saintbenedicts
I'm trying something new this year, possible for the first time because of Google Maps recently adding RSS feeds to every customized map made there; I call it a "placeblog," consisting of photos and write-ups of various random locations around Chicago I visit on my bicycle this summer and fall, only instead of presented by date they're all plotted on a city map, so that you search and browse by location instead of age. I'm originally uploading the photos here at Flickr, so that people can check them out in a normal fashion if they want; and then you can <a href="http://tinyurl.com/2009bikeblog" rel="nofollow">click here</a> for the actual placeblog/map, or <a href="http://www.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&output=georss&msid=112356573111939317036.000469d4bd545c821ff53" rel="nofollow">click here</a> for the RSS feed, or simply stop by the main headquarters for all my Chicago bicycle maps at [http://www.jasonpettus.com/maps/].
Here: Saint Benedict's Church and Parish, at Irving Park Road between Damen and Western, first created in 1902 by the German Catholics who used to dominate this section of the city, back when it was little more than rural farmland. The current structure you're looking at was completed in 1918, and includes stained-glass windows imported from Munich; a massive restoration was done in 2002 to coincide with the church's centennial as an organization. By the way, Joe Meno fans, this is the specific church he refers to in his new novel "The Great Perhaps," in the flashback scenes set in 1940s Lincoln Square.
