Leavenworth Avenue 5300W 5534-5552N (18)
The arrangement of the streets on the northwest side around Jefferson Park, Sauganash, Norwood Park, and the Caldwell woods is a big mess. With no less than four major diagonal arterials in the area, streets break the grid in a seemingly random fashion. It has partly to do with the boundaries and internal grid of the Caldwell reservation. Most of the area around Leavenworth was developed as early as the 1870's, and can be seen as a precursor to the carless sprawl that would eventually characterize new development in the second half of the 20th century.

That said, there is no good reason why this little stub is named Leavenworth other than it being a matter of naming. Leavenworth has a parallel twin to the north, a stub of Leonard street. Leonard continues at a different point northwest of Lynch avenue, however the parallel street there (where Leavenworth would be) is named Manton.

There are many other places in Chicago where the grid is broken, most commonly near angle streets or the river. This triangular development in Logan Square is no exception; it is bisected by a street running perpendicular to Milwaukee Avenue. This is all well and good. However, being the sticklers that we are, we also like to know the reason developments are platted this way. Perhaps on a whim of the developer, or to provide variety? We can sometimes figure it out, but not with this mysterious triangle. Maybe the reason has already plunged into the depths of obscurity.

Julia Court 2142N 2700-2718W (18)	St. Helen Street 2114N 2700-2718W (18)

Chanay Street 2132N 2720-2738W (18)	St. Mary Street 2170N 2748-2766W (18)

Henry Court 2100N 2768-2784W (16)
Henry is probably the most interesting tiny street of the five in the triangle. A number of houses front to it; some of them are actually made of brick (frame houses are common here). Officially it is slightly shorter than the rest, and as stated earlier, is one of the older streets in the triangle.

Lucerne Avenue 5100w 6054-6066w (12)

This street is in the Caldwell woods and even abuts the Caldwell golf course. This in part accounts for its length, see Leavenworth on the previous page. Other than its unusually short length, there is really nothing special about it, right down to the boring suburban architecture, as seen below. I wouldn't be surprised if someone called the police on us for taking photos during our visit.

Hoey Street 964W 2702-2712S (10)
Hoey along with Mary form by far the smallest intersection in the city. Unlike Mary, which exists north of the expressway but is bisected by it, Hoey was always this length. The area around it was subdivided, most likely in the 1850's, by a fellow named Hoey. He cut a small street through the property and named it after himself. The detail below of the 1886 Robinson map shows the extent of the subdivision, as well as the type of industry in the area. Small packinghouses are still active here, a trip to Hoey requires one to enjoy smell of sausage.

McDermott Street 1400W 2928-2936S (8)
The smallest street in the city. It was not always tiny, but was made so when the Stevenson Expressway cut a swath through Bridgeport. Most of the street was eliminated, but the little bit that remains is, like other tiny streets, effectively a parking lot. Bridgeporters: please brag to your friends that your neighborhood contains the city's three shortest streets.

Speaking of short streets, Short Street proper is at least 138 address points, if you don't factor in for its diagonality. Conversely, Long Avenue is 918 address points. Really, what is in a name?

Page authored 28 February 2007.
Last updated 2 December 2007.
Written by Serhii Chrucky.
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