The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was an early American motion picture studio. The studio was founded in 1907 in Chicago, and later developed an additional film lot in Niles Canyon, California. Its various stars included Francis X. Bushman, Gloria Swanson and studio co-owner, actor and director, Broncho Billy Anderson. It is probably best known today for its series of Charlie Chaplin comedies from 1915-1916. In late 1916, it merged distribution with other studios and stopped issuing films in the fall of 1918. According to film historian Steve Massa, Essanay is one of the important early studios, with comedies as a particular strength. Its founders, George Kirke Spoor and Anderson, were subsequently awarded special Academy Awards for pioneering contributions to film.
Lakeview, also spelled Lake View, is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, Illinois. Lakeview is located in the city's North Side. It is bordered by West Diversey Parkway on the south, West Irving Park Road on the north, North Ravenswood Avenue on the west, and the shore of Lake Michigan on the east. The Uptown community area is to Lakeview's north, Lincoln Square to its northwest, North Center to its west, and Lincoln Park to its south. The 2020 population of Lakeview was 103,050 residents, making it the second-largest Chicago community area by population.
Uptown is one of Chicago's 77 community areas. Uptown's boundaries are Foster Avenue on the north; Lake Michigan on the east; Montrose Avenue, and Irving Park Road on the south; Ravenswood Avenue, and Clark Street on the west. To the north is Edgewater, to the west is Lincoln Square, and to the south is Lakeview. Near the lake are some of the northern reaches of Lincoln Park including Montrose Beach and a nature reserve. The area has a mix of commercial and residential development, and includes a well established entertainment district of clubs and concert venues, and was a center for early movie making. Truman College a two year city college is located here, and the area's south-western end includes the historic 19th century Graceland Cemetery.
Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson was an American actor, writer, film director, and film producer, who was the first star of the Western film genre. He was a founder and star for Essanay studios. In 1958, he received a special Academy Award for being a pioneer of the film industry.
George Kirke Spoor was an early film pioneer who, with Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson, founded Essanay Studios in Chicago in 1907. He was a founding partner of V-L-S-E, Incorporated, a film distribution firm, in 1915.
South Shore is one of 77 defined community areas of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Located on the city's South Side, the area is named for its location along the city's southern lakefront. Although South Shore has seen a greater than 40% decrease in residents since Chicago's population peaked in the 1950s, the area remains one of the most densely populated neighborhoods on the South Side. The community benefits from its location along the waterfront, its accessibility to Lake Shore Drive, and its proximity to major institutions and attractions such as the University of Chicago, the Museum of Science and Industry, and Jackson Park.
The Bryn Mawr Historic District is on the lakefront of the Edgewater neighborhood of far-north Chicago, Illinois. It extends along Bryn Mawr Avenue between Broadway and Sheridan Road. Its most prominent features are the Belle Shore Apartment Hotel, Bryn Mawr Apartment Hotel, Edgewater Beach Apartments, Edgewater Presbyterian Church, Manor House, and the northernmost area of Lincoln Park.
The Edgewater Beach Hotel was a resort hotel complex on Lake Michigan in the far-north neighborhood community of Edgewater in Chicago, Illinois, designed by Benjamin H. Marshall and Charles E. Fox. The first multi-story building was built in 1916, for its owners John Tobin Connery and James Patrick Connery, located between Sheridan Road and Lake Michigan at Berwyn Avenue in a Spanish Revival style. An adjacent south tower building was added in 1924, with a low connecting passageway-building to serve as reception and additional public rooms. The resort, which included beaches, pools, clubs, and gardens hosted famous movie and sports stars, and later Martin Luther King Jr. The hotel was also the setting for the celebrity stalking case and shooting that inspired the novel and movie The Natural. The hotel buildings closed in 1967, and were soon after demolished.
860–880 Lake Shore Drive is a twin pair of glass-and-steel apartment towers on N. Lake Shore Drive along Lake Michigan in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Construction began in 1949 and the project was completed in 1951. The towers were added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 28, 1980, and were designated as Chicago Landmarks on June 10, 1996. The 26-floor, 254-ft tall towers were designed by the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and dubbed the "Glass House" apartments. Construction was by the Chicago real estate developer Herbert Greenwald, and the Sumner S. Sollitt Company. The design principles were copied extensively and are now considered characteristic of the modern International Style as well as essential for the development of modern high-tech architecture.
