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| We are at the southeast corner of the airport property, the northwest corner of 63rd Street and Cicero Avenue. We are looking northwest. The Municipal Restaurant & Luncheonette is on the Southeast Corner of the airport property. See Map. |
Note the airplane on the south side (left) of the restaurant at the Chicago Municipal Airport.
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| Municipal Restaurant & Luncheonette, Southeast Corner of 63rd Street and Cicero Avenue, Chicago. |
Originally named Chicago Air Park, Midway Airport was built on a 320-acre plot in 1923 with one cinder runway mainly for airmail flights. In 1926 the city leased the airport and named it Chicago Municipal Airport on December 12, 1927. By 1928, the airport had twelve hangars and four lighted runways for night operations.
A major early morning fire on June 25, 1930, destroyed two hangars and 27 aircraft, "12 of them tri-motor passenger planes." The loss was estimated at more than two million dollars. The hangars destroyed were of Universal Air Lines, Inc., and Grey Goose Airlines, the latter under lease to Stout Air Lines. The fire followed an explosion of undetermined cause in the Universal hangar.
In 1931 a new passenger terminal opened at 62nd Street. The following year the airport claimed to be the "World's Busiest," with over 100,846 passengers on 60,947 flights. More construction was funded in part by $1 million from the Works Progress Administration; the airport expanded to fill the square mile in 1938–41 after a court ordered the Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad to reroute tracks that had crossed the square along the northern edge of the older field.
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| In the 1940s, the Trivic Airport Pines Restaurant was at 55th Street and Cicero Avenue, at the Northeast corner of Midway. |
In July 1949, the airport was renamed Chicago Midway International Airport after the Battle of Midway. In 2002 Midway welcomed the return of international service after a 40-year absence with the opening of the new Federal Inspection Service facility in Concourse A.
Today, Midway has 5 runways and 43 gates in three concourses; Concourse A has 19 gates, Concourse B has 26 gates, and Concourse C has 3 gates.
Additional Reading:
Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.
I am a bit confused as to the exact location of the restaurant. The photo says looking southwest. That would put in the current Giordano’s parking lot. That would not make sense because that would put that plane south of 63rd st. The caption also notates it is located on the southeast corner of the intersection placing it just north of Continental sales where there use to be a strip mall and which is current as small park with grass and shrubs. It seems that it was actually locate don the southeast corner of the airport property which would the northwest corner of the intersection of 63rd and Cicero, with the photo looking northwest. Is that correct?
ReplyDeleteYep, you got it.
DeleteThe view is looking North West, the restaurant was on the North West Corner of 63rd St and Cicero Avenue.
Delete