In reply refer to:
H32(2280)
August 25, 2000
Mr. William Wheeler, Associate Director
And State Historic Preservation Officer
Illinois Preservation Agency
1 Old State Capitol Plaza
Springfield, Illinois 62701-l5l2
Dear Mr. Wheeler:
The National Register of Historic Places is returning the nomination for Maxwell Street Historic District in Chicago, because we agree with your opinion as State Historic Preservation Officer, and with the opinion of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks, that the proposed district has suffered so much change since its period of historic significance that it does not meet National Register Criteria for Eva1uation.
As you know, in 1994 the National Register reviewed an appeal of the State's decision not to nominate the Maxwell Street Historic District for listing. My decision at that time was that Maxwell Street possessed important historic associations with events and people in Chicago's history, but lacked the historic integrity required for listing through a combination of demolition, neglect, and alteration.
In 2000, a disputed nomination for the Maxwell Street Historic District was submitted to the National Register. The nomination claims eligibility for listing under Criterion A in the following areas of significance: Commerce, Ethnic Heritage, Performing Arts, and Entertainment/Recreation. Performing Arts and Entertainment were not claimed as areas of significance in the 1994 nomination. The 2000 nomination adds considerable information documenting the importance of Maxwell Street to the evolution of Chicago's blues music. It also includes much more descriptive and historical data on individual buildings.
The nomination establishes the importance of the Maxwell Street area as a "'port-of-entry neighborhood for many working class newcomers" of many ethnic backgrounds; a successful open-air market, commercial center, and economic launching ground for entrepreneurs; and a "formative area in the development of 20th-century blues music." Maxwell Street itself was the focus of this neighborhood. By decree of a 1912 city ordinance, the Maxwell Street Market historically stretched on Maxwell Street from Jefferson Street--several blocks east of the proposed district, to Sangamon Street--several blocks west of the proposed district. The nomination also states that by the late 1890s peddling was "particularly active" on Maxwell Street between Jefferson and Halstead (sic) Streets. All but one block of this section of Maxwell Street (the block between Union and HaIstead Streets) was obliterated by the construction of the Dan Ryan Expressway in 1957. Only one building still stands on the north side of this block, and a few paired buildings separated by empty lots occupy the south side. Similarly, Maxwell Street now extends barely a block west of Halstead (sic), bordered by vacant land and one altered historic building on the corner of Maxwell and Halstead (sic).
The historic character of the Maxwell Street Market was marked by vitality, street crowds cramming the open-air stalls, and activities that took place in front of and inside a solid continuity of storefronts lining the street. The market, related commerce, and crowds were the reason African American musicians came to plug into the buildings and play the blues on the sidewalks. The robust commercial atmosphere and bustling throngs that first drew blues musicians were dependent on the market which is no longer held in the area and the blocks of historic commercial buildings that supported it. Now the solid historic streetscape that once comprised and illustrated the intense commercial activity and provided much of the impetus and setting for the street activity is missing along both Maxwell and Halstead (sic) Streets, and the surrounding historic neighborhood is gone.
Once the heart of the district, the intersection of Maxwell and Halstead (sic) currently is framed by a historic building on the southeast corner, vacant lots on two corners and a greatly altered historic building on the fourth. Several noncontributing buildings on each side of Halstead (sic) separate the intersection from the first intact historic building north of the intersection. The remaining fragment of the district on Halstead now exists only as a smattering of historic buildings between Maxwell and Roosevelt.
Many of the buildings associated with the people and events discussed in the nomination form (medical clinics, origin of the 'Zoot Suit," approximately 40 synagogues, record company of the Ora-Nelle label) associated with the larger historic neighborhood are now gone and in any case these building were located outside the current boundaries of the nomination. Other buildings which once were located within the district boundaries and had specific historic associations also are gone such "two of the [area'sl largest department stores at Halstead (sic)/14th and at Halstead (sic)/Roosevelt and the 50-year home of the Vienna Sausage (Vienna Beef) company. While I realize that many of these places are mentioned to emphasize the size and vigor of the neighborhood historically they also underscore how a rich diversity of social, residential, institutional, and broader commercial activities that once characterized this area is no longer adequately represented by what remains.
Throughout the district, the ability to read the area's history in its streetscape is repeatedly disrupted by missing or nonhistoric buildings. Nowhere in the district are there more than three or four contributing buildings clustered together, separated by sometimes long expanses of noncontributing buildings or vacant lots. Most contributing buildings on Halstead (sic) face noncontributing buildings across the street. Roosevelt is distinguished as much by vacant land as by historic buildings. The church at 352 South Union is located more than a block away from the nearest building. The district saw the loss of many buildings between the 1994 and the 2000 nominations. At least five more buildings have been demolished since the National Register received the current nomination. Few of the surviving buildings on any street are in a good a condition as routinely characterizes contributing resources in National Register districts. Many rneet only minimal standards for integrity or are so marginal that it is difficult to judge their ability to contribute to the district. We disagree with the nomination's assignment of contributing status for several buildings, including 1305-09, 1311-13, 1213, and 1230 South Halstead (sic) Street and 716 West Maxwell Street.
The National Register has listed districts composed entirely of unpretentious buildings, and also districts containing contributing buildings that have suffered some alterations over time and/or deterioration. Yet, with the exceptions of St. Francis of Assisi Church and a very few other buildings, the Maxwell Street Historic District's entire physical structure has experience so many changes and exists in a state of such disrepair, advanced detioration and disruption by demolition as to preclude listing. It is not enough for a district to contain scattered buildings that date from the period of significance and which still display some architectural features from that period. To qualify under the National Register's district definition of a "significant concentration, linkage, or continuity," the whole must transcend the sum of the individual pieces. The cumulative effect of demolition, deterioration, and repeated and extensive alterations in the Maxwell Street Historic District has been to shatter this required continuity and to destroy historic integrity of design, setting, materials, and workmanship.
Although the regulations do not require onsite inspections of properties nominated to the National Register, and we rarely conduct them, in this case I traveled to Chicago with another historian on our staff to see the proposed Maxwell Street Historic District for myself. While there we did not meet or speak with interested parties on either side of the debate over the nomination or the future of the area. Our observations confirmed the conclusion I already had reached on the basis of the nomination, and the comments and documentation submitted by those both supporting and opposing the nomination.
It gives me no pleasure to render this decision. The volume and substance of correspondence and petitions generated by this nomination make clear that many citizens care passionately about the important events that took place along Maxwell and neighboring streets and have a strong desire to preserve those few buildings that survive from the period of greatest activity and energy. It is regrettable that the district was not put forth for National Register evaluation before falling into its condition of recent years and that steps were not taken earlier to preserve its historic character. This is a tragic loss for the city of Chicago, as well as for devotees of blues music everywhere."
Sincerely,
Carol D. Shull
Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places
and Chief of the National Historic Landmarks Survey
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Contact Us
TO REACH US VIA EMAIL:
Chuck Cowdery, President (cowdery@21stcentury.net)TO REACH US VIA THE USPS:
Steve Balkin, Vice President (mar@openair.org)
Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition
P.O. Box 6435
Evanston, IL 60204