): Population reached 300,000
    • Fire killed 300 people
    • Left 100,000 homeless (1/3 of the city)
  • 1900: Population reached 1.2 million
  • Today we are around 2.7 million
• Factors Driving Growth:
  • Industrial Revolution
  • Railroads and telegraph
  • Central location and access to Lake Michigan
  • Major industries: meatpacking, grain processing, rail car manufacturing
  • George Pullman’s Palace Car Company attracted workers and Pullman Porters
• Rise of Workers Cottages:
  • Built to meet housing demand from explosive population growth
  • Inexpensive, quickly built homes
  • Often designed with raised first floors (lower units rented out)
  • Could be purchased for $100 down and $10/month — furnished
  • Built in various shapes and sizes
• Current Threats:
  • Many cottages at risk due to urban development
  • Historic lot sizes and styles conflict with modern housing demands
  • Iconic cottages being razed for higher-density housing

Photo 1 – What Chicago looked like around 1870.

Photo 2 – Brick Cottage Advertisement

Photo 3 – Wood Cottage Advertisement

Stop 1 – 1236 N. Hoyne

• Brick Workers Cottage
• Style: Italianate
• Built: 1886
• Features:
• Double brackets in the eaves
• Dentil molding in the eaves
• Beautiful arched and carved terracotta lentils over doors and windows with scroll designs at both ends

Stop 2 – 1311 N. Hoyne

• 1311 N. Hoyne – Brick Workers Cottage
• Style: Italianate
• Circa: 1887
• Features:
• -Projected bay window
• -Original stained glass
• -Original cast-iron railings
• -Fancy, carved wave-shaped and dentil molding in the eaves
• -Small, Eastlake (Gingerbread)-style covered porch with very detailed latticework and turned columns

Photo 1 – Charles Eastlake Book

Stop 3 – 1345 N. Hoyne – Dr. Karl Sandberg

• Style: French Second Empire / Romanesque
• Second Empire – Think The Addams Family Home
• Romanesque – Think Game Of Thrones
• Circa: 1895
• Sandberg was a prominent surgeon, gynecologist, and professor

The Second Emporer of France (Napolean III) commissioned a man named Baron Haussmann for the renovation of Paris. It was a vast public works programme between 1853 and 1870. The medieval neighbourhoods were overcrowded and unhealthy. The renovation included:
-the building of wide avenues
-new parks and squares
-new sewers, fountains, and aqueducts.
-the street plan and distinctive appearance of the center of Paris today are largely the result of Haussmann’s renovation, this new Second Empire style was born and its influences spanned the globe.

Photo 1 – French Second Empire Home In St. Louis – reminiscent of the Addams Family Home

Stop 4 – 1407 N. Hoyne – John Raap

• Style: Second Empire
• Circa: 1879
• Raap was a Wine Merchant

This Second Empire-style house commands the attention of residents and first-time visitors alike. Noticeably the largest private structure in the Wicker Park Historic District, this house, with its impressive hexagonal tower, is surrounded by an expansive lawn and cast-iron fence. The unusual detailing of the iron porch is also worthy of mention (almost Art Nouveau in style).

John H. Raap, a prosperous wine merchant whose store was located on Milwaukee Avenue, built the house in 1879. The matching coach house (now a separate property) and the original fence make this property quite distinguished.

Raap was murdered by his bookkeeper, his wife went insane, and Raap’s son was convicted of embezzlement. This was not a happy house but things have changed since, for the better. After a prolonged period that saw the house divided into apartments, the dilapidated property was converted back into a single-family home in 2010.

The house is currently on the market again for a mere $6,950,000.00.

Photo 1 – Foyer

Photo 2 – Kitchen

Photo 3 – Dining

Photo 4 – Spiral Staircase

Photo 5 – Sitting Area

Photo 6 – Primary Bedroom

Photo 7 – Primary Bathroom

Photo 8 – Rooftop Terrace

Photo 9 – Custom Shower Area

Stop 5 – 2131 W. Le Moyne

• Style: Italianate
• Circa: 1888

The story from the current owners is that this cottage and the one to the left of it were built by two brothers. Look between the two cottages and you will notice that they share a coach house that spans both lots. The brothers operated a sausage factory from the coach house!

The current owners bought the 2131 property about 7 years ago. It was in disrepair. They gutted the entire property including the coach house. They dug a basement because the original floor joists were sitting on dirt and rotted. They worked with Landmark Chicago and National Landmark to restore this property. It took approximately 3 years to complete the renovation. They refinished the original windows and doors and kept the trim or matched. They had custom storm windows created to match the window arches. They installed geothermal heating in the house and dug holes below the basement’s heated floor.

Photo 1 – Existing Condition When Purchased

Photo 2 – Existing Condition When Purchased

Photo 3 – The Dig

Photo 4 – The Dig

Photo 5 – Pouring The Concrete Basement

Photo 6 – Patched Staircase Reinstalled

Stop 5 – Russian/Turkish Baths

• Circa: 1910
• Architect: LLoyd & Klein

Through much of the 19th century public and even private bathing in Chicago was not a frequent experience of most residents. By the beginning of the 1900s, people began to appreciate that good hygiene was related to good health, and bathing gained popularity.

Bathrooms and hot running water were still novelties in many buildings in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Sewers and water services gradually came into the neighborhood starting in 1873. Hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans would stand in long lines to take hot showers at the city’s expense. The Chicago Board of Health opened the first free public bathhouse in the world in 1894.

