Battersby’s Map of Chicago’s Downtown (Loop) District

Scarce large scale map of the postwar Loop in Chicago.

This somewhat stiffly organized map presents a detailed overview of the Chicago Loop in the years following World War II. Between Wacker Drive and Polk St., and Michigan Avenue and Wells St. primary thoroughfares are boldly labeled. Within most city blocks, the primary tenants or businesses are named. Banks, theaters, retailers, manufacturers, public buildings, and luxury hotels are among the various features.

Not much can be found online about the author, Joseph Battersby. An advertisement on the right side, with the same phone number, indicates he was a manufacturer of “wheels, casters, and allied equipment,” with an office at 8 S. Dearborn Street. He shares the name with a famous photographer of Chicago’s Great Fire and also produced at least three other ‘Battersby Maps’ of the Chicago Loop, in 1954, 1955, and 1961. This is apparently the only known example of the 1948 edition, though the Chicago History Museum has examples of the other issues.

Sources: OCLC# 1295768164; Chicago Historical Society