This vintage photo album with history-laden captions and introductions evokes the characteristics that made/make Chicago great: ethnic diversity, successful businesses built on hard work and in often unclean conditions and political moxie.  Bridgeport was not a pretty place.  Even the final chapter which promises, an “abundance of truly impressive architecture”, showed dour buildings and reminded me of how unappealing the 50’s and 60’s were.
But this is a fun read through the history of one of Chicago’s 77 communities.  The early years and the creation of the I&M Canal, which ran through Bridgeport and Stearns’ Quarry, in the heart of Bridgeport, which supplied the limestone that built Chicago, were my favorite parts.