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You have a obsessive like fascination for Chicago history and I love it. I wish some of yourvideos were longer to binge can you make a video going into detail about the Cabrini greens history more specifically the sniper field as they called it
Pittsburgh is another city that has an amazing history, with some parts of its incredible industrial history remaining, with other parts of it completely changed (such as the point downtown) With its geographic location, the bridges and tunnels that make it unlike any other city, and even canals before the railroads, Pittsburgh is one of the most interesting and historical significant cities in the history of the US
I'm a local and this is yhe dumbest video ever. Wrigley and Morton salt are both on it as well as mcgrath lexus. Soon to be a casino. Goose island brew isn't famous
I feel exactly the same. Living in a small town in Northwest Indiana my whole life, there was such a sense of wonder and excitement taking trips to Chicago growing up. I’d have so many questions about how and why certain things were the way they were. History tells us everything. What it is and why it it’s there, that’s why I live history so much. It answers every question that even my parents didn’t know
There was railroad activity on the Island through the end of 2017. They stored empty cars there, which became a target of complaints of the quickly gentrifying area.
How much does the land cost now? Here they moved the homeless shelter and kicked out all the homeowners. Now the property that sold for 45k now sells for a cool 500k. Other neighborhoods have now lost value and have to deal with the crime increase brought on by the transients. Progress by their standards.
Ryan, you definitely need to do the video about Ogden Ave. It was a fascinating street, and I even remember traveling on that viaduct in 1992 before it closed. The fact that Ogden used to go all the way to Clark and Armitage is unknown to most people who are under 60 years old. Bits and pieces of it just kept disappearing over the years, and by the time I was a teenager, it stopped at North Ave. and Larrabee. Now, of course, it stops just north of Chicago Ave. There used to be a building on Goose Island that even had an Ogden Ave. address (1060 N. Ogden, I believe) with their main entrance on the second or third floor that could only be accessed from the Ogden Ave. viaduct. If I recall correctly, it was the main office of the Pickens-Kane Moving and Storage company. It's also untrue that you couldn't access Goose Island from the viaduct. There was a ramp/exit at Hickory St. that was added after the original construction in order to provide easy access to and from Goose Island from the I-90/94 expressway. The Hickory St. ramp was mostly used for truck and freight traffic, but it certainly was available for use by anyone and I used it many times as a shortcut. The gunshots from Cabrini-Green were real though. The Ogden viaduct would pass directly by the housing project at about 50 feet in the air and most people avoided the viaduct for that reason, especially during the 1970s. Great videos, Ryan, and keep up the great work.
The movies Cooley High and Opportunity Knocks have scenes that show the Ogden viaduct in GREAT detail from the top of the bridge, right at the Halsted/Division intersection. There's also a car chase scene in Adventres in Babysitting on the viaduct near the same spot. We used to take the Division bus going west to shop on Milwaukee Avenue and we'd pass under the viaduct.
@@jbizz80 I remember the viaduct in Cooley High, but I've never seen the other two movies. I'll have to check them out. Thanks for contributing some more first-hand history of Ogden Ave. These days, whenever I go by Division and Halsted it always looks weird without the viaduct and the Phillips Towing. Kind of similar to Grand and Central now without the viaduct running over Grand Ave. or State St. without Roosevelt running overhead. Great memories!
Another part of Chicago that warrants your attention, IMO, is Elston Avenue. It runs from Milwaukee Avenue in the West Town neighborhood, right near Goose Island, basically following the river until Belmont Street, and continuing northwest until it ends at Milwaukee Avenue (again!) in the Norwood Park neighborhood. It used to be a mainly industrial thoroughfare, with streetcar, later converted to trolleybus and then regular buses, shuttling people to and from work. As the factories in the city declined, the street began to decay, and bus service was discontinued in the early 1970s. Not long after I moved to Chicago, Elston Avenue was selected to receive one of Chicago's earliest bike lanes, and it has been one of the city's cycling thoroughfares ever since. Over the last 20 years or so, Elston Avenue has been making a comeback, with new businesses and even some residential segments springing up. Still no transit service, although the buses that run along the cross streets generally stop at Elston. I have yet to find its history documented, but I bet it's fascinating.
Back in 2012, I have to walk down Slaton St to go to a store. It was a little daunting since lighting is very poor at night. I sensed it was once an industrial area.
