How well did you find your way around 1975 Chicago? 63rd and Halsted was once the busiest shopping district outside downtown. When the local stores began to lose business to the suburbs, the bus-mall and the fancy street lights were the city's attempt to stabilize the area.

Could you find your way around the Chicago of the past?The picture above was taken in 1975. The location is the South Side--in this case, somewhere east of Western, between Roosevelt and 79th Street.

It's primary day in Illinois!And with politics on our minds, we look back at the strange events of an election day in 1936. On November 3 that year, Richard J. Daley--future Democratic boss, future mayor, future father of a future mayor--was elected to his first political office . . .

How well did you find your way around the Chicago of 1952?The location is one of three places where Broadway and Sheridan Road intersect. The famous Bowlium bowling alley has been replaced by a high-rise apartment. So have the smaller buildings on the left.

How well could you find your way around the Chicago of the past?The photo above is from 1952. The location is somewhere on the North Side--in this case, north of North Avenue and east of Western Avenue. If you think you can identify the site, submit your guess in the "Comments" box.

Today is the birthday of William E. Dever, Chicago's mayor from 1923 through 1927. It's not only his birthday, it's his Sesquicentennial. He was born 150 years ago today--March 13, 1862.I wrote my doctoral dissertation on Mayor Dever.

The statues stand at one of the corners of the Emerald Necklace, where Marshall Boulevard swings east into 24th.