The Ridge Historic District, known for its many historic homes, is celebrating its 50th anniversary with 61 new banners commemorating its place in history, as well as some festivities.
The District, in Chicago’s Beverly and Morgan Park communities, is considered one of the largest properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It runs from 87th Street to 115th Street and was designated a historic district May 28, 1976.
Architectural styles on display in the Ridge Historic District buildings include Italianate, Gothic, Queen Anne, Prairie School and Renaissance Revival. It also includes three Chicago Landmark Districts: the Longwood Drive Historic District, the Beverly/Morgan Park Railroad Station Historic District and the Walter Burley Griffin Place Historic District.
The Ridge Historic District commemorative banners recently were unveiled at 10616 S. Longwood Drive, where officials read an updated resolution recognizing the area for its historical and architectural significance.
“Originally when drafted it focused on well-known architecture, including Frank Lloyd Wright, but I also wanted to highlight some of the local architects … who are less known beyond our boundaries,” said Tim Blackburn, historian at Ridge Historical Society.
One “pioneering architect” deserving of attention Blackburn said, was Maud M. Kirk, an area resident.
“We found she designed at least five houses in the Ridge Historic District from 1909 to 1912,” Blackburn said. “Females weren’t welcomed into the architectural trade and I really thought that as a-little known architect, it was really important to recognize her in this resolution.”
Blackburn said the district is composed of more than 3,000 buildings and features a collection of architectural styles mainly built between 1870 and 1930.
The banners unveiled at the commemoration state the community is an “outdoor museum of architecture.” They display renderings of the Givins Irish Castle and homes built by Frank Lloyd Wright and Walter Burley Griffin and resulted from a collaboration between Blackburn and Beverly Area Planning Association marketing director Mairead Shoenfeld.
Beverly Area Planning Association executive director Herb Lentz, who has lived in Beverly for more than a decade and has family roots there, said his favorite part of the neighborhood was the people and their relationship to their homes.
“There is a strong sense of connectedness and belonging,” said Lentz. “And the architecture of the homes in the area plays a role in that.
“I love living in an area and in a neighborhood that has held onto its sense of character and history. There’s a feeling of pride in how people care for their homes and their streets that you can feel immediately. The types of homes in the neighborhood provide such a rich mosaic with something to see at every turn on every block.”
Lentz said the 50th anniversary celebrations help to harness that feeling.
“The 50th anniversary of the Ridge Historic District matters because I think it’s a chance to name something that residents here already feel but don’t always have words for. We don’t live in just pretty neighborhoods,” he said. “Celebrating that is a way of saying what you’ve done here matters, and we intend to keep doing it.”
Paula Everett, president of the Ridge Historical Society, who has lived in the house she grew up in in Beverly for most of her life, pointed out how difficult it can be to keep up an old home, yet people in the neighborhood do it.
“What makes the neighborhood special is, you look at a house and say, ‘Oh, the Jones’ lived there … a lot of times people aren’t there anymore but you remember the house,” said Everett.
The 50th anniversary celebration will continue from noon to 5 p.m. May 17 with a home tour beginning at Mercy Home for Boys & Girls, Walsh Girls Campus, 11600 S. Longwood Drive. The tour also will stop at Ridge Historical Society, 10621 S. Seeley Ave., Chicago, for a new exhibit of Mati Maldre’s large format photographs of historic structures and residences in the Beverly and Morgan Park communities.
Maldre is a long-time board member of the Ridge Historical Society and retired professor of art/photography at Chicago State University.
His new book, “The Architecture of Chicago’s Beverly Hills, Morgan Park” is scheduled for release July 28.
From 7 to 9 p.m. May 29, Maldre and Blackburn will be on site to discuss the exhibit and answer questions.
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