Another great Chicago story about Goose Island. There is a Chicago delicacy besides pizza and hotdogs and pork chops and steak in Chicago; breaded fried shrimp. That’s right, breaded fried shrimp. There are shrimp shacks all over the place in Chicago, particularly near the Chicago River. Where the Blues Brothers flew over the bridge that was opening in the movie The Blues Brothers, that is the 95th St. bridge. There is a shrimp shack that you can see through the passenger side window just before Ellwood hits the gas!Division St., runs from the lake and crosses over Goose Island. And there is a joint and division Street called Goose Island Shrimp, And yes, I’ve eaten there a bunch of times
Yessss Goose Island shrimp I used to go there alot with my friends and it was amazing. The shrimp were huge. This was in the 90s though and havnt been there since. Once we got turned around and ended up in Cabrini green and the police pulled us over and made us leave 😆😆oops
Sir, I just watched this on the TV and logged in here to say thank you for this superb video! It combines two of my favorites, history and Chicago. This is a fantastic, informative and entertaining, providing all of us with much more, great history of Chicago than we knew before. Thank you for this! Subscribed!
I was employed as a locomotive engineer for the Soo Line Railroad and in the late 1990s I worked the job that switched out freight cars on Goose Island. There were a few areas in and around the island where our tracks were in the streets. Sometimes people would park their automobile over these rails thinking to themselves, "trains never go around here anymore." The conductor had a company provided cell phone and would call a local towing company to remove the vehicle blocking our right-of-way. It was amazing how fast they'd come out and tow it off the tracks to their impound yard.
I use to work here as well! At the old Mercedes Benz of Chicago service center. It’s now an Acura dealer. The roof has a killer view of the city. It’s alive and well, thriving with industry. Warehouses, car dealers, and Greyhound’s central repair facility. I encourage everyone to get the frog legs at Goose Island Shrimp House. And get a picture of yourself at the Hooker Street sign lol.
I remember riding Ogden ave as a shortcut as a child. We got off around North Ave. I remember taking the Division street bus going through Cabrini Green. I remember Finkl Steel in Lincoln Park. I remember the Horween Leather Company off Ashland Ave. I worked at Dr. Scholl's factory in Old town. I think the leather factory is the last of the Mohicans...
Thank you for sharing this video! I'm an Irish-American who is a graduate of Kendall College, which was located at the southeast tip of the island. Prior to Kendall, it was a Sara Lee factory that my great-aunt would often visit, so I take pride in my connections to this tiny island. I miss seeing the train cars parked in the middle of the streets, it gave the area that old industrial vibe which I love about Chicago. Being here for almost two decades I've watched the island transform from an area you didn't necessarily want to be (due to Cabrini Green and other factors), to a thriving corridor. Thank you for bringing back some wonderful memories and sharing the history of our little island. Cheers!
I grew up in Chicago and all my life my father called it goose island and as a young child I would ask why and he would just look down at me and say because of all of the little ones and give me a kiss. Loved your Channel. Thanks
So interesting. I’m from New York and the whole thing reminds me a lot of the Gowanus Canal area in Brooklyn, from the early immigrant groups to the later booming industry and pollution and even that it’s kind of both natural and man made, as the canal was built where there used to be a natural creek
I grew up near Gosse Island in the 1960s when I lived by North and Ashland and saw the area change many times over the years. From the disappearance of the giant gasometer tanks and the Ogden Viaduct, to the closing of the Meister Brau brewery to the replacement of the 100 year old North Ave. bascule bridge. No matter where I have lived since those days I still think of the the Wicker Park to Goose Island part of Chicago as "home".
@19:17 Actually that RR was "Milwaukee Road" and turned west crossing the river. The Island was is terminus yard. The yard, if u follow the abaondoned route west, it's now in Bensenville(or is that Franklin Park??), on the Southside of O'Hare Airport. Also, the path you did follow runs further north. It runs(ran) next to Wrigley Field. Many streets still have the tracks. You can see many cockeyed positioned homes where the track used to run.
Although the RR bridge at the north end of Goose Island looks like a lift bridge at first glance, it is actually a swing bridge that pivots at the north end. The huge concrete counterweight balances the load of the span. There were other RR bridges that pivoted at one end in Chicago, one which still exists, but it is parked on the east bank of the North Branch of the River a block south of Cortland Street.
Glad you mentioned this one! That is the last remaining asymmetric swing bridge left in Chicago, built by the Chicago, Milwaukee, & St. Paul railroad. There's a neat plaque describing its construction on North Ave.
Yes,that was referred to as “The old man’s bridge” because the tender,an old man,would have to come out and manually unlock it to open it. It was in use serving a scrap metal yard until a few years ago when the yard was forced out of business by the city.
These are actually called Bascule bridges. A swing bridge pivots side to side while a Bascule pivots up. This is a single leaf while the downtown bridges are double leaf. Chicago is famous for having so many Bascule bridges.
