Chicago Addick living in Bermuda
Thursday 12 July 2007
  My Chicago - #10 Andersonville Once a Swedish enclave, this residential area 5 miles north of the city's downtown and just a spit from the lake was the place I spent last week's Independence Day. American flags battled with Swedish and Turkish ones for prominence as locals sat and drank coffee and walked dogs making the most of a midweek break.

Andersonville is actually in Edgewater, which is home to many poorer immigrants from the former Yugoslavia and Turkey, whereas the area surrounding Clark Street in between the Red Line 'El' stops at Bryn Mawr (meaning big hill in Welsh, there are no big hills around here incidentially) and Berwyn is more affluent.

Unbelievably this area was a large cherry orchard around the mid 1850's but after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, wooden homes were outlawed in Chicago so Swedish immigrants with a proclivity for using wood in their buildings moved further north and before long the area around Clark Street was dominated by Swedish businesses.

Some 2nd and 3rd generation Swedes remain and the area still celebrates its past with an annual Midsommarfest and a Swedish American Museum (5211 N Clark) that was opened to the public in a ceremony attended by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in 1961.

Today Andersonville like other popular neighbourhoods is home to a diverse assortment of devoted residents and businesses, including one of Chicago's largest gay and lesbian communities, it also has a large collection of Middle Eastern restaurants and bakeries, I am sure this is only a coincidence!

However the yellow and blue flag can still be seen outside Erickson's Deli (5250 N Clark), Wikstrom's Gourmet Foods (5217 N Clark), Svea Restaurant (5236 N Clark) and the famed Swedish Bakery (5348 N Clark), which was unfortunately closed "to celebrate the declaration of Independence" the day we were there!

In Andersonville you can find a number of theatre's including the Griffin Theatre and The Quest People's Theatre, described as the 'theatre with a conscious,' and the Chicago Chamber Choir.

For a pint of Swedish Pripp's Lager head to Simon's Tavern, which dates back to 1930 and has had a colourful history. The original owner (a Swedish immigrant named Simon Lundberg) became a bootlegger during Prohibition and cashed people's paychecks whilst sitting in a bullet-proof booth, which is still there. The back bar is modelled on an American WWI war ship and the now owner of this friendly bar will give you a tour of the place if you ask nicely.

For a bite there is Andies Mediterranean Restaurant but better is Chicago institution Reza's whose Persian restaurant downtown is only a block away from where I live. It doesn't matter though as they are next door to each other, you can sit outside both and watch the dog-in-handbag set walk by and you'll find cracking finger-licking Middle Eastern food at both locations.

Someone told me that there are more independently owned shops in Andersonville than any other Chicago neighbourhood, which makes nosing in shop windows far more of a surprise. Old time watch shop Erickson's, chocolate heaven bon bon, wine merchant In Fine Spirits and quirky gift shop Green Sky will all entice.

The streets that head out towards Edgewater Beach such as W Catalpa Ave, W Balmoral Ave and W Berwyn Ave are tree-lined with family homes but it is Clark Street where most of the action is with the vast Gethsemane Garden Center (5739 N Clark), a real treasure trove for urban gardeners at one end, the neon lighted Philadelphia Church in the middle (I can't find an explanation of why this is here) and the Swedish flag painted water tower at the other.
L to R: Jesus Saves (as long as you are from Philadelphia!); Andersonville pavement slab; Gethsemane garden centre.
 
