Table of Contents
Acknowledgements 11
Foreword Alderman Michelle Smith 13
Lincoln Park Has Been Home to Saints, Sinners, Geniuses, Agitators-and Everything in Between 15
How Local Altar Boy Johnny Weissmuller Scaled Olympian Heights to Become Lord of the Jungle 21
When Al Capone Was "Scared Enough to Send the Very Best" (with Apologies to Hallmark Cards) 25
The Old Neighborhood Always Had Stuff That Goes Bump in the Night-Maybe It Still Does! 29
After Lots of Skullduggery, Comedian Del Close Got the Last Laugh on the World After All 35
Joe E. Lewis Wasn't Playing for Laughs the Night He Stood Up to the Mob-and Lived to Talk About It 37
Brewster Apartment Building Proved Ill-Starred from the Start for Almost Everyone Involved 41
Before Tony Lincoln Park Got That Way, Indians, Escaped Slaves, Even Kashubians Found a Home 45
But Not Everyone Was Pleased When Lincoln Park Started Getting Too "Trencher Than Thou" 51
Elegant Crilly Court Was Home to Budding Society Ladies-and More Than a Few Ladies of the Evening 57
Nearly Forgotten Machinery Mover, Bookseller, Made This Local Land of Oz Gome to Life 61
Old Town-Now a State of Mind-Survived the Fire, 1960s Hippies, Changing Demographics 63
Glass Clashes Began as Soon as the First Immigrant Groups Started Settling into the "Norte Seid" 65
German "Forty-Eighters" Battled for Freedom in the Fatherland-and Beer Here on Sunday 67
Neighbors Dropped "Neutrality in Thought and Deed" Well before President Wilson Was Ready for It 71
Radicals of All Sorts Usually Found Ready Audience as Europe's Troubles Found Their Way over Here 75
Back in 1968, Everyone Got Pulled into a Faraway War That Came Home to Chicago's Front Yard 79
Neighborhood Got Name from City's Biggest Park Where Everyone, Including T.R., Came for a Walk 83
Skittish Horse Got Rough Justice after Throwing Mob Boss "Nails" Morton along Riding Path 85
Chicago's Cycling Craze Started at Least a Century before Today's Bike-Friendly City Hall 89
But Most Just Wanted to Go Ape over Bushman, Follow as Judy the Elephant Walked to Her Cage 93
New Uses Continue to Be Found for Old "Fresh Air Sanitarium," USO Site along Lakefront 97
After More Than a Century; Bodies Still Keep Turning Up in LP's Supposedly Empty Graveyard 101
Old Viking Ship Gone, but Not Forgotten, as Fans Continue Their Long Search for Its New Home 105
But a Copy of the World's First "Pleasure Wheel" Is Still Making Its Rounds Nearby at Navy Pier 109
Long before the Yuppies, Clark and Diversey Area Was Home to Union Recruits, Confederate POWs 113
How Dwight L. Moody Went from Selling Soles to Saving Souls-Some Say He's Still Doing It 115
Chicago Can Thank a One-time Confederate Ferryboat Crewman for Lincoln Treasures 119
Standing Lincoln Statue Had a Startling Start but Still Ranked among America's Best Statues 123
Was It Environnientalism or "Elitism" That Left Lincoln Park Gun Club Dead in the Water? 127
Founder of Pioneer Chicago Museum Wasn't Anyone's Typical Desk-bound Paper Shuffler 131
Goddess Worship, Witchcraft, "Flirty Fishing," Vegetarian Feasts: Pick Your Path to Nirvana 135
Elks Founder's Fight for Reinstatement. Recognition Took Decades after His Death 139
U.S.-Born Irish President, Controversial Romanian Queen Had Very Different Visits on Webster Avenue 143
1969 Murders of Activist Pastor and His Wife Remain Unsolved after All These Years 145
"Outsider" Artist Henry Darger's Talent Known to Only a Few During His Lifetime 149
For Many Hoops Fans, Ray Meyer Wasn't Just Another Basketball Coach-He Was the Coach 151
Widowed Chilean First Lady Blamed CIA Coup for Death of Her Husband, "Reign of Terror" 155
Children's Hospital Wraps Up 131 Years Here to Begin Whole New Chapter of Public Service 159
Even "Uncle Win" Never Expected to See the Old Town School Someday Get This Big 161
Cops Still Haven't Been Able to Disarm Chicago Aldermen Despite All the Talk about Gun Control 165
At Least Two Near North Political Careers Began with a Bang, Ended Because of "Woman Factor" 169
IWW Had Scant Success Promoting "One Big Union" but Claims Several Lasting Victories 173
How an "Old Red" Found New Sense of Purpose Promoting "New Patriotism" at Liberty Hall 179
Remember the Webster. Wright wood, Buena El Stops? There Was a Lot More Service Then 183
1934 Deering Plant Blaze Almost Picked Up Where the Great Chicago Fire Left Off 185
1901 Car Barn Fire Left Hundreds Out in the Cold 187
Bibliography 189
About the Author 191
