They Rocked by CoreyBlack
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Description
Erected in the early 20th Century, the limestone block and boulder breakwater along Chicago's lakefront was one of the many interesting and distinctive elements of the city's over-all look. Unofficially known as "The Rocks", it also proved quite durable, with some portions still in use after more than a century. Other sections, however, began to crumble during the 1980s, and after over a decade of quick fix patch up jobs, the city began to install a bland concrete revetment "shelf" in the year 2000. Unofficially known as "The Shelf", it has all the charm of last night's reeking ashtray. In the last 11 years the city has replaced about 50% of the old rocks with the new shelf, but has done so in a strangely helter-skelter fashion. Case in point are the are the Addison Street rocks shown here in the mid-80s. The rocks in the foreground have now been replaced by the shelf, but the section beyond the wall of Waveland Golf Course (by the tree) remains as you see it here. I'm hoping that when the city finally completes this project 50 years from now, it will leave at least a small section of the rocks around for posterity. Of course, 50 years from now I'll be nearly 100 and probably won't care one way or the other.
Photographed in Lincoln Park at Lake Michigan near Addison Street on December 23, 1986.
Comments (15)
durleybeachbum
Interetsing. These sort of pictures are SO important for those who follow after we're gone.
VEDES
EXCELLENT CAPTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!
annie5
Very interesting capture..ext in b/w! Thanks for the info/Have a nice Sunday :)
Bothellite
In 50 years I'll be dirt and I hope you hold up our end of the bargain ;P Chicago is a tremendously interesting place and history. Thank you.
Chipka
Judging by your title and a few experiences I had with various cute members of the hot-guy brigade, I can say that a few of them rolled too. I like this shot a lot. It reminds me that Chicago was less of the shopping mall with trees than it is now. I miss those precariously balanced shelves of rock with historically significant graffiti etched into them and wee bits of contamination from various epochs of city history. There was such wonderful texture to everything, and now that everything is nearly new, maybe there will be interesting textures again in 50 years? Here's hoping. I like this immensely and I'm glad you posted it. And speaking of "the shelf," I hope that it'll get interesting once the construction contractor shortcuts and cost-cutting maneuvers reveal themselves in some of the world's most interesting cracks and fault lines. And I agree with Andrea, this is an important piece of photographic work. Perhaps in 50 years, the descendents of the North Facians will be able to see this very photograph and say: "WOW, there was no crash padding back then! How did they ever manage to live with all of those surfaces?"
blinkings
Yep cities do some strange things some times..... err most times!
flavia49
marvelous B/W!!
beachzz
When I see what man has done to hold back the ocean, rivers, lakes, etc, I always wonder what it would have looked life before anything was done. Course, there wouldn't BE cities, then. And let's see that's a bad thing--why?? lol Well, where would we live? Anyway, I digressed a bit, this is the perfect example of why city fathers shouldn't be in the business of fixing things. They always manage to do it in some way that costs more, takes more time and is uglier than sin!!
npauling
A great capture of this interesting wall. You should see what our city fathers attempts to keep the sea out have been like and they still can't stop it. It's a bottomless pit of money spent.
whaleman
You're wrong Corey, you will still care!
fallen21
Beautiful shot.
kgb224
Stunning capture my friend.
sandra46
WONDERFUL SHOT
auntietk
I love the pov ... the feeling that I'm standing right there, preparing to walk along the lakefront. Andrea is right. Having "then" shots for "then and now" comparisons is invaluable! Great shot, for many reasons. I like this very much!
KateBlack10
Great angle on this shot Corey - I loved those rocks and I hope 50 years from now the city will leave a section just for the memories - love the black and white