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Here's an interesting RPPC (Real Picture Post Card) from Morgan Park I found on Ebay recently.

The picture is wonderful: The card is labelled "Episcopal Church, Armida Ave." This is a very early photograph of the Church of the Mediator, which stands on its own little island of land at 10961 S. Hoyne Ave. (if you remember last week's post, Hoyne was originally called Armida Ave., based on an Italian Renaissance poem). The church is surrounded by rural countryside and dirt roads, and a horse and buggy stands waiting in the road.

The back of the card is postmarked Morgan Park, Aug. 22, 1907, 12:30 p.m. (Morgan Park was still its own Village then – it would not annex to Chicago for another seven years), and bears a one cent stamp. It is addressed to a woman in Bucklin, Kansas.

The sender wrote this on the front of the card: "This is only one of the churches here and a small one at that. I am having a fine time here but had a better time in Bucklin. Will go home in a week. Well it's bedtime now." It is signed Marguerite Gantt.

WHAT?? She had a better time in Kansas than in Morgan Park?? I wonder if she would still say that today!

But this card does remind us that Morgan Park was intentionally founded as a religious, education and temperance community. It was carefully designed and laid out to resemble an English country village. This little church was keeping with that motif.

The Church of the Mediator (in a newer building that replaced this early church) closed its doors for good in 2009 due to a declining congregation. The building sits empty and for sale. One big problem is the lack of parking, but you can see that at the time this picture was taken, car parking would never have been dreamed of yet.

And a side note, one of the people involved in the building of this church was Robert C. Givins, who built the Castle at 103rd and Longwood Drive. Givins' father was an Anglican minister in Canada. The Anglican Church is the Church of England, headed by the current King or Queen. In the USA, it is the Episcopal Church, organized after the American Revolution.

– Carol Flynn, RHS Communications. #RidgeHistoricalSociety

Looks like I can share more today. The fire station at 110th and Homewood was mentioned. That is the fire station location for Morgan Park, and my great-grandparents lived right on that block.

I am sharing some early pictures (from the Ridge Historical Society archives) of the Morgan Park fire department, when Morgan Park was its own village and not annexed to Chicago yet. Most of these local fire departments started as volunteers, on a shoe-string budget.

One of my favorite stories for the early MP fire brigade was that when they got a call, they borrowed the horses from the dairy barn down the street to pull the fire wagon. The only problem was that the horses knew the milk delivery route and stopped at every house along the way that usually got milk. It took forever to get to the fire. The Village of MP had to get the fire department its own horses.

The last picture is of the first fire house built there when MP annexed to the city, and the caption I wrote for the RHS newsletter. Many of the small towns around the city annexed so that they could get better services such as fire, police, schools, water, lighting, paving.

– Carol Flynn, RHS Communications #ridgehistoricalsociety

Since we are experiencing a "weather event" due to a "fractured polar vortex" today (translation: it's snowing out), this seems like a good time to share some history. So everyone grab your coffee or hot chocolate and gather round.

A day or two ago, on the Facebook page Forgotten Chicago, a post was made about the Optimo Hat shop which is downtown in the Monadnock Building. I started a post on that and this is a continuation of that.

Now, everyone knows that Optimo Hats was a successful shop here in Beverly on Western Ave. for many years, owned and operated by Graham Thompson. You can read all about the business on its website. When it was decided to move the shop downtown, we were all very happy about the store's success, but sorry to see it leave Beverly. But Graham did not abandon Beverly – in fact, he did a really wonderful thing. He took over an old, historic fire station and set up his hat-making operations there. This is the story of that fire station, known as Chicago Fire Department (CFD) Engine Co. 121.

Beverly Hills, as this section of the community eventually became known, annexed to the City of Chicago in 1890. Prior to annexation, the area was served by the volunteer fire department of Washington Heights. With annexation, the volunteers were incorporated into the CFD and a fire station was built at 104th St. and Vincennes Ave. in 1890-91 (picture 1 from the Ridge Historical Society archives). [Ed. note: There is still the fire station at 10400 S. Vincennes – CFD Truck 24. The original frame structure is long gone, replaced by a brick facility.]

