Paul Eisenberg

Paul Eisenberg is a lifelong resident of the south suburbs, aside from a 10-year stint in other areas of Illinois, who loves telling interesting stories about people and places.

An American linden tree dating to the 1850s sits destroyed June 15, 2026, across Eighth Street from President Abraham Lincoln’s house, left, in Springfield. The “witness tree,” growing in front of the Dean House, is believed to be the last one remaining that Lincoln would have seen on the block before leaving for the presidency in 1861. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Last Abraham Lincoln ‘witness tree,’ planted by his Springfield neighbors, is felled by storm

June 16, 2026 at 11:41 a.m.

The last "witness tree" across the street from Abraham Lincoln's home in Springfield was destroyed by last week's storm.

The German zeppelin Hindenburg bursts into flames as it noses toward the mooring post at the Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937. (Murray Becker/AP)

Landmarks: A Hindenburg survivor’s legacy lives on at his Homewood home and a Saint Xavier University dorm

May 8, 2026 at 2:55 p.m.

Nelson Morris, of Homewood, was one of four Chicago area passengers on the doomed Hindenburg flight of May 6, 1937. Three survived.

Geoffrey Baer, a self described "train nut," got a chance to drive an antique steam locomotive during filming for his new program "Riding the Rails with Geoffrey Baer." (Liz Farina Markel)

Landmarks: Geoffrey Baer eyes Chicago area’s long relationship with railroads in new program

April 13, 2026 at 3:55 p.m.

Geoffrey Baer’s latest program on WTTW takes dive deep into the links to passenger and freight railroads in the city and suburbs.

A man walks alongside Wolf Lake Jan.13, 2026, in Hammond, Indiana. As a proposal erect a Chicago Bears football stadium near the lake gains momentum, longtime Wolf Lake advocates say it's just another chapter of the lake's story. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Landmarks: Potential Chicago Bears stadium near Wolf Lake just the latest story for a place that’s always changing

March 3, 2026 at 10:26 a.m.

Potential Chicago Bears stadium near Wolf Lake just the latest story for a place thats long balanced nature, recreation and industry.

A photo of the Christmas tree lot in Richton Park that inspired Rikk Dunlap’s novel sits on top of his manuscript on Sept. 30, 2019, in Chicago. (Gary Middendorf-Daily Southtown)

Richton Park tree lot that was the setting for a Hallmark Christmas movie shuts down after 40 years

December 15, 2025 at 5:08 p.m.

A Christmas tree lot along Sauk Trail, the setting for Hallmark's "Christmas Under The Stars" movie, closed after 40 years.

Silenced for years, Oak Park’s Seabury Chime to sound again at Grace Episcopal Church

November 13, 2025 at 9:56 a.m.

Grace Episcopal Church in Oak Park will ring its century-old Seabury Chime bells once again after a three-year silence.

Michael Boswell, who graduated in 1984 from Bloom High School in Chicago Heights, assembled a photo book celebrating the architecture of the building ahead of Bloom's 125th birthday. (Paul Eisenberg/Daily Southtown)

Landmarks: As Bloom High School marks 125 years, a new book celebrates ‘an art deco masterpiece’

September 14, 2025 at 5:05 a.m.

As Bloom High School in Chicago Heights marks its 125th birthday, Michael Boswell celebrates this 'art deco masterpiece' in photo book.

A picture of new Pope Leo XIV as a child in 1959, center, with his brothers Louis, left, and John, right, is laid out on a kitchen table at the home of his brother, John Prevost, Thursday, May 8, 2025, in New Lenox. (Photo courtesy John Prevost)

The south suburban world where Pope Leo XIV grew up now very much changed

July 15, 2025 at 4:25 p.m.

Places where Robert Francis Prevost may have spent childhood in, around Dolton is mostly now photographs and memories.

The windmill atop the former Pioneer Motel in Lansing faces the interchange of Torrence Avenue and the Kingery Expressway June 7, 2025, amid the motel's demolition. An effort to save and relocate the windmill is underway. (Paul Eisenberg/Daily Southtown)

Landmarks: Pioneer Motel’s iconic windmill comes down along I-80 in Lansing

June 20, 2025 at 10:31 a.m.

The "crime-loaded" Pioneer Motel along Interstate 80 in Lansing is being demolished, but an effort could preserve its iconic windmill.

Hinsdale police assisted in an investigation and arrest of two men suspected of robbing a letter carrier in the village in 2022. (Annemarie Mannion/Pioneer Press)

Arrests made in 2022 armed robbery of letter carrier in Hinsdale

May 16, 2025 at 2:07 p.m.

Two arrests were made in connection to the armed robbery of a letter carrier in Hinsdale just after 1 p.m. May 9, 2022.

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