Edson Keith purchase a property in Sarasota near Phillippi Creek from Mabel Linn for $7,000 in 1915. Mr. Keith was president of a large millinery business. He was also a member of Sarasota’s Chicago Colony which also included Field, Palmer and other prominent families.

Construction began in 1916 of an Italian Renaissance Style Home on Phillippi Creek. Architects on the project were William A. Otis and Edwin H. Clark of Chicago.

Original outbuildings included a 2 story servant house, garden shed, garage, water tower, and chauffeur house.

Mr. Keith died in 1939. His widow sold the property to a Chicago doll clothing designer Mae Hanson Prodie. Her husband operated the home as a luxury inn in the 1950’s. Mrs. Prodie retired to the home in the 1960’s.

In 1986, Sarasota County acquired the property. It has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1886, Ferdinand Peck incorporated the Chicago Auditorium Foundation. Together with Marshall Field, Marlin Ryerson, Charles Hutchinson, and George Pullman, they proposed a large building at the corner of Michigan Boulevard and Congress Street to include a large grand theater, office block and a first class hotel. This association retained Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan to design the building.

Sullivan and Adler designed a tall structure with load bearing outer walls. The exterior appearance was based on the appearance of H.I Richardson’s Marshall Field Warehouse.

An interesting feature of this building is its non traditional foundation. Due to soil conditions, a novel approach was needed. The solution was named a mass raft foundation. This consisted of a floating mat of criss crossed rail road ties. This was topped by a double layer of steel rails embedded in concrete.

In the center of the building was a 4300 seat theater. All seats were designed to have a good view and acoustics. In the original plan, there were no box seats. These were added, however.

Around the central space were 136 offices and a 400 room hotel.

In 1887, President Grover Cleveland laid the cornerstone. In 1888, the Republican National Convention in a partially completed building.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra used the theater from 1891 to 1904. The opera company renting the theater moved to the Civic Opera House in 1929. The Auditorium Theater closed during the Depression.

In 1941, the theater was taken over by the City of Chicago as a World War 2 Serviceman’s Center.

In 1946, Roosevelt University occupied the Auditorium Building

The project to build this new pedestrian bridge began in November, 2017 and was completed in 2019. Bridge travels under the Addison and the Irving Park Bridges. It is 1010 feet long and connects Clark Play Lot Park on the east and California Park on the west. The bridge was designed and engineered Epstein.

The concrete path is 10 feet wide. Side railings are 4 feet 6 inches. The path is supported by concrete columns.

   

Bridge Plaque

This bridge crosses the Sanitary and Ship Canal in Lemont. It was built in 1898. Builder/Contractor was the Keystone Bridge Company of Pittsburgh, PA. Bridge subcontractors were the McArthur Brothers and Winston and Company. Cost of the bridge was $84, 391.45. Total weight of iron and steel in the bridge is 2,315,656 pounds.  The counterweight weight weighed 858,645 pounds.      This is a metal pin-connected Pratt Throuh Truss, Movable: Swing (Bobtail).  Main span length is 259.6 feet.  Structure length is 398.5 feet.  Bridge is currently used by the Burlington Northern Railroad.  Formerly used by the Santa Re Railroad.

This is a railroad bridge crossing the Sanitary and Ship Canal in Forest View, Illinois.

This bridge was built in 1898. The builders were Carnegie Steel Company of Pittsburgh, PA. and Keystone Bridge Company of Pittsburgh, PA.

This is a two track Pratt through truss swing bridge. Total length is 380 feet.

Bridge was used by the SantaFe Railroad. It is currently used by BNSF

This railroad bridge spans the Sanitary and Ship Canal in Summit, Illinois. The builder /contractor is unknown. Construction date is unknown.

The bridge as originally built was a swing bridge. But the swing span was damaged in 1963 and was replaced by a fixed truss span.

The bridge type is a 7 panel rivet-connected camel back through truss fixed. Largest span is 180 feet. Total length is 340 feet.

Bridge is used by the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad.. It was used by the Soo Line

This is a railroad swing bridge crossing the Sanitary and Ship Canal near Kedzie Avenue. It was built in 1899–1900. Architect was Sanitary District of Chicago. Substructure Contractors were McArthur Brothers and Winston and Company. The Toledo Bridge Company was the superstructure contractor. Total cost $110,644.85. Weight of the iron and steel in the completed bridge was 2,511,140 pounds.

Bridge type is metal pin-connected Pratt Through truss, movable: swing (center pier). Main span length 474.2 feet. Structure length 479.4 feet. Bridge supports 2 tracks.

Used by Chicago Madison and Northern RR. and IC RR.

Currently used by Canadian National.

The current bridge crosses the Illinois River in Seneca, Illinois. The original bridge at this site was likely wooden or iron construction dating to 1853. It was built for the Rock Island Line. This was replaced by a steel bridge. The current bridge was a modification of the steel bridge to a vertical lift bridge in the 1930’s.

The description of this bridge is as follows: metal 6 panel pin-connected Pratt through Truss, Movable: vertical lift (tower drive) and approach spans: metal 6 panel pin-connected Pratt through truss., fixed. Builder/contractor is unknown.

Main span length is 180 feet. Structure length is 650 feet. There is one track.

Current user of the bridge is CSX.

     This rail bridge crosses the Illinois River at Chillicothe, Illinois.

The bridge was originally built for the Santa Fe Railroad in 1932.

     The bridge type is polygonal Warren through truss.  Approach spans are Warren deck truss.  There are two tracks. Largest span measures 400 feet.  Total length is 1,700 feet.  Currently, the bridge is used by BNSF.

     There was a prior bridge at this site.  It was built in 1887.  This bridge had a draw span that was raised and lowered for the passage of boat traffic.  This was demolished in 1932.

This bridge crosses the Illinois River at Pekin, Illinois. Builder was the King Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio. Construction date was 1912.

The bridge type was a metal 7 panel pin-connected Pratt through truss movable vertical lift (tower drive) and approach spans: metal 9 panel rivet-connected lattice Quadruple Warren through truss fixed. Main span was 175 feet. Structure length was 1508 feet.

The bridge has one track. It was used by the Chicago and North Western and the UnionPacific.