I worked for an industrial control contractor when I graduated college, in the early 80’s. We had two customers on Goose Island one was a recycling processor and the other was a cement distributor. The cement distributor had the last silos on Goose Island. I would try to wiggle my way to top of the silos whenever I could, the view of downtown Chicago was amazing. Thank you for all your hard work and videos.
At 6:40 you can see where I work. We fix tractor trailers. The canals are still used today. Asphalt and gravel companies line the canals. Barges deliver aggregate. It’s still a very active industrial corridor. Before it was asphalt, it was grain. Before grain, it was lumber.
My grandfather, a Chicago fireman after returning from WWI, fought some of those big grain elevator fires on the south side. He said they were the worst.
I live five miles from a rural LARGE grain elevator. In the approximately 40 years it has been there, it has had four major fires/explosions. It also seems to have a work place fatality at about the same frequency. It looks like these elevators are a dangerous place to work.
@@cdjhyoung often the rural elevators are non-union. Those elevators are often dangerous because managers are completely free to mismanage and not adhere to safety standards.
Silos, grain elevators anything like that can be very flammable. Same here as the other post. Our local grain and feed place has blown up a few times. I think lightning was the culprit one of the times. It doesn't take much one spark or a cigarette from a passer by etc
Is it true you can use a Scissor jack to simulate the difference between an empty and full truck with the farmer and the scale operator pocketing the proceeds from a ghost load?
I worked for the Soo Line Railroad as a locomotive engineer and on occasion I'd go with a train crew to switch out grain hopper cars at a large, concrete grain elevator complex that was located in Chicago's Galewood district on the west side. The elevators were physically located just south of the former Milwaukee Road, Galewood Yard (the Soo Line purchased a good portion of the Milwaukee Road in the mid 1980s). The entire facility was demolished, I believe, in the early 2000s.
A perfect storm is brewing in the United States. Inflation , severe drought in the agricultural belt , recession, food shortages, diesel fuel and heating oil shortages and prices . It’s all coming together and it could lead to a real disaster towards the end of this year ( or sooner )
But experts and strategists are telling us that those who believe the market will still bounce back and simply delusional and they are about to get a reality check
My method is to buy quality firms, anticipate to hold them regardless of what happens, pay up but not too much, keep track, sell only when necessary, and be ready to course correct.
Successful people keep moving. They make Mistake but they don’t quit… As the economic crisis keep rising, we need to have different streams of income. The crypto market has plenty opportunities to earn a decent payouts with the right skills and proper Understanding of how the market works.
well I must say that with my first encounter with Investor DonAld Christopher, he has been amazing , got to reach him out after one of the interview where he was featured with BBC news on Television
@@robwilliams.j3237 I'm new to all this, heard it's a good time to buy and basically I've just got cash sitting duck in the bank and I'd really love to use it , it's good to seeing how Inflation is at an all time hight, who is this coach that guides you mind I look them up
Part of the reason for the end of the Chicago grain elevators would be the changes in how and where grain is stored. As the processes of handling grain became more labor free, large grain elevator were built closer to the areas the grain is grown. It is now stored in rural elevators that are sitting on far less valuable land. Land transport by rail is much more cost effective than it was in the pre 1900 era. Grain can now be shipped reasonably long distance before it need to be transferred to shipping to move efficiently. Buffalo, New York was a grain elevator capital in the same era as Chicago. Maumee, Ohio has become a grain exporting center with many elevators dotting its wharf areas.
Growing up on the Texas coast we had so many early 1900’s abandoned cotton gin and grain elevators basically in every tiny coast town or outside of town in the flatlands. They slowly have disappeared after hurricanes, demolished to clean properties, etc.
They are currently tearing down historical grain elevators in West Milwaukee with a wrecking ball that used to be used for the Milwaukee Brewers oddly enough I found out at a funeral this week that my grandma and grandfather met there while they both worked there. It is located off of Lincoln avenue and Milwaukee Brewer way
Your talking about froedert malting complex at 38th and grant in west Milwaukee off miller parkway that complex of grain elevators were built back in 1920 you can see them miles away off the high rise bridge (i94/43) that’s an interesting place to look at I see it everyday going to work
I grew up with the West Milwaukee malt plants and two of the three were demolished almost 20 years ago. I grew up in the area and you were always used to the smell of steamy grain or if over cooked scorched Malt O Meal. The hum of their blowers and conveyor belts was there 24 hours a day and for those people who lived on the east side of the elevators the sun went down about 2:30 p.m. due to the height of the elevators. Even though the later owners repainted the motto on the wall facing Lincoln Avenue it's going the way of Milwaukee's breweries themselves. The tap has gone dry it Better Beer Starts Here
The Stanta Fe Grain Silos at the 14:00 mark are colloquially known as the Damen Silos. I've been there several times. You can get a clear shot of the Willis Tower between them. They've definitely deteriorated over the years. About a decade ago urban explorers I knew would climb what remained of the stairs to get to the top. No thank you. I stayed on the ground.
