Historic Saint Paul Street Business Team

10/10/2024

Join us for an unforgettable evening celebrating Michigan author Monique Asher’s highly anticipated release, DON’T EAT THE PIE, where gothic horror collides with gripping family drama in a chilling, atmospheric tale. Asher's novel delves deep into dark secrets and twisted relationships, promising readers a page-turning journey through haunted hearts and homes.

We are also honored to feature special guest, Grosse Pointe's own Mathida Zellar, celebrated for her contribution to the national bestselling anthology NEVER WHISTLE AT NIGHT. This anthology showcases spine-tingling indigenous dark fiction, and Zellar's work has gained national attention for its powerful storytelling, blending cultural narratives with eerie, supernatural elements.

The event will kick off with Zellar's introduction, followed by an insightful conversation between these two masterful storytellers about the intersections of horror, family, and identity in their works. Whether you're a fan of gothic horror or indigenous folklore, this is an evening you won't want to miss!

No reservations are required, but we encourage you to pre-order a signed copy of DON’T EAT THE PIE or NEVER WHISTLE AT NIGHT by calling or emailing us at [email protected].

10/08/2024

Today, October 8th, the city of Chicago suffered a tragic fire in 1871. It started at the O'Leary Cottage. The cottage survived the fire. The picture shows the house in October 1924, If I'm doing the math right, a photographer made this picture 53 years after the fire.

Image of a photograph of Catherine O'Leary's home, origin of the Chicago Fire of 1871, at 137 Dekoven Street in the Near West Side community area of Chicago, Illinois. A man is standing on a deck in front of the house.

06/17/2024

Has the art world gone bonkers in Britain?

Certainly! Here's a high-level summary of the key points about John Gerrard's new generative art series "Crystalline Work":

# # # Key Highlights of "Crystalline Work" by John Gerrard

1. **Launch Date and Platform**
- Launching on Tuesday
- Hosted by digital art purveyor Feral File

2. **Project Details**
- Titled "Crystalline Work"
- A generative, on-chain series
- New pieces will be algorithmically produced every hour for the next year

3. **Significance**
- Set to become the longest-running on-chain performance art project ever attempted

4. **Theme and Inspiration**
- Focus on environmental activism
- Features a robot at a digital, barren North Pole
- Algorithm inspired by ice formations
- Creates intricate designs made of crystal bar lattices

# # # Additional Information

- **Artist**: John Gerrard, an Irish contemporary artist known for his environmental activism
- **Format**: Generative art, meaning each piece is uniquely created by an algorithm
- **Setting**: The North Pole in a digital, barren environment

This project merges art, technology, and environmental themes, showcasing Gerrard's continued exploration of digital mediums to comment on ecological issues.

06/16/2024

The same farm, two miles north of Great Bend, July 8, 1912.

I am right by the R. F. D. box that goes with this farm. I will put up the little tin flag that signals the postman. One of the four beasts hitched to the reaper is a broncho c**t who came dancing to the field this afternoon, refusing to keep his head in line with the rest of the steeds, and, as a consequence, pulling the whole reaper. It transpires that the row in the horselot Sunday was caused by this c**t. He jumped up and left his hoof-print on the chest of the man now driving him. So the two men tied him up and beat him all afternoon with a double-tree, cursing him between whacks, lashing themselves with Kansas whisky to keep up steam. Yet he comes dancing to the field.

Courtesy of the National Postal Museum

06/16/2024

Ellingwood, Kansas
July 5th, 2012
The proprietor of the most fashionable hotel monopolized the 'phone on his return from the woods. He called up everybody in town. His conversation was always the same. "What'd ya think of the fight?" And without waiting for answer: "I'll bet one hundred thousand dollars that Flynn can lick Johnson in a fair fight."

