#FormerTavernFriday
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dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday 2659 W. Armitage, Chicago. Built in 1894.
Red brick three-story corner building with an angular pressed metal turret painted white. There is also a lovely cornice across the front with corbels and dentils.
March 14, 2025 at 1:45 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
Back to regularly scheduled programming. #FormerTavernFriday 2025 N. Cicero, Chicago, ca. 1924. Not too long ago this was the Happy Cracovia Lounge.
November 29, 2024 at 3:58 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
A collage for #FormerTavernFriday
A collage of 12 corner buildings that were taverns at some time in their past. Most are brick--4 red brick, 2 dark brown brick, 3 orange brick. Three of them have corner turrets with pointed roofs.
August 8, 2025 at 12:01 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday 1458 W. 18th St., (formerly 612), Chicago. Built ca. 1885. It was also a lodge hall where some anarchists met in 1893.
November 16, 2024 at 12:04 AM
dmercer.bsky.social
I'm bringing this over from Twitter: @formertavernfriday 4101 W. 26th St., Chicago. Map is from 1918. "Sal" means saloon.
November 8, 2024 at 12:50 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
Another one for #FormerTavernFriday: 2459 S. St. Louis Ave., Chicago, built in 1905.
2-story red brick corner building with a square corner turret.
November 22, 2024 at 3:59 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday 3234 W. 23rd St., Chicago
Two-story yellow brick corner building with an angular turret on the corner of the second floor. There are three chimneys on the right side and decorative brick corbelling just below the rooflline.
July 11, 2025 at 5:21 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday 1801 S. Laflin, Chicago, had a liquor license in the 1930s and was home to The Balkan Club in the 1950s.
November 15, 2024 at 2:03 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday 2439 W. Grand Ave., Chicago, built in 1895.
Two-story brick corner building. The side wall is Chicago common brick with fancier red brick trim. The corner itself is also faced with red brick. The entrance is at the corner with windows on both sides.
February 14, 2025 at 11:54 AM
dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday 1800 W. Cermak Rd., Chicago.
Three-story corner brick building with stone facade and a beautiful 2-story angular turret with a pointed roof. There is a pressed metal cornice across the front, extending onto the turret. Below the cornice on the turret are pressed metal panels with a starburst pattern.
August 29, 2025 at 11:15 AM
dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday 2458 S. Kedzie, Chicago.
Two story orange brick corner building with a round turret at the corner of the second floor. The brick around the corner entrance doesn't match, it's yellow, and the windows on the corner are filled in with glass blocks.
November 7, 2025 at 7:31 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday 5300 S. Damen, Chicago. Built in 1927.
Two-story corner building with a checkerboard brick pattern and a rounded corner. The first floor at the corner is covered with red vertical siding and surrounded by a black and white wrought iron fence.
March 7, 2025 at 1:07 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday 2458 S. Sawyer, Chicago. Built ca. 1904
Three-story orange brick building with a corner entrance. Right at the corner on the 2nd and 3rd floors is a square tower with arched windows on the third floor and rectangular ones on the second. All windows have stone lintels.
December 26, 2025 at 3:39 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday 956-958 N. Central Park, Chicago. There was a tavern at 956 in 1934.
Two-story brick corner building with a round corner on the second floor. The first floor contains Farah Mini Mart and the entrance area is covered with signs for products sold inside.
March 28, 2025 at 12:30 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday 2024 S. Leavitt, Chicago
Orange and brown brick building on a triangular corner. There is a rounded bay on the second floor at the corner with the entrance below it. Fancy brickwork runs along the top of the building with a band of stone above that.
September 5, 2025 at 12:57 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday Grand Ave. and Neva, Chicago.
Three-story corner building, clad in scratch-and-smooth cream brick and creamy terra cotta. The first floor is commercial space and the other two are residential. The corner is curved and almost entirely decked out in terra cotta, starting from the door surround up to the parapet, which features a fancy swag, and acanthus leaf, and several urns.
August 21, 2026 at 11:27 AM
dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday 3100 N. Western Ave., Chicago
Three-story buff brick corner building with a polygonal turret on the 2nd and 3rd floors. The first floor has been filled in with cement blocks painted beige and brown.
September 26, 2025 at 12:21 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday 2458 S. Kedzie, Chicago
Two-story corner brick building. The first floor is replacement yellow brick with windows filled in with glass blocks. The second floor is the original orange brick with cream-colored brick accents. On the left side of the flat roof is a curved brick and stone pediment? topped with a small stone pyramid.
April 11, 2025 at 12:01 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday 1656 N. Kimball, Chicago
Large frame corner building with a rectangular turret on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Most of the building is covered with tan siding, however, the front of the first floor has been replaced with red brick.
July 4, 2025 at 12:50 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
I missed #FormerTavernFriday, so this is #FormerSaloonSaturday: 1558 S. Keeler, Chicago.
Two-story corner building of butterscotch brick with cream brick trim along the parapet and between the floors. The windows have stone lintels. A section of the parapet wall at top left is missing. The corner entrance, at the right, has been altered and now features red brick and black painted trim.
January 17, 2026 at 1:25 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday 3801 (formerly 1500) W. North Avenue, Chicago. Built in 1905 for U. S. Brewing Co., Hermann Gaul, architect.
Two-story orange brick corner building with a rounded corner. the first floor is commercial space, with apartments above. the second floor windows are trimmed with yellow brick and the parapet has a thin stone border.
July 3, 2026 at 12:22 PM
mckiesdjlounge.bsky.social
Let's call it Friday and then the photo on the right fits under #formertavernfriday
October 27, 2025 at 2:25 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday 342 N. Pulaski, Chicago. Built in 1932, Elmer Behrens, architect
Two-story cream brick store and flats building situated on a corner. The first floor has an entrance on the left side and another entrance cut on the diagonal at the corner. The building has a mansard roof? with three brick piers cutting through it, each topped with a stone arch and other stone decoration.
January 2, 2026 at 11:56 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday 6459 S. Aberdeen, Chicago
Two-story corner building of red brick. The first floor front facade is covered in dilapidated siding painted white, red, and yellow. There are two doors, one at the corner and one at far left, both of which are boarded up. The first floor windows are boarded up, too.
January 3, 2025 at 1:03 PM
dmercer.bsky.social
#FormerTavernFriday 4400 S. Honore, Chicago. Built in 1905, Perley Hale, architect.
Two-and-three-story corner brick building with a polygonal turret on the corner. The front of the first floor has glass block windows and three different entrances. Above that is orange brick with stone bands that have been painted red.
October 10, 2025 at 11:58 AM