November 6th, 2009
One of the great things about living in Morton Grove is the amount of green space for a suburb that’s so close to the Chicago city limits. The North Branch of the Chicago River runs through the town not too far from our house, and the river is surrounded by the Cook County Forest Preserve. [...]
October 29th, 2009
Every Friday, the Chicago Tribune publishes a feature story in the Homes section about one community in the Chicagoland area, and last Friday was Morton Grove’s turn.
It was a pretty good article, I thought, however I think their home sale ranges are misleading as the recent home sale on the low end was a foreclosure [...]
December 18th, 2008
I continued my research on our 1930 neighbor, who during Prohibition ran a speakeasy in his basement. I came across links to articles in various papers across the country: Reno, NV, Sheboygan, WI, and others. At first I thought, these must belong to another Elmer Cowdrey. Then I thought maybe he moved to one of [...]
December 12th, 2008
The next chapter in our little neighborhood’s 1930 history continues.
In the last post, after years of rumor and hearsay, I wrote about discovering an article in the Chicago Tribune confirming that our neighbor’s bungalow was, in fact, a speakeasy during Prohibition.
That owner, Elmer (Al) Cowdrey, went on to own and operate Club Rendezvous, a popular [...]
December 10th, 2008
When I decided to start researching our 1930 neighbors, the first ones who came to mind were the inhabitants of the middle bungalow across the street. If you’ve read my blog for a while, you might remember that this certain bungalow was rumored to be a speakeasy during Prohibition.
The people who owned the house [...]
April 25th, 2008
Yesterday we ordered 5 cubic yards of Grade 8 Limestone for the paths and patio foundation. According to calculations it will fill the patio and about half of the paths. The delivery truck can only handle 5 yards at a time because of the weight of the stone, but we planned to order a portion [...]
April 2nd, 2008
Like Humphrey House and the other residents of Oak Park, we are also fortunate here in Morton Grove to have a recycling program that accepts virtually everything without our having to sort it all: office papers, newspapers, cardboard, chipboard, virtually all plastics including grocery bags, styrofoam containers, glass, cans (including the lid) — even aluminum [...]
September 27th, 2007
Back in the roaring ’20s and early ’30s, Morton Grove was notorious for its roadhouses and speakeasies. It’s reputed that one of the bungalows on our block was a speakeasy. I’ve tried to find out the history on our house, but the only information I have so far is that a Leo Milke lived here [...]
July 18th, 2007
Our little village of Morton Grove was recently recognized in the August issue of Family Circle magazine as one of America’s Top 10 towns for families. They chose from among 1,850 towns across the country with a population between 15,000 and 150,000 (Morton Grove is around 22,000) that “combined big city opportunities with suburban charm.”
I [...]
May 13th, 2007
I like to plan. I like to make lists. I like to get things done. I like that sense of accomplishment. I’m usually not a very patient person. To purchase this bungalow from our neighbor, I have had to become a patient person. It has been quite an exercise for me and I’m sure I’ll [...]