Michael Tadin, CEO of Chicago's infamous Marina Cartage Trucking Company, has recently purchased the Damen Silos. No idea what the future plans are to be.
Thank you for your videos. I share them with my mom all the time. We love all things Chicago, especially it’s history. It’s our great city! Please do share the Goose Island video. Thanks again!
Very interesting video! I recently Bought a 1915 grain elevator. There is so much history there and it is amazing to think that they where able to build something like that 100 years ago!
dDon't expect Ryan to do any research and show us anything good, he is here to clickbait titles. With left wing complaints of greed, while explaining they were made of wood and most burned down in the vid. Strange character he is.
There's an establishing shot of a large ship parked in a river between some grain elevators in "The Dark Knight". That's in Hegewisch Illinois on Chicago's South Side. Off Lake Michigan running adjacent to the Indiana Toll Rode was grain elevators for Falstaff beer that got demolished after a boy fell to his death playing in them w/his friends.
One summer as a teenager (1980s) I was a grunt laborer for a company that built grain elevators. These were of course concrete silos, but my familiarity with them made your presentation here particularly interesting to me. Thank you.
Grain elevators are not only a fire hazard. The grain dust which was raised when dumping a load of grain was sent down a chute was EXPLOSIVE! A friend of mine told me a story of his father, who was a fireman in Holland. A large grain elevator had been emptied less than an hour before the disaster. Some fool who was standing in the center of the ground floor of the elevator had obviously not been told this little fact. He decided to light a cigarette while there was still plenty of wheat dust in the air inside the elevator. Instantly, there was a HUGE explosion that blew the smoker from the middle of the elevator shaft all the way to one of its walls. When the fire department arrived, they found this guy, lying on the floor against the wall. He had sustained a number of broken bones as well as cuts and bruises, but miraculously still alive. He spent several months in a hospital. Since the explosion was a big news story, everyone (most notably the owners of every grain elevator in the country) knew this guy’s name. No one who operated a grain elevator ever hired him again.
At the Chicago River , if Columbus Blvd continued all the way north to the river., this is where the last grain elavator stood. It was built 1857 and was still there in the year 1970. Ugly but should have been saved as a reminder of our heritage
The last grain elevators that I'm aware of are still standing. On 29th Street just east of Damen on the south side of the South Branch. Known as the Damen Grain Silos. They've been the backdrop for many movies & TV shows (Chicago PD, Chicago Fire) filmed in Chicago. Michael Tadin, CEO of Marina Cartage Trucking, has just recently bought it. EDIT: There are silos on Lake Calumet marked "Chicago Port Authority" that are also still standing.
I was just on the Eastside of Chicago in the South Deering/Irondale neighborhood, and immediately thought about the old Falstaff Beer and General Mill silos that were prominent in the neighborhood.
It's amazing that cities like Chicago and San Francisco were basically leveled and managed to get completely rebuilt. New Orleans and Detroit is another story.
Nothing amazing about it. When the people who work, invest, build, produce and make things happen, don't want to live there any more. I know nothing about NO, but living on the other side of the State across from Detroit as an adult for the last 40 years I am familiar with a thing or two about the big D. You were right about local govt incompetence.
These old photos remind me of living in new jersey and new york where I was an elevator mechanic and got to see a lot of really old stuff in a lot of really old buildings.
Ryan, your videos are so interesting and informative, I asm not an American but find the history particularly around the industrial revolution fascinating. Thank you for your great work. Peter Mac Donald ( Penang, Malaysia ).
There are also old abandoned silos along the Calumet River in the slip next to where that giant fire occurred in 1939. I think they were called Rialto. General Mills built a plant next to the grain elevator and produced Cheerios Trix and other products there for decades. People said it made the neighborhood smell great. Lake Calumet still has the massive silos that say Illinois Port Authority on them.. You can see them along the expressway as you drive to Indiana I believe some of them are still in use
They are technically still operating silos, the harbor authority controls the whole stretch of land there along i94, to include that massive hill, which is a significantly contaminated landfill if memory serves right previously owned by John Sexton. The silos are primarily used for ore and limestone now, with a lone freighter leaving every now and then to head north. The ship parked in the canal right next to those silos is actually not abandoned but rather permanently docked there since its cheaper to rent space then scrap thanks to its massive amounts of asbestos insulation.
14:07 I've always been curious about that structure since its always been like that ever since I lived in Chicago and the thing is that the city hasn't done anything and they just sit abandoned but are guarded. I've always wanted to research about that and now thanks to the video I got an idea of what these structures were used for.
The problem is people thinking 'the city" should do something. Very left wing BS thinking. Cities do not do anything more than tax businesses and hand some of it to people to garner votes. almost forgot, big cities are starting to die off, losing their tax base while having more poor to feed, who think the city should do something.
