1940's Chicago, In Glorious Technicolor
General view of part of the South Water Street freight depot of the Illinois Central Railroad Chicago, Illinois, May 1943.
In the roundhouse at a Chicago and Northwestern Railroad yard, Chicago, Ill., 1942 Dec.
A.S. Gerdee working as a switchman at Proviso yard of C & NW RR, Chicago, Ill., 1943 April
General view of one of the yards of the Chicago and Northwestern railroad, Chicago, Ill., 1942 Dec.
The yardmaster\'s office at the receiving yard, North Proviso(?), C & NW RR, Chicago, Ill., 1942 Dec. \r\n
General view of part of the South Water street Illinois Central Railroad freight terminal, Chicago, Ill., 1943 April
Mike Evans, a welder, at the rip tracks at Proviso yard of the C & NW RR, Chicago, Ill., 1943 April
Night view of part of the South Water street freight terminal of the Illinois Central R.R., Chicago, Ill., 1943 May
Freight cars at the South Water Street Illinois Central Railroad terminal, Chicago, Ill., 1943 May \r\n
Trucks unloading at the inbound freight house of the Illinois Central Railroad, South Water Street freight terminal, Chicago, Ill., 1943 April
Illinois Central R.R., freight cars in South Water Street freight terminal, Chicago, Ill., 1943 April
General view of part of the South Water street Illinois Central Railroad freight terminal, Chicago, Ill., 1943 April
C & NW RR, railroad worker cultivating the small Victory garden in the Proviso yard, Chicago, Ill., 1943 April \r\n
Caboose on the caboose track at C & NW RR\'s Proviso yard, Chicago, Ill.,\r\n1943 April
While we take a short break from bringing you more of Charles Cushman's 60's era photos this week, we stumbled across a repository of striking color photos from even earlier in our history. These beautiful color photos are from the Library of Congress as part of a series from the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, as part of an effort to document how the Depression affected the country. This particular selection of railroad-centric Chicago shots by Jack Delano show the city as an industrial, agricultural and transportational hub in the days before air travel became dominant. The Denver Post put together this series of photographs spanning the nation, all of which are worth looking at, but naturally the ones featuring Chicago caught our eyes the most. You can find the rest of the FSA/OWI series here.