For a suggestion,and a multi-part series,how about the histories of the Chicago Surface Lines(CSL),and the Chicago Rapid Transit(CRT),as both take up at least a century of operations! There are also tie-ins to London,and Boston,and other points! Thankfully there are books,put out by the Central Electric Railfans Association,and other writers,covering the history of those operators! Thank you for an interesting historical overview,mayhaps there were a few relatives of mine,in that great Irish movement 👍! Thank you 😇! 😇
I'm glad you referenced the Forgotten Chicago article on Ogden Avenue. (Possible misspelling of Ogden earlier in the episode, or maybe that was the Navy Pier episode) Losing Ogden to time and the decay of Goose Island is a sorry state for people trying to access the Lake Shore in modern times.
Great video Ry. Definitely do something with Odgen- and possibly Mud Lake- and the Indian Trade from WAY BACK. Work the Des Plaines River in if possible. :)
Jones Island in Milwaukee would be interesting history. Also, how Chicago dug the canal to Lake Michigan reversing the flow of the Chicago River would be interesting. It seems Chicago dumps their sewage into the canal sending it downriver for others to enjoy and deal with. Chicago $hit coming through!!!!
Your videos are fantastic!!! If you ever do a video on the Ogden viaduct please include how Ogden use to extend to Clark. I have walked this route several times and like you said it’s strange to think this major artery just vanished but there are still remains from it. Also please include the 3rd floor door in the Pickens Kane building (1000 Ogden) crazy.
I lived on north ave and elston directly next to Stanley's which was right in this area. I loved walking over to goose island. This area was so awesome before they started sanitizing it and building more condos.
Changing landmark names has always made me crazy. It's still the Sears tower, Comisky is still Comisky. Money does not buy prominance. Imagine trying this with Wrigley field. They tried tearing down the landmark and keeping the name with Soldier field, this also does not work.
And now Anhauser Busch owns Goose Island brewery but most of the beer made for retail is produced in Baldwinsville NY. Everything new AB comes out with ii is made in B'ville! 🤔😁
Goose Island is still productive and working💪🏽💪🏽‼️ Come visit The Island Recording Studio right by Goose Island Shrimp. The best Shrimp and Studio in Chicago ✅
It’s far from “forgotten”many tour boats point it out everyday, and it’s about to undergo a major redevelopment. Also, being man made it’s not “mysterious” since there is no question of how it got there. PS If you want some great shrimp go to Goose Island shrimp house on Division,it’s a carry out only dive with the best deep fried breaded shrimp you’ll ever have.
Former Greyhound mechanic here, greyhound is no longer at the location shown in this video as of January 2023, the property was sold back in 2017 (for a cool $50M) and they've only just now moved out. Soon it'll be torn down and made into condos or something. Yet another part of industry going away
Please do a video on the diagonal streets of Chicago. Ogden, Elston and Milwaukee ave all deserve their own videos, so a 3-parter is ideal. Ogden especially so because traces of it are almost completely gone. I actually drove across it in the early 90s and it was indeed treacherous both for it's failing infrastructure and the threat of crime. The Forgotten Chicago site has an excellent resource page devoted to it. It is a testament to the shortcomings of urban planning of the last century. Milwaukee and Elston also have stories intrinsically linked to transit history of the city. Great video.
I'm definitely one of the people that visited Goose Island without knowing it. About 10 or so years ago there was alot of demolition work being done there and I delivered materials to the demo workers.
it's been over ten years now , but do they still do the Scrap Metals Recycling along there ? ... like , east of Home Depot and north & east of the Cable TV office building
It is still completely industrialized. When my wife and went from starved Rock up to dusal harbor we needed gas to get back. Thinking the west marine would have a dock and there is an exon gas station. It didn't but did have a wall we could tie off to and climb up to transport gas to the boat.
Seems like a stretch to say only 1% of Chicagoans know about its existence. I've known about it for years. I visited once by myself and noticed it right away. It's also easily visible and labeled on Google maps.
Yeah that won’t be happening, that railroad (former Chicago Terminal Railroad) has had several parts on Goose Island paved over or torn up, and on the Lakewood Branch north of Goose Island, there have been buildings built right on top of where the railroad used to be (such as one on Webster Avenue).
My buddy Whitey and I went out to a place called Goose Island Brewing. It was one of the first microbreweries at the beginning of the great beer renaissance. Well we knocked back a few beers, and we were headed back to Oak Brook, where I lived at the time. We were crossing over Goose Island, and I had to take a whiz, so I pulled down an alley and behind and an abandoned warehouse. Next thing you know, the Chicago Police shows up. Now he’s a big old fat 250 pounder this guy. Next thing I know, the Chicago policeman had his pistol leveled on me! Well, like a true Chicagoan, I said, “Put that thing away before one of us gets hurt!”
