The RHS Facebook page is a rich archive of history-related posts by Carol Flynn, RHS Facebook admin and writer until mid-2025. Carol prolifically wrote a wide variety of meticulously researched local history articles for RHS. She continues to write for the Beverly Review and other media sources with articles particularly focused on local Ridge history.
2020
From the Ridge Historical Society: The Chicago Tribune has an article today about a charming historic building in Lincoln Park now destined for demolition. Every time this happens, we lose a little piece of history.
Many historic buildings in Beverly/Morgan Park fell to the wrecking ball over the years, but there is one example of "adaptive reuse" we can point to with pride – the saving of the Christian Science church and reading room on 103rd and Longwood Drive.
The Thirteenth Church of Christ, Scientist, was founded in Beverly in 1914. The congregation built an impressive neoclassical building in 1916. In 1940, the Reading Room was built on the corner just north of the church. Christian Science Reading Rooms are bookstores and quiet places for study and prayer.
The congregation dwindled with time, and by the late 1980s, the church was barely being used. A creative solution for repurposing the church was suggested: converting the interior into condo units. In 1992, the Bell Tower Loft Condominiums went on the market. The external façade of the building was preserved.
The congregation continued the Reading Room for over another decade, remodeling it to also use as a church. In 2006, the building was sold, and now there is a Starbucks coffee shop on site. The interior was remodeled but the exterior retains the original look.
This is the Tribune article about the building closing in Lincoln Park: https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/mary-schmich/ct-met-schmich-dairy-teardown-20200513-ay6x45og3bejlgme3zjeertmbu-story.html?fbclid=IwAR2MS9KYKEfjy0K6WtReXFgapl8iQy6bG0AGZzpA2ksMhhQMHqtBnd2QM_4
The attached pictures are of the church-turned-condos and the reading room-turned-coffee shop at 103rd and Longwood Drive.
From the Ridge Historical Society: The Chicago Tribune has an article today about a charming historic building in Lincoln Park now destined for demolition. Every time this happens, we lose a little piece of history.
Many historic buildings in Beverly/Morgan Park fell to the wrecking ball over the years, but there is one example of "adaptive reuse" we can point to with pride – the saving of the Christian Science church and reading room on 103rd and Longwood Drive.
The Thirteenth Church of Christ, Scientist, was founded in Beverly in 1914. The congregation built an impressive neoclassical building in 1916. In 1940, the Reading Room was built on the corner just north of the church. Christian Science Reading Rooms are bookstores and quiet places for study and prayer.
The congregation dwindled with time, and by the late 1980s, the church was barely being used. A creative solution for repurposing the church was suggested: converting the interior into condo units. In 1992, the Bell Tower Loft Condominiums went on the market. The external façade of the building was preserved.
The congregation continued the Reading Room for over another decade, remodeling it to also use as a church. In 2006, the building was sold, and now there is a Starbucks coffee shop on site. The interior was remodeled but the exterior retains the original look.
This is the Tribune article about the building closing in Lincoln Park: https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/mary-schmich/ct-met-schmich-dairy-teardown-20200513-ay6x45og3bejlgme3zjeertmbu-story.html?fbclid=IwAR2MS9KYKEfjy0K6WtReXFgapl8iQy6bG0AGZzpA2ksMhhQMHqtBnd2QM_4
The attached pictures are of the church-turned-condos and the reading room-turned-coffee shop at 103rd and Longwood Drive.
From the Ridge Historical Society
“All that I am, or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” —Abraham Lincoln
For thousands of years, societies have honored motherhood. The ancient Greeks and Romans paid homage to the mother goddess Cybele. In Rome, she was known as Magna Mater, the Great Mother.
In the United States, modern Mother’s Day actually has its origins in the pacifist movement and concern for Veterans.
Mother’s Day was founded to honor peace activist Ann Jarvis, by her daughter Anna. Jarvis cared for wounded soldiers on both sides during the Civil War. She created Mother’s Day Work Clubs to address public health needs. Her daughter wanted to continue the work her mother started and to honor mothers for all they do.
In 1908, the U.S. Congress rejected the proposal to officially establish Mother’s Day. The men joked they would have to create a “Mother-in-Law’s Day” also. But by 1911, all of the states had adopted the day, and in 1914, President Wilson proclaimed it a national holiday.
