The January Issue Of Chicago Magazine

The January issue of Chicago Magazine is out, and once again this month has a lot of interesting articles. The main feature is about the reasons we still love Chicago, which was pretty fun to read, and in addition to places and things I am very familiar with from back when I lived there, such as Western Avenue businesses in the Beverly neighborhood, and biking along the lakefront, it includes places I am not familiar with, and want to see the next time I visit. Most interesting to me, however, was an article about the South Side Pullman neighborhood - bounded by 103rd and 115th Streets, Cottage Grove Avenue, and the Bishop Ford Freeway -  becoming a national monument.

This neighborhood was built by George Pullman back in the late 1800s as a company town, housing workers near the site of his Pullman railcar factory. I occasionally used to visit this area to take photographs, and when passing by on the IC train heading downtown, would see the Florence Hotel, built by Pullman for salesmen and others having business with the company. I will always remember the big sign out front advertising nickel beer. God knows, those days are long gone. I took the photograph on the right of that hotel back in 1972, when it was still a hotel with a bar and restaurant on the first floor, proudly advertising Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, today a hipster favorite. And for God's sake, why is that? But I digress - the Florence, along with a number of other historic structures, are now part of that historic monument.  Be sure to visit the next time you are in Chicago. And if you can't do that, at least pick up a copy of this month's Chicago Magazine. Available at newsstands everywhere, I am sure.