History in Near West Side

Founded in 1890, Crane High School was originally an all-male school academic institution at 12th Street and Michigan Avenue.  Back then it was known as English High Manual and Training School.  In 1903, the school moved to 2245 West Jackson Boulevard and shared its building with Crane College from 1911 to 1969.  Chicago Bears founder George S. Halas was an alumnus.  Since becoming a charter member of the Chicago Public League in 1913, the school has won 11 city titles in boys basketball.  Unsurprisingly, a number of professional basketball players have come from Crane, including former NBA players Ken Norman, Andre Wakefield, and Cory Blackwell, and current players Tony Allen and Will Bynum.  NCAA basketball players who attended Crane include Sherron Collins, who played at the University of Kansas, and Joe Reiff, a three-time All-American at Northwestern.

The Haymarket Theater opened for business in December 1887 at 1835 West Madison Street (originally 717-726 West Madison Street) as one of the biggest theaters in the city with a seating capacity of 2,475.  "Haymarket spent its first nine seasons as a legitimate playhouse, featuring a variety of classic plays and contemporary melodramas starring some of the best-known actors of the era," according to Jazz Age Chicago.  In 1896, new owners went low-brow, slashing ticket prices and declaring a "continuous vaudeville" policy.  Management changed again in 1916, when the Cubs settled into their new north side home.  The Haymarket degenerated into a burlesque house.  Post-Great Depression, the theater fell into bankruptcy.  It was demolished in 1950.

Opened in February 1908 at 2048 West Madison Street (originally 815 West Madison Street), the Star and Garter Theater was one of Chicago's biggest burlesque houses.  As its owners aimed to legitimize burlesque as an entertainment form, the theater was extravagant and pricey.  "Most accounts put the theater's cost at between $450,000 and $500,000, or roughly $11 million in 2009 dollars," according to Jazz Age Chicago.  Apparently this club had more women visitors than other clubs, so it had a better reputation than some.  Mayor Ed Kelly ultimately ordered police to close the theater on December 27, 1934.

The Dreamland Ballroom at 1761 West Van Buren Street was a “cavernous, old, one-story building under the tracks” operated by local sports promoter and impresario Paddy Harmon (who died in a car accident in 1930).  The house orchestra was conducted by Doc Cooke and featured such early jazz legends as Freddie Keppard (on cornet) and Jimmy Noone (on clarinet and alto saxophone).

The dreamland ballroom is not to be confused with the dreamland cafe, a jazz club of the same era that was a mainstay of chicago's famed "stroll" on south state street.

If the Dreamland Ballroom were still here today, it would be sprawled across the Eisenhower Expressway.

The city designated the First Baptist Congregational Church as a landmark on January 21, 1982.  Gordon P. Randall built the church between 1869 and 1871.