Permit information for selected streets and neighborhoods
The lists of permit information for certain streets or neighborhoods listed below were obtained from the American Contractor permit information database covering the years 1898-1912 inclusive.
How these lists were compiled
Each list was developed by searching for the street by each year, then copying and pasting the results of that search into a spreadsheet and then repeating that operation for each year.
Upon completion of this process, the spreadsheet was sorted on the first column which contains the street name and addresses. The sorted listing shows both the old pre-9-1-1909 number and for those permits issued beginning 9-1-1909, the current number.
The next step was to use the 1909 conversion table to find the current address number for the old address number.. A new column was created for the purpose of entering the results. In not all cases was there a match. In such case either a “?” or an “X” was entered in the column. When the permit date was before 1908 and X was entered to indicate that further research is needed. When a permit was issued in 1908 or before September 1, 1909 an “?” was entered to learn if the building was completed after the address conversion table was issued. If for either of these situations, a current number was identified by other sources, the current number is expressed in bold; if imputed based on buildings on either side, the current number or numbers are shown in italics.
So that the spreadsheet could sequence all numbers correctly, single numbers had be expressed doubly, as for example, “5302-02” The current numbers in the first column also had to be entered into the newly created column.
An additional column was created to indicate which side of the street the permit relates. The letter “O” was used to indicate an odd number and the letter “E” for an even number. For north-south streets, odd number addresses are on the east side, and even number addresses on the west side. For east[west streets, odd number addresses are on the south side of the street and even number addresses are on the north side.
After data entry was double checked and any errors corrected, the spreadsheet was sorted first by the even-odd column and then by the current address column, so the list is sorted first on one side of the street then the other.
A few caveats: The possibilities of errors exist. Most relate to possible transcription errors. The first possibility was at the source, when clerks at the building department transcribed the information from the permit application to the ledgers; the second was at the American Contractor, where clerks transcribed the information obtained from the building department, and the third was when the information in the printed American Contractor magazine was transcribed into the Chicago History Museum database. Then too, at each stage there was the possibiliy of omission.
Note: Each list covers only permits issued 1898 to 1912 inclusive. For permits before 1898 and after 1912 consult the per and after lists.