Keeping Greystones Alive On Our Streets For Another Century
By JoshMogerman in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 17, 2013 10:00PM
As Chicago swelled in the late 1800’s, growing faster than any city in history, it devoured much of the forested state of Wisconsin. Trees were felled for industry and building construction in the booming metropolis at an amazing rate. By the time the Chicago Fire hit in 1871 (along with the massive Peshtigo forest fire at roughly the same time, charring more than a million acres of logging land to the north), Wisconsin’s lumber industry was on the wane, leading this town’s building industry to look elsewhere for materials. South central Indiana’s Bedford limestone quarries were tapped to create a glorious type of building that still dominates many Chicago neighborhoods: the greystone.
Beyond obvious protection from the fate of the city’s kindled wood frame housing stock, greystones were popular because they looked great in an array of styles, classing up the streets of a city on the make. From the 1890’s into the middle of last century, the ornate buildings popped up in neighborhoods outside of the loop highlighting craftsmanship and artistry that have long departed from most of the buildings slapped up on the modern streetscape.
The City estimates that 30,000 of greystones are still around today, in neighborhoods like Andersonville, Wrigleyville, Logan Square, Garfield Park, Hubmoldt Park, Bronzeville, Kenwood and Hyde Park (particularly along the city’s boulevards on the West and South Sides). Since 2006, the City has been working with partners to preserve and modernize these architectural gems. By offering financial and technical resources, the Historic Greystone Initiative intends to keep those gorgeous reminders of this town’s architectural legacy around for another century. Judging from the pics regularly submitted to our photo pool, Chicagoans clearly love having them around.