Page 74 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Chicago

72  CHIC A GO AREA B Y AREA

o St. Michael’s The bell tower is adorned with
Church a large four-faced clock. Each
of the five bells in the tower
1633 N Cleveland Ave. Map 1 B1.
Tel (312) 642-2498. q Sedgwick. weighs between 2,500 and
5 9am, 11am, 7pm Sun; 5:30pm 6,000 lbs (1,135 and 2,720 kg).
Mon, Wed–Sat. 7 weekends or by By tradition, if you can hear
arrangement. h ∑ st-mikes.org the bells of St. Michael’s, you
are in Old Town.
The original St. Michael’s Restoration of the church
Church was a small brick began in the 1990s. The first
building built in 1852. phase involved removing a
As St. Michael’s small ton of pigeon excrement from
congregation expanded, inside the bell tower.
it outgrew the building. The colorful, vaulted
The cornerstone for a interior features Mayer
new church was laid stained glass, frescoes, 335 Menomonee Street, a wooden cottage
in 1866. In just three and sculptures typical of Old Town
years the building’s depicting the life of p Menomonee
construction, Christ and the Virgin
overseen by builder Mary. The carved Street
August Wallbaum, high altar and its four From N Sedgwick St. to Lincoln Park
was complete. Later, subsidiary altars W. Map 1 B1. q Sedgwick.
the Great Fire of 1871 Angel in St. illustrate St. Michael,
destroyed the roof and Michael’s flanked by the Menomonee Street lies in the
interior of the church. archangels Gabriel heart of Old Town Triangle
However, the thick, brick and Raphael, triumphant Historic District (bounded by
walls survived and remain over Lucifer. Cleveland Street and North
to this day. Located on the church and Lincoln avenues), a
The steeple, added to the grounds is a small memorial delightful area of vintage
bell tower in 1888, rises 290 ft dedicated to Catholic cottages and Queen Anne-style
(88.5 m) above the ground. war veterans. (see p28) row houses settled
in the mid-1800s by working-
class German immigrants.
In the 1940s, community
concern over the area’s falling
fortunes led to one of the
city’s earliest neighborhood
revitalization efforts. Today,
the Old Town Triangle’s narrow
tree-lined streets are home
to picturesque houses and
numerous interesting shops
and restaurants.
Walk along Menomonee
Street to view the residences
that typify mid- to late-19th-
century Old Town. Most of the
original houses in the area
were small cottages built
using the method of balloon
framing, so-called because
such structures were reportedly
as easy to construct as blowing
up a balloon (see p29). The
lightweight wood en frames
provided ample kindling
when the 1871 fire swept
through the area.
The whitish gray clapboard
house at No. 350 is a rare
surviving example of the fire-
relief shanties the Chicago Relief
and Aid Society built for people
The high-domed interior and main altar of St. Michael’s Church made homeless by the fire.
Catalan artist Jaume Plensa’s Crown Fountain in Millennium Park

072-073_EW_Chicago.indd 72 13/07/16 2:59 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.6)
Date 12th July 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm