The Wingert House, Norwood Park, Chicago, Illinois.

The John Wingert House is a nineteenth-century farmhouse located at 6231 North Canfield Avenue just south of Devon Avenue in the Norwood Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.

Wingert Street was renamed Myrtle Avenue (6204N 7200 to 7800W) in 1909. It was named after flowering evergreen shrubs. Talcott Road/Avenue was an Indian trail.

Norwood Park began as a settlement known as 'Canfield,' It is one of the farthest communities from downtown Chicago, bordering the city limits, O’Hare Airport, and suburbs of Harwood Heights and Norridge. Norwood Park is considered one of the city’s oldest areas.

John Wingert was a German immigrant who had fled his home to escape religious persecution. The Wingert House is one of the oldest surviving farmhouses within Chicago's city limits. The house was built in 1854, with a first addition added in 1865.

This addition was added between 1868 and 1875.

The two-story Italianate style addition was added sometime between 1868 and 1875. The Wingert House is one of the few extant buildings in Chicago that predate the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

Throughout the late 20th Century, the house fell into a state of disrepair and neglect.

As described by architecture critic Blair Kamin in a Chicago Tribune article, things came to a head in 1990 ultimately, and the situation had deteriorated so greatly that the house was threatened with demolition, but was fortunately given a reprieve by the Landmarks Commission.

Article by describing the 1990 struggle over the Wingert House.

The building received Chicago Landmark status on July 31, 1990.

The Wingert House caught fire on March 10, 2021. There was some damage to the rear, but the window frames and roofline were basically intact. 

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Lincoln Used to Take the Neighborhood Boys of Springfield on Fishing Trips.

When William B. Thompson, of the St. Louis bar, was a boy, he went fishing with Abraham Lincoln. That was before Mr. Lincoln was a candidate for president, earlier even than the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates. It was when Mr. Lincoln was practicing law in Springfield and wanted a day off. Then he would put the neighbors' boys Into the family carryall, as many as could be crowded In, and drive away to the banks of the Sangamon River. The Lincoln whom William B. Thompson remembers best was not the lawyer, the orator, the candidate, the president, but the friend and associate of every boy on the street where he lived in Springfield. 

"I lived half a block from Mr. Lincoln's," said Mr. Thompson, "and visited at the house, but more frequently, I met Mr. Lincoln in the street as I went to and from school. Mr. Lincoln was not an observant man In the street; in fact, he hardly ever saw us unless we spoke to him. He walked along with his hands behind him, gazing upward and noticing nobody. But it was usual for all of the boys In the neighborhood to speak to him as we met him. He had endeared himself to all of us by reason of the Interest he took In us. When one of us spoke to him as he was walking along in his absorbed manner, he would stop and acknowledge the greeting pleasantly. If the boy was small, Mr. Lincoln would often take him up in his arms and talk to him. If the boy was larger, Mr. Lincoln would shake hands and talk with him. If he didn't recall the face, he would ask the name, and if he recognized It, he would say: 'Oh, yes; I remember you.' If the boy was a comparative stranger, Mr. Lincoln would treat him so pleasantly that the boy always wanted to speak to Mr. Lincoln after that whenever he met him."

"But besides showing interest in us, Mr. Lincoln was exceedingly popular with the boys in the neighborhood because of the fishing trips to the 'Sangamon River he took with us. He owned a bay horse which was called a 'shaved tail' horse. He had a 'calash,' as the roomy vehicle was known. Into the calash. Mr. Lincoln would put all of the boys of the neighborhood who could crowd in and drive out to the Sangamon. We carried our lunches and spent the whole day. After we were pretty well tired tramping about, we spread out the lunches. Mr. Lincoln sat down with us. When we had eaten, he told us stories and entertained us with his funny comments. No boy who had accompanied Mr. Lincoln on one of these fishing trips willingly missed another." 

February 7, 1909

St. Louis Globe-Democrat

Edited by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.