by Tucker Fan 48 » Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:11 am
Well, the person who gave me that advice, reiterated it when I explained what had happened to the area. They didn't seem to think that it would be that big of an issue. And really, if you could just pin down who lived in the area in 81-82, it could potentially do a lot to settling the matter. For example, if the area was populated by Vietnamese refugees who'd lived there for 10+ years (or if it turned out to have been an industrial park owned by a major corporation), it'd kind of shoot holes in the claim that the car was there for all those years.
Conversely, if one of the names turned up was exceedingly rare in the US, and someone with that same name happened to be known to work for Tucker, then we've got something worth digging further on.
Unfortunately it's not that easy.
Here is some of what I uncovered. In the 40s, Germans and Swedes made up the largest ethnic groups, but the
immigrant population was below 20 percent. African Americans made up about 2 percent of the area. Between
1940 and 1980 the ethnic composition of the community changed.
Black working-class people became the dominant group in the community. From 2% of the total population in
1940, blacks made up 10% in 1950, 69% in 1960, and over 98% in 1980. Some community institutions and
businesses left the community, and the shopping district declined. The 1960s brought some urban renewal to
the area. In 1964 The Chicago Department of Urban Renewal designates the shopping center at 63rd and
Halsted streets an urban renewal area. Developers convert the area into a pedestrian shopping mall.
Just 10 years later, Wieboldt’s and Sears to close their stores in the new 63rd Street mall. Only smaller
stores, many operated by Asian immigrants, remain. By 1980, Ninety-eight percent of the areas 62,069
residents are black. In 20 years, the area’s white population has plummeted from 51,583 to 818. The area
has lost more than 30,000 residents. In 1988 the local hospital closes due to lack of funding. Finally in 1999,
Mayor Richard M. Daley announces a $256 million revitalization plan for the area. It includes demolishing
over 20 city blocks and relocating Kennedy-King College to the 63rd and Halsted area.
What you have in an area that went through TWO urban renewals, major shifts in ethnic groups, foreclosed,
abandoned, and burned out buildings. Now everything has been ripped down and leveled. The area was re-platted
and is no longer in the data base, however the records still exist at the City. It would be like looking for a
needle in a haystack and with not even a name to search for, how would you start? There were probably 40+
homes in the 6400 block of South Halsted. You'd have to dig through hundreds of records to figure out who
was there then, and then try to locate them 30 years later as EVERYONE of them was relocated. About the time
you'd do all that, Allan could come back and say maybe it was the 6500 block.
I think there is a reason the car was "alleged" to have been in this area. It's an area where no one can trace it.
I'd still like to know how could the car be in Milwaukee Wisconsin in 1972 when Allan swears it was kept undercover
by a former Lencki employee in in the 6400 block of South Halsted of Chicago until 1981 or 1982?
Last edited by
Tucker Fan 48 on Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:28 am, edited 4 times in total.
