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 undated photo from the Blue Island Historical Society shows Sanders School in Blue Island, one of several structures in the city designed by Prairie School architect George W. Maher.

Landmarks: Celebration, preservation on tap as Prairie style architects become a society in Blue Island

March 12, 2024 at 11:50 a.m.

Growing up on Blue Island's east side near the old Sanders School building, Kevin Brown used to ride his bike uptown to the fancy neighborhood and imagine what it would...

Metra plans to make room for additional bikes by installing new racks on its railcars, officials said.

Around the Southland: Free throw champs crowned, Metra OKs bikes for good, and more

January 22, 2024 at 7:19 p.m.

Free throw champs crowned in Mount Greenwood Nine new champions were crowned earlier this month after the annual Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship as Brother Rice High School in...

Italian sausage links cook over a charcoal fire Jan. 11, 2024, at Enzo's & Carmelcorn in Chicago while employee Sasha Stephens fills a customer's order. Stephens said she's been working there for seven years and will miss it.

Landmarks: Enzo’s, one of the last links to Chicago Heights’ old downtown, set to close

March 12, 2024 at 11:51 a.m.

Bill Vitale has been grabbing Italian beef and sausage combo sandwiches from Enzo's in Chicago Heights since the 1960s, though not quite as often these days now that he's living...

The Forest Preserve District of Will County's inaugural Take It Outside Challenge ended Dec. 31 with multiple participants in a tie for first place. Winners completed 501 nature-themed missions throughout the year to wind up at the top of the leader board.

Around the Southland: Oak Lawn musicans jam with peers from California, and more

January 12, 2024 at 11:20 a.m.

Oak Lawn musicians team with peers from California Late last month, students in Oak Lawn Community High School's commercial music department gathered with their counterparts from Huntington Beach High School...

People walk down the Midway Plaisance at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, circa 1893. The Ferris wheel can bee seen in the background.

Landmarks: From Plaisance to Pullman to Chicago Heights, area place names take to the road

March 12, 2024 at 11:50 a.m.

The directions were simple, but hard to say. "Take a left from Stony onto Midway Plaisance," I told my wife, who was transporting our son to an appointment at University...

Leia Cioni and Luke Cioni, both 10, of Minooka, scan the Des Plaines River for bald eagles in 2023 outside the Four Rivers Environmental Education Center in Channahon, which will be hosting the Forest Preserve District of Will County's annual Eagle Watch program, which returns Jan. 13.

Around the Southland: Eagles, trees highlight outdoor excursions

January 5, 2024 at 5:43 p.m.

Will County's Eagle Watch returns Jan. 13 Winter weather may seem prohibitive for outdoor events, but don't tell that to the eagles. The bird so majestic that it was adopted...

Calumet City's Mr. Smiley water tower peers over a shopping area last summer. It's one of two personable water towers in the city, painted with faces in 1973, that were featured in a Landmarks column in 2023.

Landmarks: Unearthing the stories we share is a wonderful journey

December 30, 2023 at 11:15 a.m.

I'm starting to amass a collection on my cellphone of the voices of those we've lost. Maybe amass is the wrong word, because there's only two. Usually, I delete the...

Orland Park Rotarian Sue Linn dropped off Christmas packages containing art supplies to St. Coletta's of Illinois last week.

Around the Southland: Oak Lawn students earn vocabulary honors, Rotarians replenish art supplies, more

December 21, 2023 at 11:05 a.m.

Oak Lawn students deemed best in state at vocabulary Oak Lawn Community High School is the Illinois Champion for the Vocabulary Bowl Fall 2023 season. The competition, sponsored by vocabulary.com,...

The team of Jimmy Duggan, Patrick Jaurez and Gideon Earley from Mustang Baseball Academy won a Wiffle ball tournament that collected for Toys for Tots at Evergreen Park Community High School.

Around the Southland: Cheerleaders bring home hardware, 102-year-old veteran celebrated, and more

December 15, 2023 at 11:18 a.m.

Cheerleaders bring home hardware from Florida The Boss Nation cheer organization brought four teams to Tampa, Florida, last weekend to compete in the United Youth Football League National Competition, with...

Frasier fir trees line a stall at a Christmas tree stand along Sauk Trail that's operated for about 40 years. Owner Rick Reinbold said the stand once offered Scotch pine trees exclusively, because that's what customers wanted, but now fir trees have become the most sought after species.

Landmarks: A Christmas tree lot in Richton Park and ‘crazy lights’ in Flossmoor highlight holiday traditions

December 12, 2025 at 9:58 a.m.

It was fun early in December to see all of the Krampuses popping up in social media posts and even in analog conversation. The mean counterpart to Santa Claus, Krampus,...

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