Then in 1912, the city purchased the corner lot at 1700 W. 95th St. to build a new fire station in the ever-growing community. Engine Co. 121 was organized on March 1, 1915, the first CFD company with motor equipment. Total manpower was eight men. In 1940, the firehouse was enlarged and in 1941, Truck Co. 40 was reorganized to that location.

The original station was used for over nine decades and still stands, a local landmark. In 2008, right next door to the old firehouse, a new station was built. Photo 2 (by C. Flynn) shows the old and new stations together. The old station, in the foreground, is the one now being used for hat production.

The original 1915 firehouse, standing alongside the modern facility, offers a unique history lesson – the opportunity to contrast “then” and “now.”

There is even a collectible for Engine Co. 121. Code 3 Collectibles has a 1:64 scale die cast Luverne pumper Engine 121 released in 1999 as part of its “Fire and Rescue” line. Sold out by the company, the models can be found on eBay and other outlets.

– Carol Flynn, RHS Communications #ridgehistoricalsociety

This is a good article about the hat production facility.

https://chicago.curbed.com/2018/5/1/17306880/optimo-hatmaker-som-beverly-firestation

Real photo post cards (RPPCs) were the rage at the turn of the 20th century, around 1900. Itinerant photographers roamed the cities and country sides taking pictures of everything from houses to natural disasters. The postcards were sold as souvenirs. Today. these images are often referred to as "folk photography" and RPPCs offer a valuable visual documentation of history.

There are loads of RPPCs for the Beverly, Morgan Park and Blue Island area. You could go broke trying to collect them all so I save electronic images when I come across them. Here is one I found recently.

It is of a block of houses, and what makes it interesting is the location: Fairfax Ave. west of Armida Ave., Morgan Park.

Well, we don't have a Fairfax or an Armida. So where was this?

When Morgan Park was first planned and laid out, prominent citizen Colonel George R. Clark named some of the streets based on an epic morality poem called Jerusalem Delivered, published in 1581 and popular reading in the Victorian times. Armida was a character in the poem and Edward Fairfax was the most popular translator of the poem from the original Italian to English.

With annexation to Chicago in 1914, most of the old names had to be changed. Armida became Hoyne Ave. and Faifax became 110th Street. So this is looking west on 110th Street from Hoyne Avenue, ca. 1900.

Posted by Carol Flynn, RHS Communications #ridgehistoricalsociety

A New Year brings new ideas and enthusiasm for celebrating the rich history of the Beverly Hills, Morgan Park, Washington Heights, and Mt. Greenwood neighborhoods on the far southwest side of Chicago. With this post, the Ridge Historical Society will be starting new features to reach out for stories, questions, and pictures. This is your community, this is your history, this is your society! We hope you will like and share this page and these posts so we can reach as many people as possible.

The area is known for its outstanding and diverse architecture. We have everything from Queen Anne to Prairie style, from Art Moderne to Chicago bungalows. To drive, walk or bike around the neighborhood is to constantly delight in the scenery. We even have our own castle!

But the outsides of the houses are just one aspect. Inside the houses are delightful and charming features we rarely get to see. Last week, I was in a house that boasted a graceful, romantic original stained glass window as well as an original chandelier. Here is a picture. So often features like these have been removed with renovation and it is wonderful to find them preserved.

I invite you to share pictures of original features in your house or others you have seen. As most of these are private residences, we won't reveal addresses. I know we'll all enjoy these pictures.

Published by Carol Flynn – RHS Communications.

Planting Day at Ridge Historical Society

Join fellow gardeners for some fun in the sun and help beautify the grounds by planting and mulching at the Ridge Historical Society, located in historic Graver-Driscoll House, 10621 S. Seeley, Sat., Jun. 23, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Drinks will be provided. Volunteers should bring gardening gloves. Rakes, pitchforks, shovels and tools will be available. Volunteers are welcome to bring extra tools. Info and sign-up ridgehistory@hotmail.com or 773-881-1675. Rain date: June 24.

Another year in the Memorial Day Parade. What great fun!

A big thank you to County Fair for the donation of a beautiful floral hanging basket

We are now accepting donations for our garage sale Sept 28, 29 and 30. Call to see when someone will be there to accept the donations.

The Spring Tea held April 29. It looks like a great time was had by all.