NAB

The North Avenue Baths building in the Wicker Park neighborhood dates back to the 1920s when, apparently, public baths and steam rooms were the place for big shots to do their wheeling and dealing. The building now houses a seafood-focused restaurant, where, surely, some wheeling and dealing occurs over business dinners. The monogrammed terracotta facade remains as a reminder of its origins.

The NAB monogram for
the North Avenue Baths

More detail of the North Avenue Baths building facade

Looking straight up the building

Hubbard Street Murals

One of the Hubbard Street Murals in Chicago.

Fancy Trimmings

I like older buildings. There's always some fancy trimming, to give it some personality, that you don't see on the new sleek glass and steel structures. And sometimes they have names, too. Someone was so confident that the business was going to be there forever that he/she had the name permanently applied to the building.

This building is in the West Town neighborhood. I couldn't find anything about this particular business using my old standby Google. I did find some sort of archive-type document that made several references to Chicago and also stated that "Mr. M. Houlberg, who is a painter by profession, was elected president" of the Dania Society (which seems to be a Danish fellowship organization) in December, 1900. Perhaps the two were the same.

It is also interesting (possibly ironic, though the correct usage of that word has confused me since the Alanis Morissette song) that the current business in this building is a salon of sorts. So M. Houlberg was right: the building is still in the painting and decorating business.

Leaf Prints

Even when the leaves blow away, they leave a reminder. I'd not noticed this before!

A Hint of What's Coming

While I am glad this is not snow, it is something related: road salt.

A huge pile of road salt.

This one, in the East Side neighborhood, is probably one of many stashes around the city (Chicago does stockpile and can be a little selfish about its road salt). I'm glad we're prepared but I hope we don't need to use all of it!

Chicago Fire Memorial

The corner of DeKoven and Jefferson, in the Near West Side Neighborhood, is the legendary site of the start of the Chicago Fire of 1871. The Chicago Fire Department Training Academy stands there, now, as well as a monument entitled Pillar of Fire.

The sculpture was designed by Egon Weiner, an artist and former professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and completed in 1961. It was designated a Chicago Landmark in 1971.

Logan Square Firefighter's Memorial

Logan Square has a small Firefighter's Memorial Park at the intersection of Diversey, Milwaukee, and Kimball. (Milwaukee is one of a few angle streets in Chicago that create six corner intersections where they cut through the "normal" grid pattern of streets.) It is dedicated to three firemen who were killed battling a fire in February, 1985. The centerpiece of the park is a large, colorful mural depicting three firefighters as angels.