Northside

Chicago’s Northside is home to Wrigley Field, several beautiful parks and, of course, many U-High students. When wandering the neighborhoods, be sure to check out the Graceland Cemetery and Arboretum, an especially beautiful place for a stroll on a sunny day. Stop for a bite to eat or a cup of joe at The Coffee and Tea Exchange, a local cafe that has safely adapted social distancing procedures. 

Victory Gardens Theater, or the Biograph Theater

2433 N. Lincoln Ave.

Walking down Lincoln Avenue, it’s difficult not to notice the old-fashioned canopy marquee of the Biograph Theater. The theater is best known for being the site of infamous Chicago gangster John Dillinger’s demise. The theater is also one of Chicago’s oldest, having first opened its doors in 1914. The Biograph has since undergone renovation to present live shows rather than movies, but its classic look has been preserved.

Emerald City Gardens – Oz Park

601 W. Webster Ave.

Oz Park’s perennial gardens are a quiet and pretty place to enjoy nature somewhere over the rainbow. 

St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Old Town

1633 N. Cleveland Ave.

The dramatic arches of St. Michael’s are a grand and unexpected sight in the middle of the city. It was originally built by German Catholic immigrants in Chicago’s Old Town. The Victorian church, completed in 1896, is one of the only buildings in the area to survive the Chicago fire. According to the church’s website, at the time of its completion the 200-foot-tall steeple made the church one of the city’s tallest buildings. When visiting St. Michael’s, take time to look around the neighborhood as well, as Old Town is home to several other historical sites.

Mid-North Park

401 W. Belden Ave.

Mid-North Park is a bright spot of green in the middle of Lincoln Park. The park, consisting only of four benches overhung with trees and surrounding a fountain, may not be big, but it’s the perfect place to spend some time with a good book and a reliable face mask.

The Dewes House

503 W. Wrightwood Ave.

The ornate exterior of the Dewes House decorates the corner of Wrightwood Avenue and Hampden Court.

A pair of crumbling caryatids decorate the entrance to the Dewes House.

The Dewes House, adorned with two crumbling statues greeting visitors at the door, looks like a place out of time. Built in 1896 for millionaire Francis Dewes, the mansion is an example of German Baroque architecture, a style characterized by its ornate designs. Fun fact: the figures holding up the balcony are Greek architectural features known as caryatids, statues of draped women that double as structural supports.

Graceland Cemetery

4001 N. Clark St.

One of Graceland Cemetery and Arboretum's over 2,000 trees provides shade for a row of gravestones.

The waters of Graceland Cemetery's Lake Willowmere reflect a cloudy day.

Elegant gravestones and pastoral greenery dot the grounds of the Graceland Cemetery. The cemetery, established in 1860, is a certified arboretum with over 2,000 trees within its gates. Wanderers might stumble across a small lake, unique monuments and the graves of historically significant Chicagoans. 

The Music Box Theatre

3733 N. Southport Ave.

This atmospheric-style theater has been a fixture of Lakeview since its opening night in 1929. If you stop by, look out for “Whitey,” the Music Box’s resident friendly ghost. When you get home, check out the theatre’s virtual cinema. 

Temple Sholom

3480 N. Lake Shore Dr.

The lakefront synagogue has housed Temple Sholom’s Reform Jewish congregation since 1928, but the congregation predates the building by over half a century, being one of the city’s oldest. While services and community programming have been moved online, the synagogue’s large Byzantine style dome and ornate Moorish Revival exterior make the building’s architecture a destination of its own.

The Coffee and Tea Exchange

3311 N. Broadway

For those missing their morning caffeine fix but nervous about safety, this shop is the place to go. The Coffee and Tea Exchange has taken every precaution to allow patrons to grab a drink safely; face masks are required, only one customer is allowed to enter the store at a time and those waiting to enter must maintain distance, as guided by lines of red tape.

The Legacy Walk

Running through the heart of Chicago’s Boystown, The Legacy Walk commemorates LGBTQ+ historical figures with monuments lining the North Halsted Corridor from Belmont to Grace. The Legacy Walk is part of the Legacy Project, a non-profit organization that brings light to LGBTQ+ contributions to history. According to the project’s website, the walk is the world’s largest LGBTQ+-focused historical landmark. Take time to read each of the monuments’ bronze plaques, forty in total, to learn about the lives of these individuals. 

All images from this chapter taken by Caroline Hohner.