NorthShore
Conductor
For a native Chicagoan, like me, this is surreal. Colorized film from a century ago. It features some buildings, then new (such as the Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower, along with the Opera House and Daily News Building under construction) as well as those (such as the Art Institute) already showing pollution collected age. Not to mention an early skyline and Grant Park in a bit of a different (less cluttered) light, which allows one to appreciate the grandiosity of what was the city that was then dubbed "Paris on the Prairie."
From a transportation view, you'll see several L trains and a station or two, the uncovered north tracks of Union Station (along with some shed covers just like what remains on the south platforms), the Illinois Central freight yards, commuter trains on the I.C./South Shore ROW, I.C.'s Central Station, Northwestern Station, the construction site for Merchandise Mart (with a sign noting that it is also still the freight terminal for C&NW), steam ships on Lake Michigan, vintage cars on boulevards and Lake Shore Drive, an airplane, seemingly on a ship deck perhaps on the piece of land leading out to what is now the site of Adler Planetarium (not yet built in this film, though the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, and Soldier Field are.) And Navy Pier..not to mention some interesting historic ships of the era alongside the sort of sailboats you'll still see in the harbor and on the lake today.
Just an incredible look into what transportation was like a century ago at this significant crossroads of the country.
