I Love Chicago! - Neighborhoods - Andersonville Traditional Cache
Reviewer Smith: I Love Chicago!
As this cache was not reactivated within the 30-day window noted within the reviewer/disable note, the listing will now be archived.
Reviewer Smith
I Love Chicago! - Neighborhoods - Andersonville
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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A hanging camo Bison Capsule. Parking might be tough!
The Short Story
Andersonville is on the North Side (located in Edgewater), about five miles north-northwest of downtown. It was once a heavily Swedish neighborhood. Today, it has a large gay and lesbian population.
The approximate street boundaries of Andersonville are North Broadway to the east, North Ravenswood Avenue to the west, West Winnemac Avenue to the south, and North Ridge Avenue to the north.
The main shopping street is North Clark Street, which runs roughly north-south. The stretch of North Clark Street south of West Foster Avenue is undergoing some gentle development and is sometimes called South Foster, or even more ironically SoFo.
The Longer Story :)
Andersonville's roots as a community extend well back into the 19th century, when immigrant Swedish farmers started moving north into what was then a distant suburb of Chicago. In the 1850's the area north of Foster and east of Clark was a large cherry orchard, and families had only begun to move into the fringes of what is now Andersonville. The neighborhood's first school, the Andersonville School, was built in 1854 at the corner of those two thoroughfares, and served as the area's primary school until 1908.
After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, wooden homes were outlawed in Chicago. Swedish immigrants, who could not afford to build homes of stone or brick, began to move outside of the city's northern limits. Swedish immigrants continued to arrive in Andersonville through the beginning of the 20th century, settling in the newly built homes surrounding Clark Street. Before long, the entire commercial strip was dominated by Swedish businesses, from delis to hardware stores, shoe stores to blacksmiths, and bakeries to realty companies. The local churches, such as Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Bethany Methodist Episcopal Church, and St. Gregory's Roman Catholic Church, were also built by Swedes, and reflected the religious diversity of the new arrivals.
Like most other European-American ethnic groups, Swedes began to move to the suburbs during the Depression and post-war periods, and the neighborhood began to decline. Concerned about the deteriorating commercial situation, the Uptown Clark Street Business Association renewed its commitment to its Swedish heritage by renaming itself the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce. On October 17, 1964 Andersonville was rededicated in a ceremony attended by Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and Illinois Governor Otto Kerner. At about the same time, the annual Swedish tradition of celebrating the summer solstice blossomed into Midsommarfest, which has since grown into one of Chicago's largest and most popular street festivals.
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Dedication:
To the caching crew of JustUsTwo and Tishman and Lucy.
There isn't a group that has more fun in northern Illinois.
I just can't wait to hear of their adventures with this series. :)
Have fun you'se guys!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Va gur terra ohfu.