Roots roving

When I'm visiting the family, I like to take my Mom out for a drive. She likes to see the old places and the new things that are going up. I want to find out about the old places before we lose everyone who knows about them.

So yesterday we ventured into North Chicago, where my Dad grew up. It is now a rough and decayed factory town, a miniature Detroit, but when my Dad was born, it still had farmhouses - like the one he was born in:



Mom says that there was a barn where the brick house now sits. It sure doesn't look agricultural now.

Back in the old days, Kristans were apparently big in North Chicago:



Dad's old place is on 16th, just off of Kristan Avenue. I just like to type Kristan Avenue...

Family lore says that one of Dad's forebears was a public official in North Chicago. As far as I know, the last Kristans moved out of North Chicago in the 1950s. As if to illustrate the changes in the neighborhood since Dad's day, two squad cars pulled over a couple of kids while I was taking the pictures; they were right behind me when I was shooting, making me feel a bit awkward. Mom and I soon got back on the road without incident.