UNDERGROUND CHICAGO: A WALKING TOUR
Did you know that cemeteries and skeletons played a major role in the history of Chicago? Over the last 100 years, digging in almost any area of the city's original Gold Coast has uncovered unidentified skeletons and remains of the graveyards that used to inhabit the neighborhood. Join an excursion of Lincoln Park and hear about how it was once a vast, windswept wasteland that housed a gigantic burial place.
Learn of the dramatic efforts made to remove 35,000 bodies from the area's cemeteries to make way for homes and businesses, and join the tour to the location of several thousand bodies from the area's Civil War prison camp. Hear stories of grave-robbing and private investigation swirling around the sites of the original cemeteries. The fantastic tales even include the graveyards' involvement in the Chicago Fire and modern-day skeleton discoveries as unwitting home owners find bodies in their backyards!
Chicago Historian Sally S. Kalmbach invites your participation on a trek that will surprise and thrill you as you discover how death, disease, and bones have changed the face of Chicago history.
Walking tour dates:
Thursday, SEPTEMBER 30th 10 a.m. until noon
Saturday, OCTOBER 2nd 10:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.
Please RSVP to sskalmbach@yahoo.com OR 773 868 9096
$25 per person
Recommended reading:
Hidden Truths: The Chicago City Cemetery and Lincoln Park
What Lies Beneath Lincoln Park (Chicago Life Magazine)
Graveyards of Chicago: the People, History, Art, and Lore of Cook County By Matt Hucke, Ursula Bielski
Photo credit: Early Chicago
2 comments:
Great suggestion. I know people love Kalmbach's tours.
A very interesting piece of information. Didn't know the city is on top of a once massive burial site.
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