Mayor Richard J. Daley, a Democrat, was elected in 1955, in the era of machine politics. In 1956, Chicago conducted its last major expansion when it annexed the land under O’Hare airport, including a small portion of DuPage County.
Between 1950 and 1960 Chicago’s population shrank for the first time in its history, as factory jobs leveled off and people moved to the suburbs. Poor neighborhoods were razed and replaced with massive public housing that solved few of the problems of poverty and violence.
These amazing color photos show what Chicago looked like in the 1950s.
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