Maxwell Street, 1941. Sunday mornings are a good time for shopping. Especially if you're looking for things like random socks, hubcaps, lamps, or eyeball tacos. The Maxwell Street Market isn't what it used to be back in the days of the early 1900's, or even before the UIC Expansion starting in the late 60's. Hell, it isn't even on Maxwell anymore - it's on Canal Street at Roosevelt. Regardless of where progress has pushed... more ›

Is Maxwell Street Market Still Around? more ›

"little robin red breast" via runjenrun01. more ›

Chicago is a city full of iconic imagery. From its skyline and architecture, to its beaches and boulevards, to its trains and neighborhoods, take one look at any of those and you know that you're looking at home. The Maxwell Street Market once deserved to be listed among all those other landmarks. These days, Maxwell Street itself is unrecognizable. All traces of its open market glory were buried long ago by urban planning and the... more ›

It seems like yesterday that preservationists and historians protested in vain about the relocation of the old Maxwell Street Market. Indeed, ten years does pass like a fleeting memory. It was a contentious debate that was eventually wasted breath. Most of us have lived in Chicago long enough to know that when Mayor Daley lobbies for something, he gets it. And this was a project both he and the University of Illinois at Chicago put... more ›

The intersection of Cermak Road and Canal Street is a sort of no-man's land. Warehouses in various stages of occupancy and disrepair dot the landscape; the Chicago River, Amtrak, and Orange Line tracks run parallel for a stretch; bridges allow the intersection to serve as a shortcut into Pilsen, Chinatown, Bridgeport, and downtown. Most of us wouldn't think of this area as a place to get some good fish. Yet that's just what Lawrence's... more ›

An article in The Chicago Journal last week detailed the efforts of a Japanese television crew that sought to document the last vestiges of the Maxwell Street blues scene. The authenticity of the current scene could most charitably be described as “in question” (if for no other reason but its presence on Canal Street rather than Maxwell Street. Fortunately, the flag for Chicago blues is still carried nightly by an army of local musicians in... more ›