Skip to content
Men gather around a fire on Lower Wacker Drive, circa Oct. 12, 1931.
Chicago Tribune historical photo
Men gather around a fire on Lower Wacker Drive, circa Oct. 12, 1931.
Chicago Tribune
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

West Madison Street was once called Skid Row, a 12-block stretch of flophouses, gin joints and battered dreams. Hobos, bums, and tramps were the names given to the homeless, the jobless and the hopeless in the early part of the 20th century.