William J. Onahan Rowhouses
[William J. Onahan Rowhouses (ca. 1875) /Image & Artwork: designslinger]
This row of houses, named for William J. Onahan, was home to the Ohahan family in the two-story dwelling closest to us. The 6-windowed facade at the far right edge of the picture. Onahan came to Chicago via Liverpool in 1856, entered the commission business, became very active in local Irish organizations, was president of the Union Catholic Library Association, served two long terms as the City Collector, was named a Count of the Roman Catholic Church by the Pope, and has a Chicago public school named after him.
[William J. Onahan Rowhouses, 1254-1262 Lexington Street, Chicago /Image & Artwork: designslinger]
The row was built sometime in the 1870s, after the big fire of 1871, and the name of the architect who designed them has been lost to history. Onahan's name first shows up at No. 37 Macalaster Place (the old address and street name) in the 1880 census along with with his wife Margaret, 13-year-old daughter Mary and his mother-in-law. When he died at home in 1919, his house number had changed to 1254 and Macalaster was often misspelled as Macalister.
[William J. Onahan Rowhouses /Image & Artwork: designslinger]
But before Onahan's name was attached to the row, the Chicago Tribune reported on July 22, 1879 that "three marble-fronted houses Nos. 37, 39 and 41 Macalister place fronting Vernon Park were sold to John Coughlan for $7,800." Coughlan lived two doors down in a large, single family home on the corner of Macalster at No. 31. So although it appears that John Couhglan owned three of the five houses in the row when the census taker registered the Onahan's as the inhabitants of No. 37, today the entire row bears the name of the former City Collector and Count.
See more on Coughlan and Macalaster Place at: John Coughlan House.
Posted by designslinger at 9/13/2011 3:36 AM 
Categories: Architecture, History
Tags: row houses Near West Side
Categories: Architecture, History
Tags: row houses Near West Side
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