The WPA Guide to Illinois: The Federal Writers' Project Guide to 1930s Illinois

"First Published in 1939, 'The WPA Guide to Illinois' captures more vividly than any other guide both Chicago's quick pulse and the richly varied character of the rest of the state. Thirties Chicago, birthplace of the skyscraper, had just played host to the dazzling Century of Progress Exposition; the Board of Trade was the city's tallest building; and State Street was said to be the most brilliantly lighted street in the world. The stunning residences of the Gold Coast along Lake Shore Drive offered the city's most concentrated display of wealth, while on the South Side hundreds of freight cars rattled into the stock yards each night with their noisy cargo of livestock."