The Darker History of Taylor Street walking tour

800 South Halsted Street,Chicago IL 60607

24 July, 2021

Description

Discover the secrets of Taylor Street— ghosts, gangsters, arson queens, b-movie greats, devil babies and more! Discover the secret history of Taylor Street—ghosts, gangsters, arson queens, b-movie greats, devil babies and more! They say that there’s history on every block, but sometimes you come across a stretch of road where the strange stories seem to come up through every crack. One such place is the stretch of Taylor St. between Halsted and Ashland. Known today as Little Italy, the prohibition era mobsters were only one link in a long chain of fascinating stories. On this in-person walking minute tour, author and historian Adam Selzer will tell stories of arsonist queens, public hangings, miser’s curses, devil baby scares, nuns whose bodies turned to stone, and legendary mobsters of the 1920s who made Taylor Street their home. Adam Selzer hosts the popular Mysterious Chicago livestreams, and is the author of several books, including Flickering Empire: How Chicago Invented the U.S. Film Industry, The Smart Aleck's Guide to American History, and The Ghosts of Chicago. He hosts the MYSTERIOUS CHICAGO blog, appears frequently on WGN, NPR, and cable TV, and has been a tour guide for over a decade, running roughly 200 ghost tours per year. WHAT TO KNOW:  - Meet outside of Hull House, 800 S. Halsted Street.  - The stories go from the 1800s to about the 1930s. - We will be walking on Taylor Street from Halsted to Ashland (roughly one mile), ending around Taylor and Ashland. - The tour typically lasts around 75-90 minutes. - Tour will run rain or shine.  - Bathrooms are hard to come by, as the whole tour is outside.