Street-End Beaches/Area Harbors & Doggie Beach

At the End of the Street a Beach

in District of Lake View 

The first public bathing beach opened 1895 in Lincoln Park primarily as a response to the efforts of the 'Free Bath and Sanitary League' (formerly the Municipal Order League). One element of the campaign involved persuading the city and state governments to designate certain spaces as beaches for public use. The second element involved ensuring that the city would clean up and maintain these beaches so that city residents could actually enjoy the benefit of access to clean water. While the primary motivation of middle-class reformers in opening the bathing beaches was to improve the health and sanitary habits of the working class, the campaign also demanded that city dwellers have recreational use of the lake. By the mid 1930’s the City of Chicago had reclaimed the land on which many of the private beaches operated. Montrose was the last harbor constructed in the northside. The most popular muncipal beach was located along Clarendon Avenue south of Montrose. That beachhead and its amenties was established in 1916.

1905 poster - with article from Chicago Detours

1919 photo below - Benjamin Yolarski‎ via

'Chicagoland Before We Were Born'-Facebook

From Beach to a Harbor

Sulzer Road (Montrose Avenue) 

Beach in 1887

photo - Ravenswood-Lake View Community Collection, 

Sulzer Regional Library via Explore Chicago Collection

To a Harbor 

by mid 1930's

via William Russ/Forgotten Chicago Discussion Group

The Shoreline Maps

1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map

before Sheridan Road & Lake Shore Drive 

Many of the major streets ended at the lake with a beach

such as Belmont Avenue and (Addison Street - before a tide).

1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map

Belmont Yacht Harbor was open to the public by 1913 but still had its street-end beach until the widening and lengthening of 

Lake Shore Drive by the late 1930's

Prior to the annexation of City of Lake View in 1889 Fullerton Avenue was the border between the City of Chicago and the 

City of Lake View. The taxing authority that paid for land along the lakefront north of Fullerton Avenue was still property taxpayers of the Township of Lake View. And to complex this narrative any further the State of Illinois sanctioned Lincoln Park Board of Commissioners administered the expansion of the park, the roadways along the lake and park, and street-end beaches, and the construction of the northside harbors that slower replaced the beaches due to the widening of N Lake Shore Drive by the mid 1930's. The Lake View Township taxing authority still exists today as well as the Lincoln Park Board of Commissioners - now a token agency within the City of Chicago.

I have another post just about the relationship between the park, Lincoln Park and old Lake View and the property taxpayers of old Lake View who paid for the park's initial amenities when the park expanded north of Fullerton Avenue by 1870.

View of the then 

Existing Lakefront 

edit 1896 map - Alabama University Digital Maps

The Most Popular Street-End 

Beaches are Joined Together:

 A Bathing Beach Planned 

in 1896

between Fullerton Avenue

and Diversey Parkway

Fullerton Avenue Beach 

in 1898

before modern amenties were awarded 

by the City of Chicago and the property taxpayers of the 

Township of Lake View

The Logic 

for the Free Beach-Front

in 1901

Property Owners

Question Paying without 

Representation in old Lake View

in 1902

Children at Play 

at the Beach

in 1902

Throngs of Bathers

in 1908

Opening the Beach-Front 

in 1910

The Beach-Front is Free

in 1910

Dear Old Lake Michigan

in 1910

Fullerton Avenue

 Street-End Beach

postcard part of my collection

The Proposed Lakefront

Then and Now

all images - Historic Map Works

These images are from Sanborn Fire Maps of 1909 that highlighted the proposed plans to extend Lincoln Park northward from Fullerton Avenue to Cornelia Street. The plan to expand northward was approved by the Chicago City Council in 1913. Lincoln Park would  gradually be established northward by the late 1920's. The future harbors were to be lagoons apparently retaining their street-end beaches within the new harbor space.

The Proposed View of the Lakefront

Fullerton Avenue to Diversey Boulevard (Parkway)

2016 Google Map view

Diversey Boulevard 

to Belmont Avenue

                     2016 Google Map view                     

 Cornelia was the northern border of Lincoln Park until the mid to late 1920's to early 1930's. The development of Montrose Beach and Harbor would be the next development northward.

Belmont Avenue 

to Cornelia Avenue

2016 Google Map view

Belmont Yacht Harbor Opens

in 1913

the thin layer of beach remains

this postcard is part of my collection

The Beaches Increased Popularity 

by 1916

Bathing Suits 

and Other Requirements

in 1916

Less on Beaches

& more landfill

in 1917

More Park Space North 

of Irving Park Road 

in 1927

A 1928 View 

of the Landfill to Montrose

colorized photo - Calumet 412

Lincoln Park now ends at Wilson Avenue

 and keeping the street-end beach of Wilson Avenue intact. As the park is extended northward so is Lake Shore Drive

photo - unknown source

The Municipal Beach

at Clarendon Avenue

established in 1916

known at the time 

as the 'first peoples beach'

1928 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map 

located between Galt (Agatitle) & Windsor Avenues

zoomed from above

showing the present shore line at the time

Chicago History in Postcards

Signage in 1916

The Rules 

of the Road

Vintage Bathing Beaches

 A Short List:

Addison Street-End 

Beach 

photos - Chicago History Museum via Daily News Archive
This particular boardwalk shown below began somewhere near Diversey Parkway and ended near Grace Street. 

