Chicago Links

History

• The Chicago Public Library web site is one of the most comprehensive sites, if you include all of their links, on the subject of Chicago. It should be the first site to check out on all matters Chicago.
• The Chicago Historical Society Web Site contains in addition to a list of current activities, an ongoing series of online projects, including the photo archive of the late Chicago Daily News, much of which is available on-line.
• Jazz Age Chicago is an excellent site devoted to all aspects of Chicago between the years of 1910 and 1945.
• Graveyards of Chicago is a virtual tour of the city's burial grounds and contains brief histories of some of thier more illustrious residents.

Architecture

• Chicago Landmarks is the site of the City of Chicago's Landmarks Division of the Department of Planning and Design. It contains a good cross referrence of buildings, architectural styles, architects, and communities.
• Perspectives: Tour of Chicago's Architecture is a decent if somewhat limited guide to its subject.
• TheChicago Architecture Foundation web site contains mostly information on their numerous tours.
• The Garfield Park Conservatory web site is a virtual tour of one of the city's most overlooked attractions.
• St. John Cantius Roman Catholic Church, maintains this very thorough site devoted to church activities as well as the building, one of the city's most oranate baroque revival churches, its history, and the parish. A very good site.

Transportation

• Chicago-L.org is the CTA site to end all CTA sites. It's a trip that will indulge all but the geekiest of CTA fans. Be sure to check out their links page.
• Chicago Transit/Metra Railfan Page is a real train spotters' site which includes sub sites on the local rail systems including the CTA and Metra, as well as a section on the grand era of passenger trains in this city.
• CTA Route Map is a sub site of Transit Maps which features maps of several public transit systems around the world.
• The Chicago Elevated System is a section of the wonderful site Jazz Age Chicago. It is a detailed description of the L circa 1926, including a detailed map of the system at that time.
• The Chicago Tunnel Company Railroad, is a site devoted to Chicago's small guage underground railroad, virtaully unheard of until 1991 when a contractor driving piles into an enbankment of the Chicago River puctured a tunnel causing river water to flood the entire system and with it the basements of virtually every building in the Loop.

Parapatetic Sites

• Roadside Art Online: Western Avenue Gallery features images of vernacular art on Chicago's longest thoroughfare.

Sublime and Ridiculous

• The Degrees of Walter Payton. Enter your favorite Bear to figure out how many degrees separate him from Sweetness, ie; so and so was a team-mate of whatshisname, a team mate of blah blah, who played briefly with Walter. From this site I learned that Chicago celebrity, and former Bear Irv "Kup" Kupcinet is a "Sweetness 5". Who thinks this stuff up?
  
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