Anna Jarvis came to regret she ever came up with the idea when the holiday became excessively commercialized. Hallmark Cards began selling pre-made cards in the early 1920s, and this exploitation of the day for profit infuriated Jarvis. She wanted people to really think about their mothers, to honor their mothers with hand-written testimonials, not to resort to just buying gifts and pre-made cards. She wound up organizing boycotts of Mother’s Day, and was even arrested for disturbing the peace.
Now, the moral of this story is not to stop buying gifts for Mom! It is to sincerely and personally reflect upon her importance in your life, and to acknowledge this to her.
Today Mother's Day is one of the most recognized and celebrated days of the year. It not only honors the mothers of our families; it honors maternal bonds and the influence of mothers in society.
We're sharing some vintage postcards for Mother's Day. The symbol of the anchor is particularly interesting here, not something you often find on a card for a mother. But it is so appropriate – the anchor is a symbol of strength, stability, safety, security. These are certainly the traits associated with motherhood.
Happy Mother's Day!
One of the most beautiful magnolia trees on the Ridge is the one in Mount Greenwood Cemetery. It is right inside the gate by the historic chapel. The tree must be a good age to be this big. It's blooming now, even today with snow flurries!
This is taking us a little further afield than we usually go in a post from the Ridge Historical Society but it is very worth mentioning.
An article from National Geographic features the "Top 10 Ceilings Around the World" and one from Chicago is included – the beautiful Tiffany dome in the Chicago Cultural Center downtown. This spectacular building started as the Chicago Public Library in the late 1800s.
This picture of the dome is by Cathy Melloan, Alamy. The entire article can be found here.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/top-10/ceilings/?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=social::src=facebook::cmp=editorial::add=fb20200509travel-resurfceilings::rid=&sf233754361=1&fbclid=IwAR17H_JXC5jOT_rbLov4jDnI2JeL9MDXR7cRhEuIqAHIkE6lvkWwHoJ8nKc#/45614.jpg
We have some beautiful stained glass in Beverly and Morgan Park, also. One favorite piece is the Barker memorial window in the Morgan Park United Methodist Church at 110th and Longwood Drive.
England J. Barker was a prominent businessman who settled in Morgan Park with his family. His company, UARCO, manufactured business machines. This window was installed when the church was built in 1925. It is in remembrance of Barker's wife Matilda and son Harold. Photos by C. Flynn.
Viewers are welcomed to post pictures of other stained glass examples found on the Ridge.
Today the Ridge Historical Society looks at the history of the Mexican community on the Ridge – and those train whistles that can be heard all day and night from trains going into and out of our neighbor to the south, the City of Blue Island, with whom we share the Blue Island Ridge.
Cinco de Mayo, or May 5th, is an annual celebration of Mexican-American culture. The origin of the day is to commemorate the Mexican army’s victory over the French at a battle in 1862. The success of the smaller Mexican army was a morale booster for the Mexicans, even though eventually Mexico City fell to the invaders. With time, the day took on more significance in the U.S. than in Mexico to showcase the traditions and pride of Mexican immigrants. Cinco de Mayo should not be confused with Mexico’s Independence Day, September 16, which is more important in Mexico.
Historically, the Mexican community was not that prevalent in the early days of Beverly/Morgan Park, although it is well represented now. However, Mexicans played a vital role in the development of the City of Blue Island.
Blue Island first developed as a “river city” located on the Calumet River and Stony Creek, and of course the building of the Cal-Sag Channel was very important for commerce. With the coming of the railroads in the mid-1800s, Blue Island became a “railroad hub.”
Many ethnic groups worked on the U. S. railroads – the Chinese, European immigrants, African Americans. But it has long gone unrecognized that over 50% of the tracks in many areas of the country were laid by Mexican workers.
In the early 1900s, the railroad companies sent recruiters into Mexico to entice the people to come to the States to work for the railroads. The recruiters promised nice housing and a high standard of living. The reality for the families that came, however, was very different. They lived in boxcars on the railroad yards, with wooden bunks and no windows, in dangerous conditions, with no running water and no fuel for heat.
The first “railroad camp” in the Chicago area was established in Blue Island in 1917 to house the “traqueros,” or track and maintenance workers, who came here, often with their young families. This was set up around 123rd Street and Winchester Ave. The camp developed the reputation as one of the worst in the country.
With time, as with most immigrant groups, the Mexican workers moved into other jobs and established their own businesses and communities. It is a tribute to this hard-working group of people that they overcame not only the destitute conditions forced upon them but also extreme prejudice to flourish in the country that invited them to move here and became dependent upon them for both the railroad and agriculture industries.
