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Chicago's South Water Street market, Illinois
Traction System railway, U-505 submarine, Elgin's Read Building featured in
latest Historic Illinois
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[JUNE 18, 2005]
SPRINGFIELD --
Chicago's South Water Street produce market, the Illinois Traction System
railway, the move of the U-505 submarine to indoor quarters at Chicago's Museum
of Science and Industry, and Elgin's Read Building are featured in the latest
issue of Historic Illinois, a publication of the Illinois Historic Preservation
Agency.
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The cover article features Chicago's
South Water Street produce market, which gained national renown for
its bustling, hectic, frantic atmosphere. Vendors from the
storefronts that lined several city blocks adjacent to the Chicago
River in the early 1900s hawked everything from exotic fruits to
wild game. The traffic gridlock near the market eventually proved
horrendous, and a solution was proposed by architect Daniel Burnham
in his 1909 Chicago Plan: Move the market from the central business
district and construct a new double-decker boulevard there instead.
After years of wrangling by skeptical
merchants, the market moved to the city's west side in 1925, and
what is now Upper and Lower Wacker Drive was constructed in its
place. An enormous new market complex was built closer to rail lines
about two miles from Chicago's Loop, and wider streets,
refrigeration units, and telephone and telegraph equipment meant the
market had all of the latest technology and transportation
resources. The six huge market warehouses now stand empty, victims
of changes in the food distribution industry.
The article was written by Cynthia
Fuener, publications editor with the Illinois Historic Preservation
Agency.
* * *
The electric-powered Illinois
Traction System is the subject of another article. The Midwest's
largest interurban electric railway, the Illinois Traction System
stretched from Peoria to St. Louis, Decatur to Bloomington, and
Springfield to Danville.
The first rails were laid in 1903
west from Danville, and most of the article and photographs deal
with the Vermilion County section of the railway.
The system served effectively for
five decades before automobile travel caused the demise of many
passenger railroads.
The article was written by Keith
Sculle, head of research and education for the Illinois Historic
Preservation Agency.
* * *
The slow-motion, 1,000-foot move of
the U-505 submarine from its old outdoor location to new indoor
quarters at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry is covered in
another article. The World War II German submarine became part of
the museum's permanent collection in 1954 and was docked outside the
building for nearly 50 years. However, exposure to the elements had
taken its toll, and museum officials began construction of an indoor
exhibit area in 2003 to better protect the only submarine listed as
a National Historic Landmark.
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Once the new facility was completed,
the process of moving the 700-ton, 252-foot submarine from the
southeast to the northeast side of the museum began. Over several
days 18 self-powered dollies, guided by remote control, moved the
sub one inch per minute for more than 1,000 feet, including a few
90-degree turns. The sub was then lowered, four inches at a time,
into its new home -- an underground exhibit space 75 feet wide, 300
feet long and 42 feet deep. The new climate-controlled exhibit area
features interactive displays, nearly 200 artifacts and exciting
testimonials from U.S. sailors who captured the U-505 during World
War II.
* * *
The Read Building on the grounds of
the Elgin Mental Health Center was demolished in the late 1990s, but
its memory remains in the files of the Illinois Historic American
Buildings/Historic American Engineering Record.
The Northern Illinois Hospital and
Asylum for the Insane in Elgin was built following an 1869 mandate
from the Illinois General Assembly to create mental health
facilities in the state. The 50,000-square-foot Read Building was
built along with six other buildings in 1935 after the facility's
population skyrocketed during the Great Depression. The building was
named after Charles Read, hospital superintendent in 1930-1946, and
constructed in the Moderne style with Colonial Revival
ornamentation.
State hospital populations plummeted
in the late 20th century due to advances in mental health care and a
focus on community treatment options. The Read Building was deemed
obsolete and torn down, but not before a detailed permanent record
of its existence was created for the Illinois HABS/HAER collection.
The article was written by Andrew
Heckenkamp of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.
Historic Illinois is a bimonthly
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency publication that features
historically significant sites in Illinois. Subscriptions are $10
per year, which includes six issues of Historic Illinois and one
full-color Historic Illinois Calendar. For more information, call
(217) 524-6045, visit
www.Illinois-History.gov, or write to Historic Illinois,
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 1 Old State Capitol Plaza,
Springfield, IL 62701-1507.
[Illinois
Historic Preservation Agency news release]
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