A Damning Look At Historic Preservation

Chicago's Maxwell Street is the birthplace of blues. It's now lost -- a victim to America's historic preservation movement.

1 minute read

December 29, 2000, 8:00 AM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen

Maxwell Street in Chicago was the birthplace and heart of the urban electric blues, featuring greats like Muddy Waters, Robert Nighthawk, Little Walter, Hound Dog Taylor. Over the last several months Maxwell Street has been demolished. According to a damning editorial in the Christian Science Monitor, "Maxwell Street fell victim to America's historic preservation movement and its failure to break free of its roots in aesthetic elitism. Obsessively focused on great works of architecture, the movement has been slow to broaden its scope to fight for places of cultural importance, even when those places are not perfect specimens of architecture."

Thanks to Chris Steins

FULL STORY: Chicago's preservation blues

Thursday, December 28, 2000 in The Christian Science Monitor

History / Preservation Illinois

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