The July 4th, 1912, fight between Jim Flynn and Jack Johnson in Las Vegas, New Mexico was not broadcast by radio. The technology for radio broadcasting of such events was not yet developed at that time. The fight was widely reported in newspapers, and telegraphy was used to transmit the round-by-round updates to various locations, but radio broadcasts of sporting events didn't begin until the early 1920s. The first major boxing match broadcast on the radio was the 1921 fight between Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier.

The World Heavyweight Championship Boxing ring introductions prior to the bout between "Jack Johnson" & "Fireman Jim Flynn" which took place in Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Renown fight announcer "Billy Jordan" shown on the far left.
4 July 1912

Source: Wikipedia posted a copy for sale on eBay

06/14/2024

If you're into the framing of hand-printed broadsides ...
https://www.signalreturnpress.org/give

06/14/2024

Dear Julia Mautino Messina,

Please accept my regrets that I will miss the opening tonight at the HQ of North Central Illinois ARTworks. I will miss the art, the wine and most of all, your charming presence.

I will be pursuing a "prairie pathway" that begins in Illinois and wanders through Missouri and Kansas. I shall be painting watercolors & of course writing. The mission is to blaze a trail acknowledging the ultimate poet and tramp, Vachel Lindsay. Hopefully, we can place Lindsay at the Hegeler Carus Mansion. VL & the HC families belonged to the Cliff Dwellers Club in Chicago. Surely, Lindsay published with Open Court Publishing.

Can one imagine our tramping poet standing upon the Starved Rock, gazing down on the eagles of Plum Island? I can. Can I prove the presence of Lindsay upon that limestone dell? Let us marshal our considerable Starved Rock historical resources.

I invite you to follow the story at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560839728436

Good luck on the sale of the "luckiest house" in the Illinois Valley.

Will Juntunen

06/12/2024

A photograph of Vachel Lindsay and Stephen Graham, undated

In 1921, Lindsay and the English writer Stephen Graham hiked the Rocky Mountains together, resulting in Graham's spiritual memoir, Tramping With a Poet in the Rockies (1922), illustrated by Vernon Hill. Lindsay created a "sequel and response" in the form of his own illustrated work about the voyage and other topics, Going-To-The-Sun (1923). The inscription on to this photograph reads, "Stephen Graham exhorting Vachel Lindsay to quit drinking coffee before it is everlastingly too late." Graham's book includes a long description of Lindsay's special method for brewing "stone coffee" in the morning, high in the mountains. Graham describes the brew as follows: "It is black, it is good, it has a kick like a mule; it searches the vitals and chases out the damps; it comforts the spine and gives tone to the heart."

What would we do without the Harry Ransom Center ?

06/09/2024

A seventeen minute film celebrating the life of Vachel Lindsay makes a good introduction to this American poet & visual artist.

In the heart of our country stands the home of Vachel Lindsay; poet, illustrator, and pioneering film critic. From his lifelong base of Springfield, Illinois...

10/10/2021

There's a big meeting at City Hall. It's all about transforming historic St Paul. Let's meet to save the street!

09/22/2021

According to the Tuesday, September 21st, 2021 NewsTribune, 209 East Historic Saint Paul Street has a date with the wrecking ball.

LOCAL BRIEF

Spring Valley council fast tracks demolition of downtown property

The Spring Valley City Council approved a fast-tracked repair and demolition proceeding against a downtown property and committed to a project aimed at safer travel to and from John F. Kennedy Elementary School at its regular meeting Monday.

The council agreed to move forward with repair and demolition proceedings on the property at 209 E. St. Paul St., citing longstanding structural issues that could cause risk to the adjacent properties and exhaustion of options with the owner.

Spring Valley Fire Chief Todd Bogatitus implored the council to take decisive action and recommended the same on other properties with similar issues.

09/08/2021

Want to apply? Ask us for technical assistance!

As part of Governor JB Pritzker’s overall economic recovery strategy, the $250 million Back to Business (B2B) grant program aims to deploy small businesses recovery grants for those hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. The B2B grant program builds on the success of last year's Business Interrup...