On March 25, Forgotten Chicago presented a program on Lincolnwood history to a packed house at the Lincolnwood Public Library. Presenter Patrick Steffes touched on the founding of the suburb and its name change from Tessville, but focused his talk on period starting in 1920, when development began to heat up, slowly at first.
Patrick shared many interesting historic, little-seen plans and photographs documenting the growth of Lincolnwood. In the mid-1920s, when the population boomed, real estate developers introduced wildly ambitious projects — many of which remained empty lots well into the 1930s due to the Great Depression. Despite the slow start, a number of remarkable, historically significant buildings and businesses were established in Lincolnwood.
Perhaps the most famous of all Lincolnwood buildings is the Hyatt House Hotel, or as it was popularly known, the Purple Hotel. Built by the Pritzker family in 1960 and demolished in 2013, the hotel is fond memory for many people who lived in the area and attended dinners, bar mitzvahs, graduations, weddings and other events at the hotel.
I recall being fascinated as a young child by how different the structure looked from anything else I had ever seen, and I passed the building a million times, but I never went inside. Patrick spent some time talking about the architect, John Macsai, who designed many Chicago buildings I love.
A highlight of the program was the raffle held by the Lincolnwood Library. The prize was a cherished piece of history, a brick from the Purple Hotel. Guess who brought home the prize?
Lincoln Hall 8th grade Graduation June 1963 @ Ray Foley’s Brass Rail.
Junior prom dinner at the restaurant there in early 1970!