I worked for a major grain elevator in Missouri for a little while. They're still terrible working conditions and high risk for fireballs. Grain dust is explosive under the right conditions and will literally blow a whole in concrete
There's an interesting aerial photo circa 1969 showing the new John Hancock Skyscraper and probably the last grain elavator( east of the Wrigley Building) on the south side of the chicago river.. It looks like the same one from the 1850's. I saw this in a book CHICAGO GROWTH OF A METRPOLIS, 1969 . Page 472-73. There is another photo of the grain elavator in PG. 186 of HISTORIC ILLINOIS FROM THE AIR . 1990
The grain elevator was invented in Buffalo, NY and there are still a number of them there. Buffalo is quite proud of their grain elevator heritage! Would have been some good detail and background for this video.
@@marki_mark3410 It needs to go. It's fugly, it's crumbling, and nobody is gonna step forward to foot the bill to fix it. To a grain silo aficionado, I understand they're priceless. To the rest of us, it's a blight on the skyline. Maybe Riverworks sabotaged it so they could make a bigger parking lot?? ;)
Traders still manipulate prices and create shortages today. From oil to wheat to gold and silver. Have you heard about the "mysterious" rash of food processing plant fires across the country? Something like 18 food processing plants have burned in the past two years. Know the only commodity which can NOT be traded in futures? Onions. That's because one man cornered the entire onion futures market in the 1950's.
Apparently Chicago had a rule that no trains were allowed to pass through the city. This was to ensure that more $ was realized. Your programs are really very professional and interesting. Thanks
Trains rarely pass through Chicago because Chicago is the place where trains get broken up and reorganized into new trains. It’s far faster, easier, and cheaper for trains not stopping to change consist to just go around.
Thanks for the very informative video on grain elevators. But how the grain is handled now without those elevators may be explained in next videos . It is interesting to know that the modern sky carpers took a leaf from the technology of the bygone grain elevators.
Do an episode about cleveland ohio grain elevator please. I was the last person to work there. It was just sold 2 weeks ago....last grain elevator and flour mill along the Cuyahoga river....
Grain dust is actually explosive. Modern grain elevators have intricate dust control systems. Very often fires are caused by poor housekeeping and inadequate maintenance. The conveyor belt bearings have temp sensors to prevent bearing fires, there are rub blocks with temp sensors that tell the operators when belts are out of alignment. On the elevating legs (belts with buckets designed to lift grain vertically) there are actually inert gas bottles that are connected to a central fire control system. If triggered then the inert gas is released by blasting caps that blow out the bottom of the bottle.
The west used to be dotted with grain elevators every few miles, always next to a railroad line. Farmers would bring their grain to the elevator by wagon and from there, it would go to market in freight cars. Now the elevators sit empty. Large diesel transport trucks pick up the grain at the farm and deliver it to the customer directly cutting out the elevator and railroad. No doubt this is what happened to the Chicago grain trade, it bypasses the city and goes direct to the customer. As to speculators driving up prices this is easier said than done. Any rise in prices will cause farmers and dealers to bring all their grain to market as fast as they can. It would take immense amounts of money to drive up prices more than a few cents and even if you succeeded, as soon as you tried to sell your grain you would drive the price back down. Did you know there is a grain harvest somewhere in the world every month in the year? In international markets there are big producers in the US, Canada, Ukraine, Russia, India, Australia, Argentina. This makes it practically impossible to manipulate the price for long.
The opening of the St. Lawrence seaway was supposed to give a huge boost to the Port of Chicago grain shipments. But it did not. Among some of the reasons I read in an article were, very tight river channels, crowded berths, exorbitant fees, theft, organized crime, labor strikes(in Chicago? imagine that).
I’m brand new, so maybe you’ve already done these, but I’d love to see a video on The Green Mill Gardens/ Uptown Theater/ Balaban & Katz movie palaces and Chicago’s rich theater history. (Tivoli, etc); the great palaces. If you have already, ignore. Thanks. Matt
What is the difference between cement and concrete? Although the terms cement and concrete often are used interchangeably, cement is actually an ingredient of concrete. Concrete is a mixture of aggregates and paste. The aggregates are sand and gravel or crushed stone; the paste is water and portland cement.
You're videos are great and very informative. I was watching this video and started thinking about how much we have lost in home grown industry. "American made" stuff. It made me think about how we still have such a low unemployment rate for lack of better words. I'm surprised we still have jobs just from what this country used to be with its industry. (For the ones wanting to nit pick my comment. Yes I understand about under employment and low wages. This is just a thought not my whole belief on employment. It's a lot deeper than this comment. )
Every time you mentioned an 'Armour' I expected meat packing to follow. I knew of Armour prominence in the city of my youth and obviously theirs was an ambitious clan.
Something in the news about something called the Damon silos has been popping up. I never heard of it before until maybe a few months ago. I guess the state of Illinois own it and then just recently sold it.
