Southport Corridor News and Events – Chicago, Illinois

The 1930’s to today – a remarkable difference at the Friendly Confines!  The Park at Wrigley now known as Gallagher Way, was once a coal yard with train tracks running directly through it.

From The Digital Research Library of Illinois History Journal:

“The land where Wrigley Field itself stands was never itself a coal yard, but it was actually surrounded by coal yards, as well as freight rail lines and lumber yards, at the turn of the century and well into its history. And even earlier, the site of the ballpark itself was home to a Lutheran seminary, which is where Seminary Avenue got its name.

Wrigley Field – Clark Street looking North. 1935

The Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary opened there in 1891. Despite the fact that there was already one coal yard right across the street, the Lutheran minister who built the seminary thought it would be a peaceful place for his students’ quiet contemplation. But soon, coal and lumber yards took over much of the area, attracted by the Chicago and Evanston railroad (later the Milwaukee Road). The young seminarians complained of the coal yard’s “smoke, dust, grime, soot, dirt, foul gases; railroading by night and day; whistles, ding-donging of bells late and early and in between times…the unsanctified men in charge sending the unsterilized particles, odors and speech into the homes, eyes and ears of the seminary habitats.” The seminary abandoned the site and moved to Maywood in 1910.

Continue reading “What a difference almost 100 years can make at Wrigley Field”