Galewood

A rare and early plat map of the Chicago suburb of Galewood.

This rare and early plat captures the birth of Galewood, today a neighborhood on Chicago’s far West Side. It was issued by J.W. Middleton of 31 State Street on behalf of Abram Gale, who arrived from New York City in 1835 and bought 320 acres in the Town of Jefferson two years later. Those 320 acres are the two quarter sections noted immediately above the title. Gale’s property was so heavily wooded that it proved difficult to plow, and he eventually gave up farming. Fortunately, the Chicago & Pacific Railroad decided to run through the land in the early 1870s. Gale sold the railroad a half interest in the property, and the farm became a suburb.

The plan divides the tract into fifty numbered blocks between Oak Park and Austin Avenues, bounded by North Avenue to the south and the railroad to the north. Most of the grid is rigidly conventional, apart from two diagonal avenues, Ridgeland and Garden. The real charm lies in the handful of supplementary decorative elements. Small vignettes capture the Chicago and Pacific Railroad Station and what are most likely the first two homes in Galewood (one of which belonged to Gale himself).

Soft green overprinting, carefully applied, emphasizes the forested, rolling landscape. Clearings are shown around the aforementioned residences, as well as a deliberate circle that may be a forecast of the third (constructed around 1874). While the heavily wooded area may not have been conducive to a farming community, it was an attractive feature for a suburb otherwise largely surrounded by prairies.

Sources: Chicago Park District; Encyclopedia of Chicago; Second Shelters