The state has been trying to sell them for years. I think it was originally $27.5 million Then $11 million and now $3.5 million. It is valuable land but knocking down those silos is probably pretty expensive and who knows what toxic products are in the soil
I noticed by the old map of Chicago there once used to be a grain elevator near the old Grand Trunk Western Roundhouse and just North of the old Whipple Railway Refrigerated car works also in the GTW Elsdon Yard. Does anyone know whom was the owner operator of that grain facility was and what the facility looked like?
It’s History calling the grain elevator owners ‘greedy’ is a violation of Its History own rules. No name calling! Those entrepreneurs should get a medal for risking it all to help starving ppl in 1800’s.
@@bozodeclown67 What I was describing wasn't capitalism it was corporate cronyism. If you and OP had bothered to watch the video you'd know that a serious racket was going on and treating food like its gold or silver on the stock exchange benefits no one.
@@vincentlamb3436 Right - That's the dark side of capitalism. Unchecked, people (or companies) will do what is in their own best interest. You can call it "corporate cronyism" if you want. In a non-capitalist economy, they wouldn't be able to attempt to affect prices... there'd be a whole different (and usually worse) grift. I don't know why what I said would have triggered you like that bro. Take your meds...
@Bozo DeClown to discredit me, you tell me to take some meds to imply Im mentally unwell. You're just mad I proved a point. You really didn't pay attention.
If the Southern leaders had known n 1860 of this massive breadbasket n Chicago, they may have freed their slaves first, then drove the Yankees outta the South.
Im from California and i have a buddy from southern Illinois and he says the same thing.. he had lived in Illinois for 35years and has never visited Chicago. Lol
You'd also want to wear that "bullet proof vest" in cities that are more dangerous than Chicago in terms of gun violence such as St Louis, MO, Chattanooga, TN, Nashville, TN, Baton Rouge, LA, and Detroit, MI to name of few. In fact, Chicago now ranks 33rd (on a per capita basis) for being the most dangerous from gun murders.
I worked for an industrial control contractor when I graduated college, in the early 80’s. We had two customers on Goose Island one was a recycling processor and the other was a cement distributor. The cement distributor had the last silos on Goose Island. I would try to wiggle my way to top of the silos whenever I could, the view of downtown Chicago was amazing. Thank you for all your hard work and videos.
At 6:40 you can see where I work. We fix tractor trailers. The canals are still used today. Asphalt and gravel companies line the canals. Barges deliver aggregate. It’s still a very active industrial corridor. Before it was asphalt, it was grain. Before grain, it was lumber.
Yup. Used to deck for the towing companies now I wrench on all their boats. It’s still very much alive as an industry.
It's obviously still functioning but I would advise anyone to look towards any industry that is growing, not dying.
My grandfather, a Chicago fireman after returning from WWI, fought some of those big grain elevator fires on the south side. He said they were the worst.
I've read that fires in grain elevators are a real problem to put out. Always the risk that if you stir up dust, you get an explosion.
I live five miles from a rural LARGE grain elevator. In the approximately 40 years it has been there, it has had four major fires/explosions. It also seems to have a work place fatality at about the same frequency. It looks like these elevators are a dangerous place to work.
@@cdjhyoung often the rural elevators are non-union. Those elevators are often dangerous because managers are completely free to mismanage and not adhere to safety standards.
@@jeremykamel9655 They also employ so few people that they fall outside of many of OSHA's safety protocols and mandates.
Silos, grain elevators anything like that can be very flammable. Same here as the other post. Our local grain and feed place has blown up a few times. I think lightning was the culprit one of the times. It doesn't take much one spark or a cigarette from a passer by etc
Great upload,. My grandfather , father , and I worked at grain elevators at one point or another . Cargill, Continental.
Nice. I worked for Cargill out of pasco wa, before it was torn down
Is it true you can use a Scissor jack to simulate the difference between an empty and full truck with the farmer and the scale operator pocketing the proceeds from a ghost load?
I worked for the Soo Line Railroad as a locomotive engineer and on occasion I'd go with a train crew to switch out grain hopper cars at a large, concrete grain elevator complex that was located in Chicago's Galewood district on the west side. The elevators were physically located just south of the former Milwaukee Road, Galewood Yard (the Soo Line purchased a good portion of the Milwaukee Road in the mid 1980s). The entire facility was demolished, I believe, in the early 2000s.
Chicago is my City born & rise .I been following you over 2yrs. I love your stories telling history that’s why I love watching your channel am hooked.
A perfect storm is brewing in the United States. Inflation , severe drought in the agricultural belt , recession, food shortages, diesel fuel and heating oil shortages and prices . It’s all coming together and it could lead to a real disaster towards the end of this year ( or sooner )
But experts and strategists are telling us that those who believe the market will still bounce back and simply delusional and they are about to get a reality check
My method is to buy quality firms, anticipate to hold them regardless of what happens, pay up but not too much, keep track, sell only when necessary, and be ready to course correct.