Wharton, Inc. was an early silent film production company in Ithaca, New York, from 1914 to 1919. One of the first independent regional centers of early filmmaking, the movie studio was established by brothers Theodore and Leopold Wharton on the shores of Cayuga Lake at the site of what is now Stewart Park. Currently, efforts are underway to create a silent movie museum in the former Wharton movie studio building in Stewart Park.
The South Shore Cultural Center, in Chicago, Illinois, is a cultural facility located at 71st Street and South Shore Drive, in the city's South Shore neighborhood. It encompasses the grounds of the former South Shore Country Club.
The Chicago film industry is a central hub for motion picture production and exhibition that was established before Hollywood became the undisputed capital of film making. In the early 1900s, Chicago boasted the greatest number of production companies and filmmakers. Essanay Studios founded by George K. Spoor was one of the earliest successful studios to produce movies in Chicago, employing stars such as Charlie Chaplin and Gloria Swanson. Actor and co-founder of Essanay Studios, Broncho Billy Anderson gave birth to the western genre. Early film companies such as Essanay Studios produced multiple silent films every week and rented viewing equipment to showcase the latest cinematography to the public. This rental culture gave birth to the popularity of Nickelodeons up until the Great Depression. However, due to the high demand for motion pictures during this time, a black market for films and equipment developed. The Motion Picture Patents Company, established in 1909 as a conglomerate of the major studios, sought to eliminate all illegal use of patented film equipment. As a result, independent ventures entered the film scene. Independents drove the film industry to the west to avoid legal trouble with the trust of major film companies united under the Motion Picture Patents Company. The west offered fairer weather and scenery that better accommodated film making. Not until the 1980s and early 21st century has Chicago experienced a film production revival. Blockbusters, such as Blues Brothers, Sixteen Candles, and The Dark Knight, have rejuvenated the Chicago film scene.
The Gold Coast Historic District is a historic district in Chicago, Illinois. Part of Chicago's Near North Side community area, it is roughly bounded by North Avenue, Lake Shore Drive, Oak Street, and Clark Street.
Indian Village Is the nickname given to the southeast portion of the Kenwood community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is roughly bounded by Lake Shore Drive to the east Burnham Park to the north, 51st Street to the south, Harold Washington Park to the southeast, and the Illinois Central Railroad tracks used by the Metra's South Shore and Metra Electric Lines to the West. Many of the buildings in the neighborhood are named after Native American Indian tribes including the National Register of Historic Places-designated (NRHP) Narragansett and the Chicago Landmark Powhatan Apartments. Other buildings include several Algonquin Apartment buildings and the Chippewa.
Union Station is a former union railway station in Gary, Indiana. It is located between the elevated lines of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway and Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and is just north of the Indiana Toll Road. Indiana Landmarks has placed the building on its 10 Most Endangered Places in Indiana list. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Grosse Pointe Memorial Church (GPMC) is a church located at 16 Lake Shore Drive in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, USA. it is a member of the Presbyterian Church, USA (PCUSA). It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1990 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
West Argyle Street Historic District is a historic district in northern Uptown, Chicago, Illinois. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 3, 2010. The community covers an area of about 41 acres (0.17 km2); its rough boundaries are N. Glenwood Ave to the west, Winona Street to the north, Sheridan Road to the east, and Ainslie Street to the south.
The Promontory Apartments is a 22-story skyscraper in Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois, United States designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. It was the first skyscraper Mies designed and was the first of his buildings to feature concepts such as an exposed skeleton. The cooperative building overlooking Burnham Park has 122 units.
The Lake-Side Terrace Apartments is a historic apartment building at 7425-7427 South Shore Drive in the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1922–23, the building is an example of a courtyard apartment, a popular apartment style in early 20th century Chicago. As the building adjoins Lake Michigan, its courtyard opens toward the lake; the courtyard is also elevated to enhance its lake view. Chicago architect Eric Edwin Hall designed the Tudor Revival building. The four-story brick building features limestone entrance and window surrounds, Tudor arched entrances to the courtyard, and a battlement along the roof.