In 1974, the Blue Island city council banned the painting of a mural at 13337 S. Western Ave that depicted the history of Mexican laborers. The city claimed it was against zoning laws for advertising signs. The U.S. District Court found in favor of the mural, stating it portrayed “an idea,” not an advertisement. The mural was completed.
Today, Blue Island’s population is about 50% Hispanic. With time, the mural faded, but it was repainted in 2016 as a community project, a vibrant reminder of the history of the Mexican community on the Ridge.
Yesterday, May 5, was National Teacher Appreciation Day, celebrated annually on the Tuesday of the first full week in May. The Ridge communities have had many, many fine teachers through the years. The Ridge Historical Society will share profiles of a few of them.
Let’s start with Elizabeth “Bessie” Bingle Huntington Sutherland, a very respected and forward-thinking leader in the education field.
Bessie was born in 1851 on the Ridge. Her parents, Samuel and Maria Robinson Huntington, were part of the earliest Ridge pioneer families. Samuel was a farmer and kept stock, then became involved with the railroads, and served as sheriff of the early settlement that would become the City of Blue Island. Maria was reputed to have been an early teacher in Blue Island, making $1.00 per week for her efforts.
Around 1854, a two-room school house was built in Blue Island, and it is probable that Bessie attended this school as a child. The Cook County Normal School was established in 1867. The name “normal school” was used for teacher preparation programs because they established teaching standards or “norms.” Bessie graduated from this school in 1869. This school eventually evolved into Chicago State University.
Bessie’s career as a teacher included the Blue Island school and the Hyde Park high school. She took graduate classes at the University of Chicago. The Washington Heights public school started in 1874, and Bessie became principal there in 1883, the first woman to be named a principal in Cook County. In 1893, this school was renamed the Alice L. Barnard School, after another Ridge native who had become the first woman principal of a Chicago school.
Bessie became a teacher during the “Progressive Era,” that time of significant reform in all areas of life. The field of education made great advances during this time, as the philosophy of learning changed from rote memorization to exploration and experimentation. Bessie surely knew two of the movement's leaders in Chicago, Francis W. Parker, who became head of the Cook County Normal School, and John Dewey, who established the University of Chicago Laboratory School.
An anecdote about Bessie illustrates the Progressive educator. While principal at the Barnard School, one day she heard that a camel had escaped from a traveling show and was freely roaming the local woods. She gathered the entire student body and led an impromptu field trip to the woods to observe the camel “in the wild” and share a lesson on animals of the world.
In those years, women teachers were not allowed to marry if they wished to remain employed. Bessie put off marriage to David Sutherland until her 43rd birthday in 1894. Sutherland, 17 years Bessie’s senior, was a real estate developer with considerable property on the south and west sides of Chicago. They made their home at 1638 West 103rd Street. The couple had no children, and David died in 1904.
Bessie served as the principal of Barnard School for almost 40 years. She resigned in 1923, and died in 1924. She was buried in Mt. Greenwood Cemetery. In 1925, the new school built at 101st and Leavitt Sts. was named in her honor.
Today the Ridge Historical Society looks at the history of the Mexican community on the Ridge – and those train whistles that can be heard all day and night from trains going into and out of our neighbor to the south, the City of Blue Island, with whom we share the Blue Island Ridge.
Cinco de Mayo, or May 5th, is an annual celebration of Mexican-American culture. The origin of the day is to commemorate the Mexican army’s victory over the French at a battle in 1862. The success of the smaller Mexican army was a morale booster for the Mexicans, even though eventually Mexico City fell to the invaders. With time, the day took on more significance in the U.S. than in Mexico to showcase the traditions and pride of Mexican immigrants. Cinco de Mayo should not be confused with Mexico’s Independence Day, September 16, which is more important in Mexico.
Historically, the Mexican community was not that prevalent in the early days of Beverly/Morgan Park, although it is well represented now. However, Mexicans played a vital role in the development of the City of Blue Island.
Blue Island first developed as a “river city” located on the Calumet River and Stony Creek, and of course the building of the Cal-Sag Channel was very important for commerce. With the coming of the railroads in the mid-1800s, Blue Island became a “railroad hub.”
Many ethnic groups worked on the U. S. railroads – the Chinese, European immigrants, African Americans. But it has long gone unrecognized that over 50% of the tracks in many areas of the country were laid by Mexican workers.