Successful people keep moving. They make Mistake but they don’t quit… As the economic crisis keep rising, we need to have different streams of income. The crypto market has plenty opportunities to earn a decent payouts with the right skills and proper Understanding of how the market works.
well I must say that with my first encounter with Investor DonAld Christopher, he has been amazing , got to reach him out after one of the interview where he was featured with BBC news on Television
@@robwilliams.j3237 I'm new to all this, heard it's a good time to buy and basically I've just got cash sitting duck in the bank and I'd really love to use it , it's good to seeing how Inflation is at an all time hight, who is this coach that guides you mind I look them up
Part of the reason for the end of the Chicago grain elevators would be the changes in how and where grain is stored. As the processes of handling grain became more labor free, large grain elevator were built closer to the areas the grain is grown. It is now stored in rural elevators that are sitting on far less valuable land. Land transport by rail is much more cost effective than it was in the pre 1900 era. Grain can now be shipped reasonably long distance before it need to be transferred to shipping to move efficiently.
Buffalo, New York was a grain elevator capital in the same era as Chicago. Maumee, Ohio has become a grain exporting center with many elevators dotting its wharf areas.
Growing up on the Texas coast we had so many early 1900’s abandoned cotton gin and grain elevators basically in every tiny coast town or outside of town in the flatlands. They slowly have disappeared after hurricanes, demolished to clean properties, etc.
They are currently tearing down historical grain elevators in West Milwaukee with a wrecking ball that used to be used for the Milwaukee Brewers oddly enough I found out at a funeral this week that my grandma and grandfather met there while they both worked there. It is located off of Lincoln avenue and Milwaukee Brewer way
Love can bloom anywhere, any site. Every structure has great memories for soneone.
Your talking about froedert malting complex at 38th and grant in west Milwaukee off miller parkway that complex of grain elevators were built back in 1920 you can see them miles away off the high rise bridge (i94/43) that’s an interesting place to look at I see it everyday going to work
I grew up with the West Milwaukee malt plants and two of the three were demolished almost 20 years ago. I grew up in the area and you were always used to the smell of steamy grain or if over cooked scorched Malt O Meal. The hum of their blowers and conveyor belts was there 24 hours a day and for those people who lived on the east side of the elevators the sun went down about 2:30 p.m. due to the height of the elevators. Even though the later owners repainted the motto on the wall facing Lincoln Avenue it's going the way of Milwaukee's breweries themselves. The tap has gone dry it Better Beer Starts Here
Always looking foward to your content .
Excellent vid! Thanks for shedding light on our city’s history as an agricultural hub
The Stanta Fe Grain Silos at the 14:00 mark are colloquially known as the Damen Silos. I've been there several times. You can get a clear shot of the Willis Tower between them. They've definitely deteriorated over the years. About a decade ago urban explorers I knew would climb what remained of the stairs to get to the top. No thank you. I stayed on the ground.
Michael Tadin, CEO of Chicago's infamous Marina Cartage Trucking Company, has recently purchased the Damen Silos. No idea what the future plans are to be.
Sears tower...
I always wondered what the slips north of archer were used for. Thank You.
@13:10 Ahhh, Schlitz (or as we used to call it, Shitz) beer...brings back a lot of memories from the early 1970's in Schenectady, NY!
Thank you for your videos. I share them with my mom all the time. We love all things Chicago, especially it’s history. It’s our great city! Please do share the Goose Island video. Thanks again!
Very interesting video! I recently Bought a 1915 grain elevator. There is so much history there and it is amazing to think that they where able to build something like that 100 years ago!
There are still working grain elevators on Chicago's SouthEast side ( near South Deering area) right on the river still.
dDon't expect Ryan to do any research and show us anything good, he is here to clickbait titles. With left wing complaints of greed, while explaining they were made of wood and most burned down in the vid. Strange character he is.
Different river, but yeah.
There's an establishing shot of a large ship parked in a river between some grain elevators in "The Dark Knight". That's in Hegewisch Illinois on Chicago's South Side. Off Lake Michigan running adjacent to the Indiana Toll Rode was grain elevators for Falstaff beer that got demolished after a boy fell to his death playing in them w/his friends.
One summer as a teenager (1980s) I was a grunt laborer for a company that built grain elevators. These were of course concrete silos, but my familiarity with them made your presentation here particularly interesting to me. Thank you.
Yes...concrete, not cement as stated
*bin not silo
@@CheeseMiser um no. They were and are silos.
@@drpepperr as a farmer. You are completely incorrect. Silos are for SILAGE.
