St. Stephen King of Hungary Catholic Church, Chicago
Szt. István beaming down beatifically at the building, a rare Hungarian-language Chicago church, and an unusual Protestant-to-Catholic church conversion.
Illinois
Chicago Metropolitan Mutual Assurance Co. and the Parkway Ballroom
The rise of Black insurers like the Chicago Metropolitan Mutual Assurance Company embodied “making a way out of no way”. Having made their way, CMMAC opened their new Bronzeville headquarters here in 1940, with a unique asset for the community on the second floor–the Parkway Ballroom.
A Few Business House of Apple River, Illinois
Pretty shocked that some of these buildings were 1) still standing, and 2) that I could find them...but there are only so many buildings in a town of 366.
Zymotechnic Institute and Siebel's Brewing Academy, Chicago
Postcards as an unreliable depiction of an idealized past, an old-timey archaic science, and a plucky Chicago survivor that’s housed a wild variety of tenants–this is a fun one.
Math Igler's Casino, Chicago
Once the heart of Chicago’s Nord Seite, Lakeview was crowded with German joints like Math Igler’s Casino. Not that kind of casino, though–Igler’s was sauerbraten and singing waiters rather than slots.