LOGAN SQUARE — Back at the start of the Great Depression, Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square was a destination whenever you needed something new to wear.

Clothing stores lined the street, based on a map made in 1930 that is in the archives at the Chicago History Museum.

An electric streetcar went right down the middle of Milwaukee past a series of shoe, clothing and hat stores. There was even a Walgreens.

It's unclear why, but it seems that at the start of the worst economic collapse in American history, Logan Square was a bustling place.

"My guess is that it was made by developers trying to promote that [the] neighborhood has an active retail strip on the North Side," said Peter Alter, the museum's archivist.

Levy, Arthur & Company map of Logan Square, Chicago, Illinois, 1930. Includes views of 2700-2809 Milwaukee Avenue (N. Sawyer Avenue to Kimball Avenue and Diversey Avenue). [Chicago History Museum]

See a high-resolution version of this map.

The centerpiece was the Harding Theatre, a movie palace completed in 1925 that was demolished in the 1960s, shown on the left side of the street below.

[Creative Commons/DavidZornig]

[Creative Commons/tntim]

Now in its place? Sunrise Fresh Market.

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