 1915 photos - Chicago History Museum via Daily News Archive

At high-tide this beachhead would be submerged

Barry Avenue 

'Street-end' Bathing Beach 

in 1903

referred to as the 'Babies Beach'

a private beach

Swimming Races at Barry Beach

in 1905

Rescues in 1899

Barry Avenue & the lakefront 

in 1891

and in 1923

Barry Beach and others

Abandoned by 1910

The Oakdale 

Bathing Beach

as it look in 1902

Diversey Avenue (Parkway)

Bathing Beach

District of Lake View

Diversey Avenue/Boulavard was to be the link to 

Lincoln Park and the Chicago's boulavard/park system

in the 1890's - I have a post for that part of our history

park and beach space 1910-ish - Calumet 412

postcard - Ebay

1890ish photo - via Calumet 412

 1909 view according to Calumet 412

and a 1912 view according to Calumet 412

Wellington Avenue 

Bathing Beach & a Sewer

Bonds from Lake View (Township)

to create a lagoon/beach/harbor

in 1894

Separating Men 

from Women/Children

in 1914

The Fence that Separates: 

The Pro or Con

in 1915

Apparently, the Diversey Avenue Bathing Beach
1907 postcard - Ebay

early 1920's - Ebay

The Bathing Beach 

to be replaced by Golfers in 1922??

1924 postcard view - Chuckman Collection

This postcard, while highlighting the The Embassy Hotel on Diversey Parkway, also highlights the park space between the harbors - Diversey to Belmont - at that time. By the late 1930's the golf course would be shorten again due to the widening of 

Lake Shore Drive's federal WPA project

postcard - Ebay

what appears to be the Diversey Avenue Bridge

1929 photo below - Chuckman Collection 

Clarendon Municipal Public Beach

zoomed from above

the initial rendering of new harbor

 map - Chicagology

It was largest public 'bathing' beach in Chicago and promoted as the largest beach in the world, 

at that time

image - Chicago Park District

photo - Illinois Library Digital Collection
'Tens of thousands in the water at Clarendon Beach, 1916: 23,000 bathers have visited this single beach in one day."  

photos - Calumet 412 

Located at the foot of Sunnyside Avenue - 1920's 

Chuckman Collection & Chicago History in Postcards

1916 photo - University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign

1917 - Chicago History Museum via Daily News Archives 

A Field House view 

in 1916 

photos - Chicago History Museum via Daily News Archives

The 'Public House' building was designed by city architect C.W. Kallal in a Mediterranean Revival Style, an architectural style that was used for such buildings as Marshall and Fox’s South Shore Country Club of 1916 (now South Shore Cultural Center) and the 63rd Street Bathing Pavilion in 1919. This style, also referred to as the 'Italian Resort Style' was defined by tall towers capped with hipped-roofs clad in clay tiles, large entry colonnades, porticos, loggias and open-air promenades compliments this style of architecture.

Aerial Photo in 1925

Chicago & the Midwest/Newberry Library

(to enlarge)

zoomed view below

Beach to be Replaced 

in 1931

Construction of the 

New Harbor

by late 1920's

draining out the water to be landfilled 

much like the same process for Belmont Harbor

1928 photo - Art Institute of Chicago

photo - Ask Geoffrey Chicago Tonight WTTW

Plans for the old 'Public House' 

and property 1929

Due to the potential loss of beach with the extension of the park northward plans were made to create a city college on that public land. The plan would ultimately fail.

A new harbor replaces the 
Clarendon Municipal Bathing Beach by 1932
image - Art Institute of Chicago

photo above - Art Institute of Chicago

photo below - via Bob Hendricks/Forgotten Chicago 

Discussion Group

Wilson Avenue Bathing Beach

(a private beach - for neighbors only)

