History In Humboldt Park - Chicago

History in Humboldt Park
Vintage Restaurants

4000 W Grand Ave

Jimmy's Red Hots

Jimmy's Red Hots has been at the corner of Grand and Pulaski Streets, 4000 West Grand Avenue, since 1954. The hot dogs are renowned. The decor is not. But we're not talking haute cuisine here, so the only thing that matters is a clean kitchen and a friendly staff. There's no seating -- just a narrow passage allowing a few customers to stand and gaze out the window while they eat.

Margie's Candies

The “Security Sweet Shop” was founded in 1921 by a Greek immigrant named Peter George Poulos. Peter soon handed off the operations to his son George, who renamed the confectionery “Margie’s Candies” in honor of his wife, whom he met at the store during his youth.

History in Humboldt Park
Residents

1141 North Sacramento Boulevard

Jens Jensen

Landscape architect Jens Jensen resided at 1141 North Sacramento Boulevard. Jensen created the Prairie Style of landscape design, which included no straight lines. He designed Columbus Park in 1916 and redesigned Humboldt, Douglas, and Garfield Parks. He also designed the Lincoln Memorial Gardens in Springfield.

1667 North Humboldt Boulevard

L. Rrank Baum

Without writer L. Frank Baum, the world would not know Dorothy, the Lion, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man. He wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz while living at 1667 North Humboldt Boulevard in 1899. Baum later moved to California and wrote more than 60 books. Oz Park (in the Lincoln Park neighborhood) is a tribute to him.

History in Humboldt Park
Mobsters

944 North California Avenue

George "Baby Face" Nelson's Boyhood Home

This was the boyhood home of notorious bank robber, car thief, and bootlegger, Lester J. Gillis, a.k.a. George "Baby Face" Nelson at 944 North California Avenue. After FBI agents shot and killed John Dillinger, the FBI declared Nelson "Public Enemy No. 1."

At age 14, Nelson was already running with a local gang whose members dubbed him "Baby Face" because of his juvenile appearance and small stature (he was 5' 4" tall and weighed 133 pounds). Compared to the carnage he wrought later in life, Nelson's early crimes were tame. They included armed robbery, stealing tires, bootlegging, and "running stills" (whatever that means). In January 1931, he was sent to prison for a bank robbery committed in Chicago. During his incarceration, authorities temporarily moved him to stand trial for a robbery committed in Wheaton, but on February 17, 1932, he escaped on the way back to Joliet. He subsequently spent time in California, Indiana, Texas, Nevada, and Washington State before returning to Chicago in April 1934.

One month prior to his return, Nelson and henchmen he recruited for a slew of bank robberies, including one of their notorious associates, Homer Van Meter, footed the necessary cash to help Dillinger execute his famous "wooden pistol" prison escape in Crown Point, Indiana. After the successful escape, Nelson, his associate John Paul Chase, and his wife Helen Gillis joined the John Dillinger gang. Chase remained in Chicago, but Nelson and his wife vacationed with the rest of the Dillinger gang at the Little Bohemia Lodge in northern Wisconsin, where FBI agents discovered them on April 22, 1934. Nelson soon killed two hostages and an FBI special agent.

On June 30, 1934, Nelson, Dillinger, and Van Meter robbed Merchants National Bank in South Bend, Indiana. As they approached their meeting place back in Chicago, Nelson shot and killed two police officers on Wolf Road.

After FBI agents shot and killed Dillinger outside the Biograph Theater on Lincoln Avenue on July 22, 1934, Nelson fled to California, but made frequent trips back to Chicago. He and Chase stole a car in Chicago on November 26, 1934, and drove to Wisconsin.

Three days later, FBI inspector Samuel P. Cowley received word that two special agents spotted the stolen car near Barrington, Illinois. After a brief chase, Nelson veered off Northwest Highway, at the entrance to the North Side Park in Barrington, and stopped. In the ensuing five-minute gun battle, Nelson shot and killed two FBI agents, including Cowley. "Baby Face" was critically wounded and died around 8 p.m. that same evening. The next day, FBIi agents discovered where Chase disposed of Nelson's body, near a cemetery in Niles Center, Illinois.

History in Humboldt ParkVintage Restaurants