They still have a real old wood grain elevator in Seneca ill right on the u and m canal super cool history
Grain elevators are not only a fire hazard. The grain dust which was raised when dumping a load of grain was sent down a chute was EXPLOSIVE! A friend of mine told me a story of his father, who was a fireman in Holland. A large grain elevator had been emptied less than an hour before the disaster. Some fool who was standing in the center of the ground floor of the elevator had obviously not been told this little fact. He decided to light a cigarette while there was still plenty of wheat dust in the air inside the elevator. Instantly, there was a HUGE explosion that blew the smoker from the middle of the elevator shaft all the way to one of its walls. When the fire department arrived, they found this guy, lying on the floor against the wall. He had sustained a number of broken bones as well as cuts and bruises, but miraculously still alive. He spent several months in a hospital. Since the explosion was a big news story, everyone (most notably the owners of every grain elevator in the country) knew this guy’s name. No one who operated a grain elevator ever hired him again.
I absolutely love your videos!
Thanks for presenting this forgotten aspect of Chicago.
Chicago Milwaukee St Paul and Pacific railroad
At the Chicago River , if Columbus Blvd continued all the way north to the river., this is where the last grain elavator stood. It was built 1857 and was still there in the year 1970. Ugly but should have been saved as a reminder of our heritage
The last grain elevators that I'm aware of are still standing. On 29th Street just east of Damen on the south side of the South Branch. Known as the Damen Grain Silos. They've been the backdrop for many movies & TV shows (Chicago PD, Chicago Fire) filmed in Chicago. Michael Tadin, CEO of Marina Cartage Trucking, has just recently bought it.
EDIT: There are silos on Lake Calumet marked "Chicago Port Authority" that are also still standing.
I love the film of the North Shore Line on the L.
Great video. We need to remake the Seaway and the Soo to Panamax and put the Midwest back on the map.
I was just on the Eastside of Chicago in the South Deering/Irondale neighborhood, and immediately thought about the old Falstaff Beer and General Mill silos that were prominent in the neighborhood.
It's amazing that cities like Chicago and San Francisco were basically leveled and managed to get completely rebuilt.
New Orleans and Detroit is another story.
And what is that story?
Of discrimination, neglect and governmental incompetence..
@@freetolook3727 🎯🎯🎯
Nothing amazing about it. When the people who work, invest, build, produce and make things happen, don't want to live there any more. I know nothing about NO, but living on the other side of the State across from Detroit as an adult for the last 40 years I am familiar with a thing or two about the big D. You were right about local govt incompetence.
These old photos remind me of living in new jersey and new york where I was an elevator mechanic and got to see a lot of really old stuff in a lot of really old buildings.
went to a renegade rave at the santa fe grain silos!
Would love to see a video on Chicago’s architects: Sullivan, Wright, etc.
As always. Another great video! Thank you.
I think I pass by a grain elevator every day off the bishop Ford near 115th st. Didn't know until I saw this video. It's on lake Calumet.
Ryan, your videos are so interesting and informative, I asm not an American but find the history particularly around the industrial revolution fascinating. Thank you for your great work. Peter Mac Donald ( Penang, Malaysia ).
There are also old abandoned silos along the Calumet River in the slip next to where that giant fire occurred in 1939. I think they were called Rialto. General Mills built a plant next to the grain elevator and produced Cheerios Trix and other products there for decades. People said it made the neighborhood smell great. Lake Calumet still has the massive silos that say Illinois Port Authority on them.. You can see them along the expressway as you drive to Indiana I believe some of them are still in use
They are technically still operating silos, the harbor authority controls the whole stretch of land there along i94, to include that massive hill, which is a significantly contaminated landfill if memory serves right previously owned by John Sexton.
The silos are primarily used for ore and limestone now, with a lone freighter leaving every now and then to head north.
The ship parked in the canal right next to those silos is actually not abandoned but rather permanently docked there since its cheaper to rent space then scrap thanks to its massive amounts of asbestos insulation.
THEYRE CALLED BINS. SILOS ARE USED FOR SILAGE.
14:07 I've always been curious about that structure since its always been like that ever since I lived in Chicago and the thing is that the city hasn't done anything and they just sit abandoned but are guarded. I've always wanted to research about that and now thanks to the video I got an idea of what these structures were used for.
Wanted to but then you got high and lazy
The problem is people thinking 'the city" should do something. Very left wing BS thinking. Cities do not do anything more than tax businesses and hand some of it to people to garner votes. almost forgot, big cities are starting to die off, losing their tax base while having more poor to feed, who think the city should do something.
They sold them last week to a developer..
@@jasonallen3678 would have been a matter of time since it does not fit the area it is since there is newer industry in that area
@@alexislaisney3404 lol when we were kids we jumped the fence to break into the Damen elevator. And then got high in there and ran around exploring 🤣
Great video! Thanks for the content!
I worked for a major grain elevator in Missouri for a little while. They're still terrible working conditions and high risk for fireballs. Grain dust is explosive under the right conditions and will literally blow a whole in concrete
*hole
Grain elevators:
Explosions just waiting to happen!
😀😂💥
this great fire. do you have a vid on that?
