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It's Not What You Think

One Book, One Chicago - The Adventures of Augie March - Interactive Map

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Armour Tech

33rd Street and Armour Avenue (now Federal Street)

"To raise the money for his [Sylvester's] fees at Armour Tech, where he was trying to finish his work for an engineer's degree..." (p. 43)

The Armour Institute of Technology was founded in 1892 by P.D. Armour and established to provide training in technical and engineering skills for lower-income students. In 1940, Armour Tech merged with Lewis Institute to create Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT).

Black Belt

From 22nd to 31st streets along State Street

“…the students were children of immigrants from all parts, coming up from Hell’s Kitchen, Little Sicily, the Black Belt, the mass of Polonia, the Jewish streets of Humboldt Park…” (p. 135)

This common term described Chicago’s predominately African American community in a string of neighborhoods on the South Side of the city.

Bridewell [later renamed Chicago House of Corrections]

26th Street and California Avenue

“…(to be on newspaper trucks was as sure a stage in their advancement to hoodlums as a hitch in Bridewell or joy-riding in stolen cars)…” (p. 27)

An old English word for “jail,” it housed inmates arrested for petty crimes. It was originally built in 1852 at Polk and Wells streets, near what was then the city’s vice district. In 1871 the Bridewell was moved to a new larger building at 26th and California and renamed the Chicago House of Corrections.

Carson Pirie’s

Corner of State Street and Madison Street

 “I went to Carson’s on Wabash Avenue, the book section on the ground floor, warm and busy with a late crowd of shoppers under the Christmas bells and silver ivies.” (p. 289)

This leading department store, later Carson Pirie Scott & Co., was founded by Samuel Carson and John T. Pirie. Robert Scott entered as a partner in 1890. The building at State and Madison was designed by Louis Sullivan.

City Hall

Bordered by Randolph Street, LaSalle Street, Washington Blvd. and Clark Street

 “He’d [Einhorn] send her [Tillie] to City Hall with requests for information from the Recorder’s Office or the License Bureau; he wrote notes, because she could never explain what he wanted, and she brought back the information written out by a clerk.” (p. 78)

Completed in 1911, City Hall is located on a city block bordered by Randolph, LaSalle, Washington and Clark streets. City Hall houses the mayor’s office, as well as several other city departments.

Cook County Hospital

1835 W. Harrison Street

 “The son, Kotzie, worked evenings in the corner drugstore and went to school in the neighborhood of County Hospital, and it was he who told Grandma about the free dispensary. Or rather, the old woman sent for him to find out what one could get from those state and county places.” (p. 4)

The county hospital opened in 1866 and was a center for medical education, though rife with political corruption. A new hospital opened in 1916 and mostly served the poor and destitute of the city. The original building closed in 2002 with the opening of the John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County.

Cort Theatre

126 N. Dearborn Street

"...Big Bill Thompson...hired the Cort Theatre ...and presented himself on the stage with two caged giant rats from the stockyards whom he addressed by the names of Republican renegades..." (p. 69)

The Cort was managed by J.E. Pridmore, and opened in October 1909 with the operetta, “The Kissing Girl.”

Crane College

1900 W. Van Buren Street

“I knew this Ruber from Crane College, where he had run a baseball pool at the Enark Café…” (p. 168)

An extension of Crane Technical High School, Chicago’s first public junior college was established in 1911. Its founding was the start of the City Colleges of Chicago, and it now houses Malcolm X College.

Economy Book Store

36 S. Clark Street

 “Two volumes of Nietzsche’s ‘Will to Power’ I had a hell of a time swiping, for they were in a closed case at the Economy Book Store…” (p. 223)

Garfield Park Conservatory

300 N. Central Park Avenue

 “I now began to spend full time with Georgie, in the last month, pulling him around on the sled, walking him in the park, and taking him to the Garfield Park conservatory to see the lemons bloom.” (p. 59)

One of the nation’s largest conservatories was completed in 1907 under the direction of landscape architect Jens Jensen.

Haymarket

722 W. Madison Street

"Afterward, pie a la mode and coffee at the south end of the Loop, followed by a burlesque show at the Haymarket or Rialto..." (p. 22)

The Haymarket opened in 1889 with a performance of Richard III. Managed by Will J. Davis, it later became a vaudeville house and seated 2,475 people, closing in 1949.

