A House Lost Before Preservation Began
The Cigrand Mansion
It is arguably the best residential site on Logan Square and the 50 by 142 feet lot sat empty until purchased in August 1898. Soon a large stone and brick house was erected at the northeast corner just where Logan Boulevard begins. From within there were commanding views, especially since the Square’s trees were still young. It was the type of building that earned the neighborhood a spot on the National Register of Historic Places and its designation as a Chicago Landmark. But before that happened it was lost.
Looking northeast across Logan Square c. 1906.
Cigrand house is visible at top left corner
Since this spot served as the northeast end of Logan Square, it was as though the house sat on a corner. It was 2 stories plus a basement, but with such a high roof there must have been living rooms in the attic. The front matched up with the house lines to the east, while the west side was entirely exposed to the Square. A wooden porch wrapped around both sides allowing the occupants to great passersby or simple enjoy a summer evening.
Current View, Google Maps, 2020.
Logan Boulevard, North Side Looking South from Troy Street c. 1909
(Cigrand House first on left), Logan Square Preservation
What little glimpses remain in period photographs indicate its style would be called Romanesque Revival. Thus, it would have fit right in with its neighbors. The architect is not known although they followed the dictates of the style: heavy stone masonry exterior, high roof, at least one rounded corner tower with a conical roof.
Key Architectural Features
1. Wrap-around wooden porch
2. Heavy stone masonry exterior
3. Conical corner roof
4. Typical red brick on sides
5. Row of stone indicates floor linesLarger smooth grey chiseled stones were alternated with thinner rough-hewn ones on the front façade. The sides were brick (likely red) with a row of stone indicating the floor lines. It appears that the corner tower was built as an open colonnade at the attic level affording views along both directions of the boulevard. The roof was probably tile with copper gutters and downspouts.
The property was sold for the equivalent of today’s $500,000 in June 1912. If that seems low, it is due to the fact that real estate and inflation generally never align. A few months before the house sale its original owner lost the democratic primary for the 7th Congressional District of Illinois. His platform advocated increasing pensions for veterans of the Union Army. He came in third in a three-man race that March and then decided to move.
Early Logan Square Notable
Bernard J. Cigrand, Notable Men of Illinois, 1912
His name was Bernard John Cigrand, a dentist, historian, orator and perhaps the most “forgotten” famous person that ever lived in the neighborhood. His life started in Fredonia, WI, on October 1, 1866 as the son of proud Luxembourgian immigrants (he spoke Luxembourgish), the last of six children. Starting in 1888 he was a practicing dentist in Chicago.
Dr. Cigrand’s accomplishments are so many that only summaries can be listed here. A few are: Dean of the Special Lecture Staff of the three leading universities in Illinois; Director and President of the Chicago Public Library; editor of the American Dental Journal; contributor to all of the leading papers of the United States on historical, patriotic and heraldic matters; author of Story of the Great Seal of the United States, 1903, and joint author of a book on the life of Alexander Hamilton; faculty member and Dean of the Dental Department of the University of Illinois; and prolific lecturer and orator. Perhaps most impressively, he is credited with establishing Flag Day.
The origin story around Cigrand’s interest in Flag Day goes that on June 14, 1885, he asked the students in his one-room Waubeka, WI, schoolhouse to stand around a small flag on his desk to celebrate the day in 1777 that the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes. While in dentistry school at Lake Forest University during 1886, he began writing articles and delivering lectures advocating recognition of Flag Day.LeRoy Van Horn, a Civil War veteran from Chicago, joined Cigrand’s cause for Flag Day and in 1894 they together formed the American Flag Day Association. Both President Wilson, in 1916, and President Coolidge, in 1927, issued proclamations asking for June 14 to be observed as the National Flag Day. But it was not until August 3, 1949, that Congress approved the national observance, and President Harry Truman signed it into law.
Cigrand Family
photo from History of the Crispe Family, 1901
Once Cigrand established his family and his dental practice in Logan Square he became involved in local issues and clubs. The house held his wife, Alice, and their four children — Bernard H., Joice, Elroy, Elaine, twins Virginia and Clyde — plus one servant. He even served as President of the Logan Square Property Owners’ Association as the 1910s began. The group’s goal was to preserve both the business and resident interests and to keep the boulevard as beautiful as it is.
In Batavia, the Cigrand family lived in a stone house overlooking the Fox River. He continued his dentistry practice and sons Bernard and Elroy soon followed in that occupation. Bernard John Cigrand died in 1932 and was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Aurora. His time in Logan Square, as well as his grand house, have long been forgotten.