Chicago was the first city in the world to take to the idea that Public Baths should be free. Each bather was given a free bar of soap and a towel. Allowed twenty minutes to undress, shower, and dress, seven to eight minutes of that time was for the water to run full force.

By 1919, nineteen bathhouses were built in Chicago. However, the reduction in city revenue, due to prohibition, caused the city to eventually charge bathers five cents for the soap and towel!

Photo 1 – Facade with Aquatic Motif in Terra Cotta

Photo 2 – Men’s Bathhouse Line

Photo 3 – Women’s Bathhouse Line

Photo 4 – Bathhouse on Cullerton in Pilsen

Stop 6 – The Robey Hotel

• Wicker Park’s first skyscraper called “The North West Tower”
• Style: Art Deco – Flatiron Shape
• Circa: 1929
• Architect: Perkins, Claten and Hammond

Location Buzz:
30,000 people and 20,000 vehicles passed daily.

Design & Structure:

• 14-story Indiana limestone tower—tallest office building on the Northwest Side.
• Grand entrances on both North & Milwaukee Avenues.
• Lobby finished in Grecian marble
• Many Art Deco details

Target Tenants:
Designed for physicians, dentists, and lawyers seeking a modern, elegant workspace.

Modern Features (for 1929):

• High-speed elevators with automatic leveling—no more “step up” or “step down.”
• Enclosed fire stairway replaced unsightly exterior fire escapes.
• Sub-metered electricity at wholesale rates.
• Oil-burning boilers = clean, quiet heating.

Medical-Grade Utilities:

• Suites outfitted with piped-in gas, compressed air, water, and electricity—ready for surgical, dental, or lab use and separately metered for each suite!

Photo 1 – Chicago Tribune Cover 1929

Photo 2 – Rendering of original building

Stop 7 – Fly Boy and Lil Mama

• 1416 – 1420 N. Wood – Fly Boy and Lil Mama (on the side of the building next to Floyd’s Barbershop)
• Artist: Street Art by Chicago-born Hebru Brantley
• Installation: Repainted in 2018

Hebru Brantley & the Flyboy Universe

• Flyboy and Lil Mama were created by Hebru Brantley as a cartoon that history forgot.
• Inspired by the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American military aviators in WWII.
• The goggle-wearing characters evolved to reflect what modern kids might look like, carrying the spirit of those heroes.
• The Tuskegee Airmen were known for their role in the air war over Europe and for challenging racial barriers in the U.S. Armed Forces.
• Also known as the Red Tail Angels or Red Tails.

About Hebru Brantley

• Exhibited in Chicago, Hong Kong, London, San Francisco, Atlanta, Miami, Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York.
• Shown at Art Basel Switzerland, Art Basel Miami, Scope NYC, and Frieze London.
• Recognized in: Chicago Tribune, Forbes, WWD, HypeBeast, Complex Magazine, Chicago Sun-Times, and New York Post.
• Collectors include LeBron James, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Lenny Kravitz, George Lucas, and Rahm Emanuel.
• Collaborations include Nike and Adidas.

Nevermore Park

• Opened in 2019 in Pilsen
• 6,000-square-foot immersive installation featuring Flyboy and Lil Mama.
• Hosted over 23,000 ticketed guests 
• Closed during the pandemic

Currently

• Brantley lives in Los Angeles and is expanding into content creation.
• Developing the Flyboy Universe through his media company, Angry Hero.

More at hebrubrantley.com and on Instagram: @hebrubrantley / @flyboyuniverse

Photo 1 – N. Damen (just north of 6 corners intersection)

Photo 2 – Uptown (side of Uptown Broadway Building – Leland)

Photo 3 – Navy Pier

Photo 4 – Tuskegee Airmen

Photo 5 – Red Tail Fighter Airplanes

Photo 6 – Batboy “Flynamic Duo”

Photo 7 – Sparrow “Flynamic Duo”

Stop 8 – I Am A Man Mural

• Honors a pivotal moment in Black history
• Recreates a photo from the funeral of Martin Luther King
• In Memphis, King delivered his famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech.
• Tragically, King was assassinated the day after his visit to Memphis
• I Am A Man has become a powerful symbol in civil rights protests.
• Project led by Chicago native & muralist Darius Dennis
• @dariussdennis on Instagram
• Owner Big Wall Sign & Mural @bigwallsigns on Instagram

Photo 1 – Clifton Street Art Gallery in Uptown

Photo 2 – Clifton Street Art Gallery in Uptown (above Jeremy Novi’s “Koi” mural)

Stop 9 – Flatliners Filming Location – David’s Apartment

• 1270 N. Wolcott Ave – Workers Cottage
• Style: Second Empire
• Circa: Late 1800s
• 1266 N. Wolcott Ave – Workers Cottage
• Style: Italianate
• Circa: Late 1880s

In the 1990 movie “Flatliners” with Kevin Bacon (age 32), Keifer Sutherland (age 23), and Julia Roberts (age 22), several scenes were filmed here.

• Movie Taglines:
• Cross The Line – Death Will Follow You Back
• Some Lines Shouldn’t Be Crossed

The film’s premise: Seeking answers about the afterlife, Chicago medical student Nelson (Kiefer Sutherland) persuades his fellow pupils to help him end his life, and then resuscitate him in the nick of time. Remade in 2017 (Netflix) with Keifer in a different role (age 49) and also featuring Canadian actor Elliot Page (he/him/his).

Photo 1 – 1990 Flatliners Poster

Photo 2 – 2017 Flatliners Poster

Photo 3 – Scene from the original movie