Humboldt Park

1400 N. Sacramento Avenue

 “My parents taking a walk by the Humboldt Park lagoon the day I was conceived. Flowery springtime.” (p. 535)

A sprawling park located on the city’s Northwest Side, designed with lagoons, a rose garden and pavilion, Humboldt Park was transformed from a soggy marsh into an urban retreat in the late 1800s.

Jackson Park

57th Street at Lake Michigan

“I had a queer ten minutes with Mrs. Karas, in a bakery near Jackson Park where I came in with a Greek girl she assumed to be my wife…” (p. 110)

Home of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, Jackson Park is located south of 57th Street by Lake Michigan on Chicago’s South Side.

LaSalle Street Station

Corner of LaSalle and Van Buren streets

"[Simon] was shifted from the trains to a stand in the La Salle Street Station...just where the most rushing and significant business was done, in the main path of travel." (p. 35)

Built in 1902, LaSalle Street Station was a major intercity train terminal.

Marshall Field’s

Corner of State and Washington streets

 “…men’s shoes at Carson Pirie’s, candy or rugs at Marshall Field’s. It never entered my mind to branch out and steal other stuff as well.” (p. 210)

The retail store on State and Washington streets opened in 1907 and was considered one of the largest retail establishments in the world.

McVicker’s

25 W. Madison Street

"'Not just a neighborhood movie, but to McVicker's, a stage show with little girls, trained animals, and a Frenchman from the Bal Tabarin who stands on his head on a pop bottle..." (p. 130)

This prominent movie theater opened in 1857. It was rebuilt and remodeled several times due to fire. After the last fire in 1890, J.H. McVicker opened the final location on March 31, 1891.

Medinah Athletic Club

505 N. Michigan Avenue

 “The circuit I was in, at the Glass Derby and Chez Paree and the dances at Medinah Club, kept me very busy. Here what had to be established was whether I was qualified in pocket to mix with the sons of established fathers.” (p. 266)

A luxurious clubhouse for members of the Chicago Shriners included lounges, dining rooms, Turkish baths, bowling alleys and a ballroom.

Montrose Cemetery

5400 N. Pulaski Road

 “He [Renling] was a fight fan and took me to the matches now and then, at a ring near the Montrose Cemetery.” (p. 143)

The cemetery was founded in 1902.

O’Banion’s florist shop

738 N. State Steet

 “…that being about the time when O’Bannion [sic] was knocked off among his flowers by somebody who kept his gun-hand in a friendly grip…” (p. 22)

Palmer House

17 E. Monroe Street

 “We drove to the Palmer House and went below into the big radiance of the barbershop.” (p. 243)

A luxurious downtown hotel built and owned by Potter Palmer, the first two buildings of the Palmer House were destroyed by fire, but in 1875 a seven-story, $13 million dollar hotel opened and stood until 1925 when it was replaced with the current 25-story structure.

Reynolds Club

5706 S. University Avenue

 “…he [Clem] played poker in the law-school basement and pool at the Reynold’s Club and went to a handbook on Fifty-third Street to bet on horses.” (p. 221)

Rialto

State Street, between Jackson and Van Buren streets

"Afterward, pie a la mode and coffee at the south end of the Loop, followed by a burlesque show at the Haymarket or Rialto..." (p. 22)

This theater for films and vaudeville opened in 1917. Seating 1,500, it would later house burlesque shows under the name Loop End Theater, and was demolished in 1953.

Riverview Park

Corner of Belmont and Western avenues

"...the high rides in Riverview..." (p. 87)

Chicago’s largest amusement park opened in 1904. Riverview had the world’s first suspended roller coaster and closed in 1967.

Washington Park

5531 S. Martin Luther King Drive

 “Out of Washington Park we turned on Sixtieth Street, and, sure enough, there was the university, looking strange but restful in its Indian summer rustle of ivy.” (p. 103)

This 372-acre park located between 51st and 60th streets was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux. The designs were destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, but Horace W.S. Cleveland and Daniel Burnham completed the park as best they could according to the original design.