Edgewater Teaser

Our previous teaser was:

(4) In August and September 1890, the Chicago Evening Post ran a contest to decide by ballot which was the nicest Chicago suburb. All the eligible suburbs were listed by number, a ballot was printed daily, and readers were encouraged to participate. There was apparently no restriction on the number of times one could vote. Question: How many votes did Edgewater get? And which suburb got the most votes?

Answer: The total number of ballots cast was 118,400. And Edgewater got – ready for this – 20 votes. The suburb with the most votes was Franklin Park with 35,992, followed in second place not far behind by Grossdale [modern day Brookfield], with 32,248 votes. Together these two suburbs got 68,240 votes or 57.6 percent of the total cast. Obviously there was an organized effort in these two communities to get out the vote. The numbers fell off drastically after that. Edgewater’s neighbors did better than Edgewater though: Rogers Park got 421 and Argyle Park got 743.

What is the explanation for Edgewater’s poor showing? One fact has to be the population at the time. There were only about 100 houses in Cochran’s and Cairnduff’s Edgewater – combined – by the end of 1890. What other houses existed to the west – and there were few – were not considered by their residents to be in Edgewater. That identification would come later. Another explanation may well have been a sense of aloofness of its residents. They were mostly wealthy and successful and busy and had other things on their minds than to engage in a contest promoting their new community. Obviously, Cochran did not campaign for votes.

New Teaser(s):

(5) Our latest teaser deals with condominiums and we have several questions:

What was the first Edgewater building built as a condominium?

What was the first Edgewater building converted to condos from rental?

What was the first condo conversion west of Sheridan?

What was first building west of Sheridan Road built as condo?

What Edgewater building has the greatest number of condo units?

What building type has been most converted to condos?

How many buildings have been built as condos and how many have been converted to condo.

And how many residential condo units does Edgewater have?