Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Seven Holy Tombs

The majority was right. Mt. Greenwood was formerly called Seven Holy Tombs.

John R. Powers wrote three books about growing up in Mt. Greenwood, which he calls Seven Holy Tombs in the book. If you have never read them, go to the library and get them. They are hilarious. Last Catholic in America, Do Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? and The Unoriginal Sinner and the Ice-Cream God.

Here is a little history of Mt. Greenwood from Wikipedia:

...Even though there were a small number of settlers in Mt. Greenwood, the origins of Mt. Greenwood began in 1877 when it was surveyed by George Waite. Mr. Waite established an area where he could trade with the local Native Americans. Mount Greenwood Cemetery was established around this time by Mr. Waite. With the cemetery came the saloons and restaurants and eventually tracks for horse and greyhound racing. Mt. Greenwood became part of Chicago in 1927. It was not until 1936 that the Works Progress Administration finally laid sewage systems, and paved and lighted city streets. As late as the 1960s, the Mount Greenwood Civic Association was still fighting the city for curbs and gutters. By the 1980s, Mount Greenwood was home to the last surviving farm in the city, which was developed as the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences at the southeast corner of 111th and Pulaski...

To add to the above, Mt. Greenwood also had quite a few brothels. People would travel by train for drinking, gambling and well, you know. Guess the neighbors buried in the cemetaries didn't complain too much.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

where can we find more information like this on the internet?

Anonymous said...

Don't know if much is on the Internet, but what about the Mount Greenwood Historical Society? They used to have lots of stuff at the library. Is it still there?

Anonymous said...

2:27 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Greenwood,_Chicago

Anonymous said...

Wikipedia is a joke. Anybody can write whatever they want - yes, even you. Wiki says Mount Greenwood is the toughest neighborhood in Chicago. yeah, right. Can that guy even spell or use capitalization or punctuation? Teachers do not let kids use this site for reports because it is not reliable. I would not bother to change anything because that just validates the site.

Anonymous said...

we used to have brothels filled with Whores, now we have the 19th Ward Office.

Anonymous said...

Try :The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago it has many stories about all neighborhoods

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