History in Bridgeport

Richard J. Daley served as mayor of the city of Chicago for 21 years, the second longest tenure of Chicago mayors behind only his son, Richard M. Daley.  Born and raised in Chicago, "Da Mare" lived at 3536 South Lowe Avenue with his wife, Elanore "Sis" Daley since 1936.  Historian Michael Beschloss called him the "pre-eminent mayor of the 20th century," and Chicago journalist Elizabeth Taylor said "because of Mayor Daley, Chicago did not become a Detroit or Cleveland."

The illinois and michigan canal was a manmade waterway built to connect the illinois river with lake michigan.  The south channel of the canal was completed in 1836, while the north channel was completed 10 years later.  The canal was crucial in establishing chicago as the nation's central transportation hub in the mid-19th century.  It made boat transportation possible from the great lakes to the mississippi river to the gulf of mexico.  It closed 1933.  In the 1950s, the construction of the stevenson expressway destroyed most of the canal inside city limits.  This is the location of the mout of the original canal and was designated as a landmark on may 9, 1996.

This 1950s lesbian bar was owned an operated by trumpeter Ernestine "Tiny" Davis and her partner, drumer Ruby Lucas at 2711 South Wentworth Avenue.  It was torn down to make way for the Dan Ryan expressway.