A little history on the business center of the old Brighton Park Village - the triangle of Archer Avenue, West 38th Street and South Campbell Avenue, known as McKennas Triangle. Brighton Park, originally laid out in 1847, incorporated as a village in 1851 and annexed into the city of Chicago in 1889. As this 1942 photograph shows, there were a number of major buildings situated around this intersection. Originally the area to the right was a large stockyard/cattle holding area, bordering on three sides by Archer Avenue, West Pershing Road and the railroad tracks to the east. The Brighton Stockyards closed after the Union Stockyards opened in 1871, a little further east, down Pershing Road and residential and business building construction began in earnest in this area of Brighton Park. After the Chicago & Alton railroad built a locomotive roundhouse and maintenance yard in 1875 (at 38th and California) their Brighton Park Depot or railroad station was located one block north of this intersection, on Campbell Avenue (formerly known as Hart Street),and what would have been 37th Street. The first on the large halls built in Brighton Park was Tierney’s (or Bidwell’s) Lodge Hall at 3811 South Archer, sitting on the southwest corner of Archer and Campbell. On the first floor was John Noonan’s dry goods store, second floor was a hall and the third floor was a rooming floor, a rooming house favorite of the many different Chicago & Alton locomotive engineers when they visited the railroad yard for maintenance on the locomotives they rode in on. Built in 1878 in the architectural style of the times with a overhanging stone and brick cornice ringing the front and side of the roofline with a corner conical spiral tower. By 1942, both architectural features were gone from the top of this building. Building has been completely and nicely renovated and still stands today. The building that was built across the street from this first hall, on Campbell was the much larger, and was known as the Baker’s Lodge Hall building (built in 1894) with the address of 3795 South Archer. On the ground floor, this building had three large storefronts, one facing Archer Avenue and 2 stores facing Campbell Avenue. The business that occupied the 1st store (facing Archer) was the well established Cunradi Brothers Drug Store. A meat market run by Jerry Sheehan occupied the second storefront at 3811 South Campbell and the third storefront on the first floor was a bakery at 3815. The second and third floors were large meeting halls, which witness many large political events, union meetings and village dances. Originally, this second lodge hall building sported a large onion-shaped dome tower above the top floor, at the corner junction of the building at Archer and Campbell. By this 1942 photograph, this large onion-shape dome tower had been removed. Unfortunately, this grand, turn of the century building was demolished in the late 1960’s. On this stretch of Archer Avenue, between Artesian and Campbell Avenue, there were no less that 8 storefront buildings and 10 businesses once located there. Only a few of the original buildings still stand today. Across Archer Avenue from these 2 lodge halls, a third and even larger lodge hall building was built on 1905, the Haley’s Hall building (2456-60 West 38th Street), on the northeast corner of West 38th Street and South Campbell Avenue. In the late 1870’s, at this location stood another drug store/pharmacy of historical significance in Brighton Park, Fierman C. Brooke’s drug store. The local “Factoryville” post office was moved into Fierman C. Brooke’s drug store in 1884, but was returned the following year to it’s original site in the general store on the northwest corner of Archer and Western Avenues. In 1887, the earliest Brighton Park telephone was installed in F. C. Brooke’s drug store. This building also hosted a number of political, union and society club meetings and gatherings. Haley’s Hall building still stands today but is need of repairs to the masonary brick walls along the top floors. As this 1942 photograph shows, there were still plenty of storefronts and businesses congregated around this street triangle of Archer, Campbell and 38th Street, the heart of Brighton Park. This triangle area of Brighton Park was/is known as McKenna’s Triangle, the Father of ole Brighton Park.
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 04:07:09 +0000