The building now houses the Blues Heaven Foundation, begun by blues legend Willie Dixon to promote blues history and support working musicians. Stop in for a tour to experience the history yourself. Read more.
One of the most important sites in blues history, nearly every blues great passed through here when it was home to Chess Records. The building now houses the Blues Heaven Foundation. Read more.
In the 1920's and '30s, this is where you’d come strut your stuff as music poured from the theaters, cabarets and nightclubs, like the Pekin Theater where the top blues singers of the day performed. Read more.
The hardware store at the corner used to be the Sunset Café, a legendary jazz club where Louis Armstrong and others played. Look inside at the historic clippings in front, and the mural in back. Read more.
In the 1920’s, this is where you’d come strut your stuff as music poured from nightclubs. The Meyers Ace Hardware store used to be the Sunset Café, a legendary jazz club where Louis Armstrong played. Read more.
Situated on this stretch of the former 'record row,' Vee-Jay Records was the largest, most successful R&B label of its time, and recorded blues greats like Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker and others. Read more.
Situated on this stretch of the former ‘record row,’ Vee-Jay Records was the largest, most successful R&B label of its time, and recorded blues greats like Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker and others. Read more.
Demo tapes were cleverly tested here at the original Chess Records offices by blaring music outdoors to folks waiting for the bus at the corner and seeing if they started grooving to the beat. Read more.
Blues singer & guitarist John Lee Hooker was filmed live singing "Boom, Boom" in the middle of the bustling Maxwell Street Market, outside of Nate's Deli (formerly at 807 W. Maxwell St, now closed). Read more.
Today, the Maxwell Street Market, which still happens every Sunday, has moved to Desplaines St. & Roosevelt Rd. Read more.
Maxwell Street was once home to a bustling street market, and a place to hear many of the first great blues musicians, new arrivals from the South who would set up at a street corner and jam. Read more.
Two granite blocks mark the former spot of the Illinois Central Depot, or the Black Ellis Island, where 1000s of southern African Americans arrived to start new lives in Chicago - the Promised Land. Read more.
2 granite blocks mark the former spot of the Illinois Central Depot, or the Black Ellis Island, where thousands of southern African Americans arrived to start new lives in Chicago - the Promised Land. Read more.