A Stroll in Chicago’s Old Town, Chicago, Illinois

Old Town is not, somewhat to my surprise, the old heart of Chicago, but rather one of its neighbourhoods. It takes its name from art fairs held in this area in the 1940s, ‘Old Town Holidays’. However, it is certainly home to many buildings older than most in the city. There are Victorian era houses and even one of just seven buildings to survive the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

With my Virtual Tourist friends I joined a walking tour of the neighbourhood one morning to learn more. We started at Sedgwick station on the Brown line of the L. Come along with me to see what Old Town has to offer …

Almost immediately we were on quiet streets that contrasted significantly with the bustle of the River North area where we were staying, just one stop away on the L. They were lined with lovely old houses, some wooden despite a ban on using that material following the fire. I got the impression that Old Towners like to defy the rules and conventions. The streets here don’t always follow the grid pattern of the rest of the city. And the area has often attracted those who seek an alternative lifestyle: hippies, gays and lesbians, sex workers, artists and performers.

One of the first buildings pointed out by our guide Giovina was a bar, the Twin Anchors, which Frank Sinatra used to frequent. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).