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Chicago’s iconic Martin Luther King Drive has seen many Bud Billiken Parades, festivals, demonstrations and marches in its rich history.
But 45 years ago on December 18, 1977, a two-story, 14-room, 120-ton mansion with marble fireplaces was placed on a huge flatbed and pushed down King Drive in a dramatic scene that rivals any showstopping parade float.
That mansion is the Clark-Ford House, the city’s oldest house.
For nearly four decades, the late iconic Civil Rights leader Bishop Louis Henry Ford lived in the Greek revival mansion with various addresses during its 186-year history. As Black homeowners, Ford and his wife, Margaret, lived there for 37 years while they led the St. Paul Church of God in Christ, located next door at 4526 S. Wabash.
A May 16, 1965, article on Chicago Tribune Said, “A Negro congregation preserves a Chicago landmark—the city’s oldest building.”
On a cold day in December 1977, the historic 14-room mansion captivated hundreds as they watched city workers achieve an incredible feat. Using hydraulic jacks, workers lifted the house off its foundation before lifting the structure 25 feet into the air and moving it onto the Green Line “L” tracks. The manse was lowered to the ground and placed on a large flatbed that brought it to the Prairie Avenue Historic District near its original location.
It’s a story about Chicago’s oldest house that’s been told many times. But few know about the details of the house’s incredible journey, as it traveled north for nearly a mile on a large flatbed on Bronzeville’s iconic King Drive, taking up entire streets and stopping traffic in every direction.
The house was driven west on Michigan Avenue, where it turned north and probably passed through Chicago Defender building before it reached its destination at 1827 S. Indiana Ave.
Bronzeville’s portion of the South Loop home’s journey went unreported in the press, which until the 1980s published few stories on Black life on the South Side. To move the Clarke-Ford House from the South Side to the Prairie Avenue District, workers had to drive a total of 4.7 miles. King Drive is part of that journey.
Photos from the Clarke-Ford House Museum show Bishop Ford smiling with Black youth in the back of a truck as the house was lifted off its foundation when the project began on November 23, 1977.
Hundreds of spectators braved the cold in Bronzeville to watch a moving project and show that played out for weeks in Chicago.
In an article on Chicago Defender on November 26, 1977, Bishop Ford told the audience, “I have something to say to you young people. It is significant that the first Chicago building was purchased by a Black man. Now just watch how to get recognition after moving the house to the Black community.”
Months before the house was transferred to the Black community, the Chicago Tribune ran a story with the headline, “Oldest house in city turned showplace.”
The project was expected to take 12 days, but it took longer. The Englewood Green Line “L” tracks, built after the house was moved to Wabash, complicated their efforts.
On 44th Street between Calumet and Prairie, workers slowly lifted the house onto wooden cribs that helped them lift the house 25 feet into the air, at the same level as the railroad tracks. Temporary rails were laid on the tracks, cables were attached to the house, and trucks on the street below pulled the house slowly along the tracks. All that was left for the workers was to lower the structure to the ground. But under the frigid temperatures, the hydraulic jacks that would have lowered the house froze. The house remained on the Green Line tracks for two weeks until warmer weather allowed it to thaw.
Finally, on Sunday, December 18, the house traveled down King Drive on the last leg of its journey to its new home. The final cost of the move was $410,000.
A photo released by the Clark House Museum shows the manse on a flat bed as it travels 13 city blocks on King Drive, from 44th Street to 31st Street. The street is likely closed because the structure is so wide that it extends into the northbound and southbound lanes of King Drive. A city truck is shown escorting the home with city workers in hard hats walking along the street with Greystone homes pictured in the background.
From Martin Luther King Drive, the trip turns left on 31st Street and onto Michigan Avenue, where it turns right and heads north, past the old Chicago Defender building at 24th and Michigan Ave.
Little has been documented about the home’s journey through Bronzeville during the 4.7-mile trek to the Prairie Avenue Historic District, where department store magnate Marshall Field’s mansion is among the few grand homes still standing.
For decades, historians whitewashed the Clarke-Ford House story, ignoring the history and contributions of Bishop Ford and his church. Stories over the decades show that Bishop Ford and his church were proud owners of the home. Here, Bishop Ford established a Pentecostal movement that includes 8.3 million members across the country.
As a Civil Rights leader, Bishop Ford presided over Emmett Till’s funeral in 1955 at Roberts Temple, a Church of God in Christ sanctuary on State Street, another Pentecostal church about six blocks from St. Paul’s Church.
Bishop Ford died in 1994. Today, his and his wife’s final resting place is in Oak Woods Cemetery next to the family mausoleum of Ebony and Jet Founder John H. Johnson. In 1996, a portion of I-94 was renamed Bishop Ford.
In life, Bishop Ford and his congregation were still the owners of the home when the city of Chicago on October 14, 1970, designated the historic home where Bishop Ford and his wife lived as a Chicago Landmark. Despite the contributions of Bishop Ford and his church to the preservation of the structure, there is no mention of them on the monuments or in the landmark designation on the city’s website.
But on November 18, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Alderman Pat Dowell (3rd) introduced an ordinance to rename the city’s oldest house the Henry B. and Caroline Clarke/Bishop Louis Henry and Margaret Ford House, or the Clarke -Ford House.
They say the ordinance will reflect the contributions of Bishop Ford and his wife, who led their church in raising at least $35,000 to preserve the house. Newspaper reports indicated that Bishop Ford and St. Paul Church continues to hold annual anniversary events each year at the house after it was moved to the Prairie Historic District.
“The renaming serves to tell a more complete history of Chicago’s oldest house that not only recognizes its original owners, but also the significant contributions of Bishop Louis Henry and Margaret Ford to preserving its heritage. for future generations to appreciate,” said Mayor Lightfoot.
Alderman Dowell said, “We are grateful to the many individuals, including the Ford family, neighborhood residents, dedicated volunteers, and community organizations who have cared for the Clarke-Ford House and advocated for its value over the years.”
In September, the city began a $1 million renovation effort to restore the home, now located at 1827 S. Indiana Ave.
After moving his family from New York in 1833, Henry B. Clarke, a wealthy owner of a thriving hardware business, built a house in 1836 for $10,000 on 20 acres of land where the family used to live in a log cabin. The pre-Civil War home was built as an unusually large house located at approximately 1700 S. Michigan Ave.
John Chrimes, a well-known tailor, bought the house in 1872, a year after the Great Chicago Fire. The house escaped the historic fire, but not taking any chances, the Chrimes family moved the house 28 blocks south and one block west to 4526 S. Wabash Ave. The Bronzeville area was once part of Hyde Park when it was a township, but by the time the house was moved, Hyde Park had been incorporated into Chicago in 1861.
In 1941, Chrimes’ two granddaughters sold the house to Bishop Ford and St. Paul’s for $7,000 after the women reportedly tried unsuccessfully to repossess the property and sell it to the city.
In January, 1977, Ford sold the house to the city for an undisclosed amount. That same year, a fire broke out in the basement of the house but left little damage.
Since the city moved the house to its current location, the National Society of Colonial the Dames in the State of Illinois (NSCDA-IL) has been involved with the Clarke-Ford House since 1977, funding programs as well as the collection of period equipment. at home.
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