St Barbara Church

St Barbara Church Front, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

This is the fourth part in a continuing series of exploring the churches of Bridgeport.

St Barbara was founded as a Polish parish in Chicago's Bridgeport neighboorhood. Located on Throop St the imposing Renaissance styled structure was erected between 1912 and 1914. Looking from the south east at 29th and Halsted one cans see just how immense this church is. One of the unusual design decisions was to have the bell tower in the rear of the church.

Lost Chicago

St Bridget Site - Senior Housing, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

Over the years the Archdiocese of Chicago has allowed many historical significant churches be demolished. This is the site of one of those unfortunate occurrences.

This is the site of St Bridget in Chicago's Bridgeport community. The Church was founded by the Irish and they built a fine church along Archer Avenue.

The Archdiocese didn't seem to have a plan for this church and I know that the non-denominational church I was attending at the time inquired about the property but the Archdiocese refused to sell. It was a shame that the building couldn't be saved. The site sat vacant for many years until 2007 when a Senior Housing building was erected on the site.

Ye Olde Bridgeport

Archer Block 2, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

We finally got some good weather to go out and walk around. I decided to take a walk down Archer Avenue from Halsted to Ashland. My legs are sore but I needed the exercise.

This is a picture of a typical block along Archer Avenue. Some really nice 19th century masonry constructed buildings. These buildings, while fully occupied are in danger of being demolished if they don't receive landmark status. In 2004 the Chicago Landmark Commission put these structures on their watch list.

These buildings are located on the north side of Archer, for some reason most of the buildings on the west side of Archer are of frame construction, mainly homes and a few retail with apartments above. The construction of I-55 destroyed a large portion of the buildings on the north side of Archer and today we are left with a short 3 block stretch.

New Friend

After 9 years of faithful service my old microwave died this week. So today I found myself at Target and picked up this new microwave. I bought another Sharp since the last one gave me such great service. I would have preferred a black or a silver one but this white one will due. I'll just have to clean it more.

Coming to a Close

Outside McCormick Place, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

The autoshow ends it run in Chicago today. The weather has been kind of blah so I didn't get a chance to get back to it.

This a picture of the entrance into Mc Cormick Place.

Drive Like it's 1973

Dodge Challenger Silver-Black front, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

The production Challenger has arrived. It really does look good despite being a sedan instead of a hardtop. A lucky 8400 who have 42 grand will be able to walk away with this beauty. The 2009 model year begins in June and will include cheaper models with V-6s.

With the retro mustang in it's third model year, the Challenger arriving now and the new retro Camaro arriving next year it looks like the early seventies have returned. The new Challenger is the closest reproduction of the original and if we had a time machine it wouldn't look out of place in the early seventies.

America's Best Selling Vehicle

2009 Ford F-150 Sideview, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

The Ford F-150 has been America's best selling Vehicle for more than 30 years. On display is the all new 2009 Ford hopes this truck will help lead them out of their current sales slump.

Most people believe that Ford sells more trucks than GM, but that's not true. GM"s pickup trucks are divided between Chevrolet and GM brands. I like the look of the new F-150 and I'm looking forward to see them on the road.