Grain elevators have always interested me. Would love to see a video like this for Minneapolis
theres only one grain elevator still operating in chicago. 11700 south torrence ave. worked there for ten years. good times
There's an interesting aerial photo circa 1969 showing the new John Hancock Skyscraper and probably the last grain elavator( east of the Wrigley Building) on the south side of the chicago river.. It looks like the same one from the 1850's. I saw this in a book CHICAGO GROWTH OF A METRPOLIS, 1969 . Page 472-73. There is another photo of the grain elavator in PG. 186 of HISTORIC ILLINOIS FROM THE AIR . 1990
The grain elevator was invented in Buffalo, NY and there are still a number of them there. Buffalo is quite proud of their grain elevator heritage! Would have been some good detail and background for this video.
Yeah, unfortunately The great Northern grain elevator wasn’t saved and is currently being demolished
@@marki_mark3410 It needs to go. It's fugly, it's crumbling, and nobody is gonna step forward to foot the bill to fix it. To a grain silo aficionado, I understand they're priceless. To the rest of us, it's a blight on the skyline. Maybe Riverworks sabotaged it so they could make a bigger parking lot?? ;)
Grain storage has progressed quite well. They can explode from dust and gasses formed over time. It gets scary.
Traders still manipulate prices and create shortages today. From oil to wheat to gold and silver. Have you heard about the "mysterious" rash of food processing plant fires across the country? Something like 18 food processing plants have burned in the past two years. Know the only commodity which can NOT be traded in futures? Onions. That's because one man cornered the entire onion futures market in the 1950's.
At the 5:00 mark you can see a whaleback ship, a rare design that wasnt around very long.
Apparently Chicago had a rule that no trains were allowed to pass through the city. This was to ensure that more $ was realized. Your programs are really very professional and interesting. Thanks
Trains rarely pass through Chicago because Chicago is the place where trains get broken up and reorganized into new trains. It’s far faster, easier, and cheaper for trains not stopping to change consist to just go around.
Thanks for the very informative video on grain elevators.
But how the grain is handled now without those elevators may be explained in next videos .
It is interesting to know that the modern sky carpers took a leaf from the technology of the bygone grain elevators.
Should do video on big canals in early USA.
Those were for storing grain? I always thought they were for water or concrete. There's a ton of them in Seattle.
Do an episode about cleveland ohio grain elevator please. I was the last person to work there. It was just sold 2 weeks ago....last grain elevator and flour mill along the Cuyahoga river....
Grain dust is actually explosive. Modern grain elevators have intricate dust control systems. Very often fires are caused by poor housekeeping and inadequate maintenance. The conveyor belt bearings have temp sensors to prevent bearing fires, there are rub blocks with temp sensors that tell the operators when belts are out of alignment.
On the elevating legs (belts with buckets designed to lift grain vertically) there are actually inert gas bottles that are connected to a central fire control system. If triggered then the inert gas is released by blasting caps that blow out the bottom of the bottle.
Yes to Goose Island.
It’s not cement it’s concrete
Are there any videos on Chicago public libraries?
The west used to be dotted with grain elevators every few miles, always next to a railroad line. Farmers would bring their grain to the elevator by wagon and from there, it would go to market in freight cars.
Now the elevators sit empty. Large diesel transport trucks pick up the grain at the farm and deliver it to the customer directly cutting out the elevator and railroad. No doubt this is what happened to the Chicago grain trade, it bypasses the city and goes direct to the customer.
As to speculators driving up prices this is easier said than done. Any rise in prices will cause farmers and dealers to bring all their grain to market as fast as they can. It would take immense amounts of money to drive up prices more than a few cents and even if you succeeded, as soon as you tried to sell your grain you would drive the price back down.
Did you know there is a grain harvest somewhere in the world every month in the year? In international markets there are big producers in the US, Canada, Ukraine, Russia, India, Australia, Argentina. This makes it practically impossible to manipulate the price for long.
The opening of the St. Lawrence seaway was supposed to give a huge boost to the Port of Chicago grain shipments. But it did not. Among some of the reasons I read in an article were, very tight river channels, crowded berths, exorbitant fees, theft, organized crime, labor strikes(in Chicago? imagine that).
I’m brand new, so maybe you’ve already done these, but I’d love to see a video on The Green Mill Gardens/ Uptown Theater/ Balaban & Katz movie palaces and Chicago’s rich theater history. (Tivoli, etc); the great palaces. If you have already, ignore. Thanks. Matt
I have seen too many "Grain Elevators" that have died here in South King County (in Washington State) within the past 35 years...
Like dairy farms in The Great Industrial Northeast.
@@freetolook3727 SO true... And SO sad to realize that this commodity is DEAD!
What is the difference between cement and concrete? Although the terms cement and concrete often are used interchangeably, cement is actually an ingredient of concrete. Concrete is a mixture of aggregates and paste. The aggregates are sand and gravel or crushed stone; the paste is water and portland cement.
You're videos are great and very informative.
I was watching this video and started thinking about how much we have lost in home grown industry. "American made" stuff.
