Last week, for the White Sox opener, we talked about Johnny Mostil, a native Chicagoan who played his entire major league career in a Chicago uniform, and was also a Sox star. Today is the Cubs home opener. Today the subject is a Cubs star.
On April 5, 1955 Chicagoans elected Richard J. Daley their 48th mayor. A new era was beginning. But at the time, few people realized it.
Forget what you know about the original Mayor Daley.
How many times have you walked past the Tribune Tower on North Michigan Avenue? You may want to stop and take a look at the statue in the little outdoor alcove. The young man standing stolidly there is Nathan Hale.
Time was every American History book told the tale of Nathan Hale. In the early days of the Revolution he was a Connecticut school teacher and a lieutenant in the state militia. He volunteered to go on a mission behind British lines for General Washington, was caught, and was hanged as a spy on September 22, 1776. He was just 21 years old. I was ten years old when I discovered that I had my own Chicago landmark.
We were driving my Grandma to visit one of her relatives in the old neighborhood, when I happened to glance up at the cornice of the building at 2007 West North Avenue. Carved in stone was the inscription “1884—J. Schmidt”.
I was excited as only a 10-year-old could be. I knew that Detroit had a downtown street called John R. Street. But here was a building with my name on it, right in my own home town. Maybe someday I could buy the building and live in it!
With time and growing up, my fascination with the J. Schmidt Building faded. Years later, I took the trouble to look up the building in one of the old city directories at the Historical Society. The original address had been 466 West North Avenue, and was a meat market. The proprietor was named John Schmidt—no relation, but a nice coincidence.
Opening day at Sox Park!
At some time or another, most boys growing up around Chicago dream of playing for one of the hometown baseball teams. Few ever make it. Even then, the Chicagoans who do get to the big time usually wind up with other ball clubs
So today let's look at one of those rarities, a native Chicagoan who played his entire major league career in a Chicago uniform. He was Johnny Mostil--and he was a star, too.
Born in Chicago in 1896, Johnny was a boy when his family moved a few miles over the Indiana line to Whiting.
He started playing semi-pro baseball as a teenager, mostly as an infielder. During the war-year 1918 he signed with the Sox and got into a few games. The Chicago Stadium was a direct outgrowth of the Second City Syndrome.
Whenever New York did something fabulous, Chicago had to top it. In 1925 the First City had dedicated the new Madison Square Garden, an indoor sports arena that could accommodate 20,000 spectators. So now the Second City would do better.
The driving force behind the Chicago Stadium project was Paddy Harmon, a West Side promoter who’d made his rep running dance halls. In 1926 he organized a syndicate of investors, and they quietly began buying up property around Madison and Wood streets. They eventually acquired a square block. 
How well did you find your way around the Chicago of the past?
We are just north of Logan Square, where Milwaukee Avenue meets both Logan Boulevard and Kedzie Avenue. The distinctive streetlight on the left was characteristic of streets under the jurisdiction of the Chicago Park District. The #17 on the streetcars signify they are on the Kedzie line, which operated over this portion of Milwaukee Avenue.
Also in the 1934 photo, note the large advertising signs on the building roofs. The signs were set high so they could be seen from 'L' trains at the Logan Square terminal, just south of here.
.JPG "1934 (CTA photo)")