In the early 1900s, the railroad companies sent recruiters into Mexico to entice the people to come to the States to work for the railroads. The recruiters promised nice housing and a high standard of living. The reality for the families that came, however, was very different. They lived in boxcars on the railroad yards, with wooden bunks and no windows, in dangerous conditions, with no running water and no fuel for heat.
The first “railroad camp” in the Chicago area was established in Blue Island in 1917 to house the “traqueros,” or track and maintenance workers, who came here, often with their young families. This was set up around 123rd Street and Winchester Ave. The camp developed the reputation as one of the worst in the country.
With time, as with most immigrant groups, the Mexican workers moved into other jobs and established their own businesses and communities. It is a tribute to this hard-working group of people that they overcame not only the destitute conditions forced upon them but also extreme prejudice to flourish in the country that invited them to move here and became dependent upon them for both the railroad and agriculture industries.
In 1974, the Blue Island city council banned the painting of a mural at 13337 S. Western Ave that depicted the history of Mexican laborers. The city claimed it was against zoning laws for advertising signs. The U.S. District Court found in favor of the mural, stating it portrayed “an idea,” not an advertisement. The mural was completed.
Today, Blue Island’s population is about 50% Hispanic. With time, the mural faded, but it was repainted in 2016 as a community project, a vibrant reminder of the history of the Mexican community on the Ridge.
The Ridge Historical Society didn’t miss World Press Day. The United Nations declared May 3 to be World Press Freedom Day in 1991. The purpose is to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and to remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression.
Beverly and Morgan Park had numerous local newspapers and newsletters in the early years. This was long before computers and the Internet, even before radios and telephones and televisions, even before electricity. News spread by word of mouth or by print. There weren’t any other options.
The churches were a major source of news and some of the bulletins were akin to social newsletters. Some newspapers formed around political opinions and specific issues. It wasn’t unusual for a person who disagreed with a newspaper’s stance to start his own publication in opposition. Some papers dealt only with very specific issues, such as annexation of Morgan Park to the City of Chicago. Many of these papers were short-lived.
Some of the early papers included the Washington Heights Journal, Fernwood Journal, Morgan Park Standard, Morgan Park Reflector, Morgan Park Post, Morgan Park Gazette, Town Talk, The Review, Ridge Record, Bethany Union Reminder and several Blue Island newspapers that folded into the Suburban Star. The editor of the Morgan Park Reflector started his paper because he did not like the editor of the Morgan Park Standard.
The Beverly Review is the only paper that survived and can trace its roots back to the earliest days of Morgan Park. Three early papers merged to create today’s Beverly Review.
First, David Herriott, the Morgan Park postmaster, founded the Morgan Park Post in 1905. Second, The Review was founded as a church newsletter in 1906, and in 1915, Harry Earnest Stroup turned it into a weekly community newspaper. Third, Town Talk was a little newspaper that had several lives, and in 1913 it was revived by David Oberg who was assistant postmaster under Herriott.
By 1917, Herriott was ready to get out of the newspaper business, and he sold the Post to the Review, and Oberg did likewise with Town Talk. The paper changed its name to the Beverly Review sometime before 1937.
So the Beverly Review goes back to 1905. The Ridge communities have had this newspaper for 115 years. It is truly historic – indeed, amazing – to have a local community newspaper survive this long.
Here are some mastheads from the early newspapers, from the RHS collection. The one for the Ridge Record is charming – we liked it so much we used it for the RHS newsletter for a while.
Old street names in Beverly/Morgan Park: A question came into the Ridge Historical Society. In a photo from the 1920s, an Irving Street was mentioned. Where was this?
Answer: Irving was the original name of Bell Avenue in Beverly. Many of the streets in Beverly and Morgan Park had different names before the communities annexed to the City of Chicago. Bell is a good example. In Beverly it was known as Irving and in Morgan Park it was known as Crescent.
If you look closely, you can still find the old street names stamped into some of the sidewalks. These pictures from past RHS newsletters show two examples. The corner of 107th Place and Bell Avenue has a stamp for Crescent Ave. (Bell) and Remington Ave. (the previous name for 107th Place).
Another stamp is at 108th and Drew Street, for Groveland Court, the pre-annexation name for Drew.
103rd Street was previously known as Tracy Ave., and indeed, the entire area around 103rd and Longwood was known as Tracy before the name Beverly caught on. The train station at 103rd Street was the Tracy stop and there was a famous Tracy Hall right by the tracks, but alas, that is gone now.