Dennis McClendon

Episode 32 – Muddy Ground, Revisited

June 3, 2026 57:22

The Windy City Historians so enjoyed talking with John William Nelson Ph.D. Associate Professor of History at Texas State University about his book Muddy Ground; Native Peoples, Chicago’s Portage, and the Transformation of a Continent we revisit this discussion. With so much ground of the Chicago landscape traversed by both European and Native peoples, to cover, muddy or not we are returning for a second episode of more fascinating history.  

In this episode, “Muddy Ground Revised”, the conversation continues, focusing on Chicago Portages, tying together historic threads, a brief tribute to Dennis McClendon, and more. We touch upon the grand department store, Hudson’s, with origins in the 1600s and contributions of several great historians of the 19th century, such as Wisconsin’s own William Reuben Thwaites and Frederick Jackson Turner, and their continued legacies to American historiography, and even contributions to Oscar-winning movies.  It’s a fun ride into the Chicago’s past we hope you will enjoy as much as we did making it!

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Links to Research and Historic Sources:

Episode 26 – 1909

January 28, 2022 1:29:00

In 1909 Chicago changed dramatically both physically and intellectually. Having grown through fits and starts via annexation and experiencing the most rapid population growth of any city in history, to that point, the Chicago City Council approved a new street and address system in 1908. The new address system took effect in 1909 and employed the Philadelphia and furlong systems to renumber, rename, and rationalize street names and addresses across the city.

1909 also ushered in a momentous intellectual shift in perceptions of what Chicago was and could be. Authored by architects Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett The Plan of Chicago offered an idyllic and revolutionary vision for Windy City that still resonate. Join us in this episode as we interview cartographer, historian, and geographer Dennis McClendon to delve into these concrete and esoteric plans that forever changed the physicality and vision of Chicago. Plans and improvements that are still relevant and reverberate acros Chicago’s streets, city planning, development and architecture to this day.

  • Edward Brennan in 1926
  • Excerpt from the Street Renaming Directory of 1909
  • Bird’s eye view rendering from The Plan of Chicago
  • Map of the central business district from The Plan of Chicago
  • Daniel Burnham & Edward Bennett

Links to Research and Historic Sources: