East Lake View is one of Chicago's most popular neighborhoods. But what exactly is East Lake View? It is Wrigleyville, Boystown, and Belmont Harbor. It is New Town, if you talk to a longtimer. Change has swept East Lake View many times, often leaving a new name behind. One thing has stayed the same—the neighborhood's popularity. East Lake View drew tourists as far back as 1854, when Lake View House opened as a rural resort. This book unfolds the history of East Lake View, from the 19th century to the 21st century. Readers will learn about the neighborhood's time as a Swedish enclave and then as a haven for Japanese Americans, including Tokyo Rose. The book charts the wild 1970s on Broadway, the gay 1980s on Halsted, and the beer-soaked 1990s in Wrigleyville. This visual history of East Lake View mines Chicago archives and old-timers' scrapbooks to reveal the neighborhood in hundreds of never before published photographs.
Matthew Nickerson moved to Wrigleyville as a young newspaper reporter. He always wondered what the neighborhood was like before he and his fellow young professionals moved in. Years later, he found out, and the result is this book. Now a veteran writer, Nickerson is joined by Alderman Tom Tunney, owner of historic Ann Sather Restaurant, in presenting this community chronicle.