It made me think about how we still have such a low unemployment rate for lack of better words.
I'm surprised we still have jobs just from what this country used to be with its industry.
(For the ones wanting to nit pick my comment. Yes I understand about under employment and low wages. This is just a thought not my whole belief on employment. It's a lot deeper than this comment. )
Every time you mentioned an 'Armour' I expected meat packing to follow. I knew of Armour prominence in the city of my youth and obviously theirs was an ambitious clan.
Something in the news about something called the Damon silos has been popping up. I never heard of it before until maybe a few months ago. I guess the state of Illinois own it and then just recently sold it.
Those are the southern branch silos he was talking about, he just didn't call them Damen..
The state has been trying to sell them for years. I think it was originally $27.5 million Then $11 million and now $3.5 million. It is valuable land but knocking down those silos is probably pretty expensive and who knows what toxic products are in the soil
The Damen Grain Silos were recently sold to Michael Tadin, CEO of Marina Cartage Trucking.
Thanks!
Good info.
Very interesting.
I noticed by the old map of Chicago there once used to be a grain elevator near the old Grand Trunk Western Roundhouse and just North of the old Whipple Railway Refrigerated car works also in the GTW Elsdon Yard. Does anyone know whom was the owner operator of that grain facility was and what the facility looked like?
Must've been exciting to live in those days. No cars anywhere, horse droppings everywhere.
are you gonna do PA/WV's losgt Coal breakers next?
Grain storage is highly flammable because of dust
Dust control is a every day battle
Reads title....that's about right it is Chicago after all.
I like to 'have something on' while working at home but these, you have to watch. The imagery is too good to miss.
City of big shoulders,
It will always be Sears tower.
Ok boomet
Im only left wondering if Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac is of the Buckinghams of Chicago?
After all of the videos you have done, you should know that structures are made out of concrete, not cement.
Who needs grain when you have beef..
Now do Buffalo's grain elevators. Or Buffalo's steel yards
How 'bout Bethlehem Steel's, Lackawanna Steel Works south of Buffalo.
Good pictures of the "whalebacks."
@15:53 Married With Children!
😂😂😂😂
“Look at this map”
Lol, that’s a illustration of what it probably looked liked..
They fed a lot of people
Elevators have exploded like what happened at Galveston and New Orleans.
👍👍
From Illinois. Love your videos.
Please quit pronouncing the state with the "s" the s is silent
It’s History calling the grain elevator owners ‘greedy’ is a violation of Its History own rules. No name calling!
Those entrepreneurs should get a medal for risking it all to help starving ppl in 1800’s.
help feed people by inflating the cost of food yeah....
@@vincentlamb3436 Capitalism has a dark side but it's better than the alternatives.
@@bozodeclown67 What I was describing wasn't capitalism it was corporate cronyism. If you and OP had bothered to watch the video you'd know that a serious racket was going on and treating food like its gold or silver on the stock exchange benefits no one.
@@vincentlamb3436 Right - That's the dark side of capitalism. Unchecked, people (or companies) will do what is in their own best interest. You can call it "corporate cronyism" if you want. In a non-capitalist economy, they wouldn't be able to attempt to affect prices... there'd be a whole different (and usually worse) grift. I don't know why what I said would have triggered you like that bro. Take your meds...
@Bozo DeClown to discredit me, you tell me to take some meds to imply Im mentally unwell. You're just mad I proved a point. You really didn't pay attention.
They were just purchased .... Soon to be taken down ...
They arent called silos
Hofmann tower in Lyons I'll
Hofmann brother in Lyons I'll
Grain elevator like to explode
Buffalo has an ugly ass silo on the waterfront. Some people are fighting to save it. I say demolish the eyesore.
The great takeover
I like to see you do some videos on things around Los Angeles. The politics ruled the day and still do today.
If the Southern leaders had known n 1860 of this massive breadbasket n Chicago, they may have freed their slaves first, then drove the Yankees outta the South.
No way Wallstreet types jerks !
Visiting Chicago today and you'll need a Bullet Proof Vest.....😒😞!!! 🏃......💥🔫
Im from California and i have a buddy from southern Illinois and he says the same thing.. he had lived in Illinois for 35years and has never visited Chicago. Lol
@@GraveDank It's a Friggin' War Zone 😖!!!! (Avoid going anywhere in Chicago, No place is safe) 💀👀.....Stray bullets don't care WHO you are 😒😞!!!
Keep away if your scared.
@@m.e.5482 lol
You'd also want to wear that "bullet proof vest" in cities that are more dangerous than Chicago in terms of gun violence such as St Louis, MO, Chattanooga, TN, Nashville, TN, Baton Rouge, LA, and Detroit, MI to name of few. In fact, Chicago now ranks 33rd (on a per capita basis) for being the most dangerous from gun murders.
over dramatized, over use of meaningless words.......in other words, a display of the corrupt, inept edjewcation system we have today.