There was this wall separating the Clarendon Municipal Beach with the one on Wilson

photo - Chuckman Collection

postcards - Chicago History in Postcards 

Below is the photo of the fence that separated the public beach from the nieghborhood private beach

photos - Chicago History Museum, Daily News photographer

1905 with the Wilson Avenue Crib in the background 

A Race along the stretch of the beach 

from Monstrose Avenue in 1913

1915 photo - Chicago History Museum Daily News Archives

Protest Against Vice 

in 1911

Of course, vice meant a great deal more in those days

A Winter Scene 

with view toward Wilson Avenue Bathing Beach

unknown date

Chicago History Museum Daily News Archives

 1919 photo - Chicago History Museum

The Water Swing 1921 - Calumet 412

 1922 that shows the divider between the public 

and private beach from the Wilson Avenue side

Riparian Rights/Limits Signed into 

Federal Law 

in 1917

Wilson Avenue Bathing Beach 

becomes Public

in 1918

The Lawrence Avenue 

Street-End Beach

The Lake View Water Pumping Station (chimney) is in the background once located on Clarendon Avenue

between Irving Park Road and Montrose

I have a post of the Lake View Water Works - the crib & the pumping station that was once located on the northeast corner of Clarendon and Montrose avenues

The Argyle Avenue

 Bathing Beach

photo - '900 Block of Argyle Historical Appreciation Page'
on Facebook

unknown date

Riparian Rights Issue and 

the End of Street-end Beaches
A Map of Possibilities in 1926

and not without 

of court battle

Plans for Continued for Expansion 

Even Further North

in 1933

The Lincoln Park Board of Commissioners sought to create a similar plan to mirror the 1933 World Fair design

 
The Belmont Yacht Harbor 

Bathing Beach

I have a more extension post(s) on this harbor

 postcard view indicated a beach area
both images part of my personal collection

a 1940 view indicates a beach area
Just north of Belmont Avenue along the harbor was a beach space that surrounded the club house. That space disappeared after the Lake Shore Drive extension of 1937-42
There's Another 

Type of Beach

called 
The Doggie Beach

at Belmont Harbor

3600 N Lake Shore Drive

Belmont Harbor Dog Beach is located at 3600 N Lake Shore Drive on just north of Belmont Harbor waters. The stretch of sand if what is left of the old beach area. The area is about 1/10th of an acre. There’s still plenty of room for dogs to run, frolic and play fetch. As with all Chicago dog parks/beaches, dogs must have an up-to-date vaccination tag.

An Account 

in 1994

Chicago Park District still says NO

in 2003

A Tribune Review in 2009

photo - Chicago Tribune

photo - Wibiti

aerial view

photos - Yelp

 with more photos 

The Dog Park

2024

"I have given my support to move forward with a new location for the Lake View dog park in Lincoln Park, about a quarter mile off of Wellington, and near the Maradona Practice Field (see map). Please note that a previous location was near the Barry entrance to the lake, and the location was shifted so the park could be both larger and further away from residences.We hope that this location will serve nearby dog owners, and make use of an out of the way, otherwise vacant area. I have committed $100,000 in funding to support this project, and in order to ensure it meets the needs of both dog owners and residents, I encourage you to fill out the survey below." 

- Alderman Bennett Lawson, 44th ward

'Rules of the Dog Road'

Pay Attention

Paying attention is the No. 1 rule of dog beach etiquette. "Keep a close eye on them," said Oliver Sorisho, 20, of Park Ridge, who had his 4-month-old pitbull Bella with him at Montrose. The dog beach is a great place for both humans and dogs to socialize, as long as human interaction isn't your only focus, Clayton, 35, said. Don't ever leave your dog unattended, even if you're just stepping away for a moment, advises MonDog, a volunteer-run organization that represents dog beach owners of Montrose.

Pee Happens

Stuff on the ground is fair game, MonDog says. Accept it. "Dogs will pee on ANYTHING on the ground. Shoes, back packs, chairs, bags of poo, coolers, you name it. Once one pees on it, they all want to pee on it. Or one will drag it off as a toy. So put stuff on the ground at your own risk. It's a better idea to hang it on the fence."

Oblige Separation Requests

If an owner doesn't want your dog playing with his or her dog, you should oblige, according to MonDog. If your dog's the one being picked on, should you speak up? When Josia Martinez, of Irving Park, runs into problems, he usually just calls his 5-year-old Siberian husky Luna away to a different area of the huge beach. "It's not my place to say something," he said. "Just relocate."

No Food

There's no food allowed on the dog beach, but during last week's visit, it was in high supply. Martinez said the worst etiquette infraction he's seen at the dog beach is people feeding others' pets. "People feeding other dogs, that’s a big problem," Martinez said. "You don't know what someone else's dog is allergic to."

Know Your Dog's Limits

Training is important, and Sorisho's 4-month-old pitbull puppy Bella was learning the ropes at Montrose Monday. Sorisho kept close by, and often pulled her off of other dogs if she started to play too rough. I feel like my dog is the meanest one here," he said. "She always picks on the little ones." Sorisho estimated 95 percent of owners at the dog beach follow the rules, and he's enjoyed getting new puppy advice when talking to other owners. If a dog is aggressive, though, it needs to be leashed and removed from the beach immediately, MonDog says.

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Overseers of the Poor and Outcast

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These posts are exclusively used for educational purposes. I do not wish to gain monetary profit from this blog nor should anyone else without permission for the original source - thanks!!