Crawford's backers did not give up. Angry residents tore down "Pulaski Road" signs, and the Postal Service continued to deliver mail addressed to Crawford Avenue. In 1937, Illinois passed a law that the city council must change a street name at the request of 60 percent of its frontage owners. So in 1938, some property owners submitted petitions for the restoration of the name Crawford Avenue to Pulaski Road, while others asked that a small street, which was less than two blocks long, be renamed for Crawford. Both petitions needed more signatures to require city action.
In 1949, owners of businesses along Pulaski Road filed a final round of petitions for Crawford. Although these signatures were valid, the city council refused to act. Property owners sued city officials for dereliction of duty. The second Crawford Avenue lawsuit culminated in 1952 when the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in favor of the name Pulaski.
Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.
Thank you so much for this clarification. All of my life I was so confused by this! I always thought I was just stupid for not understanding why this large road near my childhood home was randomly referred to as "Crawford" or "Pulaski"!
ReplyDeleteThis is humerous. Most of my life, I wondered why it switched names from Chicago into Skokie. My mother knew parts of the story but none of the backstory. Now it all makes sense.
ReplyDeleteYes, thanks for this history fact. I remember asking my parents why the street had two names and I don't recall getting a definitive answer.
ReplyDeleteYep, like the others I always thought it odd, but I never knew about all of the history an litigation surrounding it. Thanks for the lesson!
ReplyDeleteMy mother, born in the early 1920s, grew up a few blocks from the street on the SW side. She would often call it Crawford even though it never technically was named that in her life.
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