|



<< Home
About Me
After living in Chicago for four and a half years, I moved to the beautiful if bewildering island of Bermuda in July 2008. This blog is about being an exiled and depressed Charlton Athletic fan and whatever else the day brings.
CAFC Links
  • Charlton Athletic FC
  • CAFC Player
  • Forever Charlton
  • CAFC Picks
  • CASC
  • City Addicks
  • Community Trust
  • Fans Forum
  • Charlton Life
  • / forum
  • Charlton Scrapbook
  • Addicks Downunder Forum
  • Fellow Addick Blogs
  • Addicks Diary
  • Doctor Kish
  • New York Addick
  • All Quiet in the East Stand
  • SE3 Addick
  • Jakartass
  • Charlton Athletic Online
  • Views from an Iberian Valley
  • Charlton North Downs
  • Blackheath Addicted
  • Drinking During the Game
  • Kings Hill Addick
  • A Red Divided
  • Deepest Darkest
  • All in a Day
  • Johnny73
  • Confidential Rick
  • Charlton Casual
  • Many Miles....
  • Croydon Addick
  • Stickleback
  • And Nothing Else Matters
  • Out in the rain
  • Hungry Ted
  • Bermuda - all 21 square miles of it
  • The Royal Gazette
  • Weather forecast
  • Discover Bermuda
  • Bermuda National Trust
  • Bernews.com
  • Bermuda Blogroll
  • Bermuda Shorts
  • Jen in Bermuda
  • Daily London fix
  • Diamond Geezer
  • Onionbagblog
  • 853
  • The Cabbies Capital
  • A piece of my heart still in Chicago
  • Chicago Tribune
  • Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid
  • Chicago Bulls
  • Chicago Bears
  • Chicago Blackhawks
  • Chicago White Sox
  • Chicago Cubs
  • Chicago Fire
  • My Chicago stuff
  • Andersonville
  • Bucktown
  • Chinatown
  • Evanston
  • Gold Coast
  • Greektown & Little Italy
  • Lincoln Park
  • Lincoln Square
  • The Magnificent Mile
  • Old Town
  • Oak Park
  • River North
  • Roscoe Village
  • South Loop
  • Streeterville
  • Ukrainian Village
  • Wicker Park
  • Wrigleyville
  • Ten things to do with a child
  • My Bermuda exploring
  • Paget Parish
  • Southampton Parish
  • Town of St George
  • Ten things to do with a child
  • Travelogue
  • Atlanta
  • Bahamas
  • Beachy Head
  • Beaver Creek, Colorado
  • Bermuda
  • Buenos Aires
  • Californian Hwy 1
  • Charleston
  • Cincinnati, Ohio
  • Dubai
  • Eastbourne
  • Ft Lauderdale, Florida
  • Grand Canyon
  • Hiroshima
  • Honolulu
  • Houston, Texas
  • Kohler, Wisconsin
  • Kyoto
  • Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
  • Las Vegas
  • Lille, France
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico
  • Miami Beach
  • Mt Fuji & Hakone, Japan
  • Munich
  • New Orleans
  • New York
  • Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • Oman
  • Orlando
  • Palm Springs & Joshua Natl Park
  • Park City, Utah
  • Reykjavik
  • Route 66 and Hoover Dam
  • San Francisco
  • San Diego
  • Santa Fe
  • Saugatuck, Michigan
  • Sedona, Arizona
  • Sonoma & Napa Valley
  • St Petersburg, FL
  • Taos, New Mexico
  • Tokyo
  • Uruguay
  • Washington DC
  • The good old days?
  • The men in charge Parts I
  • / II / III / IV / V
  • Carlisle (a) 1986
  • Luton (a) 1989
  • Sunderland (h) 1975
  • Stoke City (a) 1994
  • Crystal Palarse (a) 2000
  • Norwich City (h) 1987
  • Coventry City (a) 2001
  • Barnsley (h) 1985
  • Bristol City (a) 1994
  • West Brom (a) 1995
  • Hull City (h) 1976
  • Burnley (h) 1978
  • Nottingham Forest (a) 1989
  • Sheffield Wednesday (h) 1986
  • Ipswich Town (a) 1981
  • Birmingham City (a) 1993
  • Hereford United (a) 1989
  • Interesting stuff
  • We're not on the telly much but who is?
  • Football Pyramid
  • Football Ground Guide
  • The Political Economy of Football
  • The Fiver
  • London 2012
  • TV Cream
  • Nice cup of tea and a sit down
  • Banksy
  • www.flickr.com
    This is a Flickr badge showing public photos and videos from ChicagoAddick. Make your own badge here.
    And not so interesting
    Weblog Commenting and Trackback by HaloScan.com Powered by Blogger
    EMail me
    ChicagoAddick@Gmail.com
    Follow me on Twitter
  • ChicagoAddick
  • CAFC on Twitter
  • Archives
    June 2004 / July 2004 / August 2004 / September 2004 / October 2004 / November 2004 / December 2004 / January 2005 / February 2005 / March 2005 / April 2005 / May 2005 / June 2005 / July 2005 / August 2005 / September 2005 / October 2005 / November 2005 / December 2005 / January 2006 / February 2006 / March 2006 / April 2006 / May 2006 / June 2006 / July 2006 / August 2006 / September 2006 / October 2006 / November 2006 / December 2006 / January 2007 / February 2007 / March 2007 / April 2007 / May 2007 / June 2007 / July 2007 / August 2007 / September 2007 / October 2007 / November 2007 / December 2007 / January 2008 / February 2008 / March 2008 / April 2008 / May 2008 / June 2008 / July 2008 / August 2008 / September 2008 / October 2008 / November 2008 / December 2008 / January 2009 / February 2009 / March 2009 / April 2009 / May 2009 / June 2009 / July 2009 / August 2009 / September 2009 / October 2009 / November 2009 / December 2009 / January 2010 / February 2010 / March 2010 / April 2010 / May 2010 / June 2010 / July 2010 / August 2010 /