Postcard Past / Present Photo

Merged image with the ~1908 postcard, 2020 photo, and 2024 photo looking east on Ashland

Dec 9, 2024 Chicago Illinois

Zion Lutheran Church / St. Stephenson MB Church, Chicago

Immigrant flows, urban renewal, white flight, religious transition, jazz, schisms, CHA failures, demolition by neglect, dithering billionaires, sportswashing, promises made and promises broken.

Merged image of the present-day photo and postcard

Nov 27, 2024 Chicago Illinois

St. Columbkille, Chicago

If you’ve ever thought the intersection of Grand and Paulina felt a little off…it’s because there’s a whole church missing.

Merged image of the 2024 photo of the monastery with the 1940s postcard

Nov 20, 2024 Portland Oregon

Monastery, Sanctuary of our Sorrowful Mother, Portland, Oregon

Kind of an urban American cousin to the remote monasteries at Meteora and Mount Athos.

Merged image of the 1940s postcard with a 2024 photo

Nov 18, 2024 Quad Cities Iowa From the archive

Municipal Stadium, Davenport, Iowa

Davenport, Iowa is home to one of the prettiest ballparks in the country, the Quad Cities River Bandits’ Modern Woodmen Park wedged between a rail line and the Mississippi River with a bridge looming over right field. Not that you’d necessarily know it from this postcard.

Merged image of the 1942 linen postcard and the 2024 photo

Nov 12, 2024 Chicago Illinois

Lawson YMCA, Chicago

Once the crown jewel of the Chicago YMCA system, a landmark of gay life in the city, and an SRO that provided flexible housing for decades, today the Lawson House is an encouraging story of architectural and (more importantly) affordable housing preservation.