Honorary Streets
City dwellers driving through congested streets everywhere on earth experience angst. Perhaps that is why the City of Chicago started its Honorary Street Program in 1984, hoping to ameliorate the stress and make its roadways more fun. The initiative was geared to allow for a street to have a secondary name in recognition of a significant person, building, place, organization or event as an addendum to its official street name.
Brown honorary street signs with the city flag’s four stars surrounding the honoree’s name are placed on poles near (usually above or below) the standard green street signs they complement. All honorary street signs are given the suffix “Way” with no directional prefixes in order not to confuse them with the actual street names that the city and U.S. Post Office recognize for official purposes. Nominees for the signs come to the City Council for approval through the Aldermen representing the 50 wards.
Despite being warned not to use honorary street names for legal and emergency purposes such as addressing letters or calling 9-1-1, some people latch onto them with less than ideal results. As a result, the city had to start issuing a list of commemorative street names specifically for the United States Postal Service to use for cross-referencing. Police, fire and other vital services also try to stay apprised of the honorary labels so they can provide timely responses.
But it’s tough. While Honorary Chicago claims it holds the “largest collection of honorary street names, locations and biographies of the people, events and days commemorated by the City of Chicago” and prints Linda Zabors’ Honorary Chicago Guidebook: The Who, Where, and Why of Chicago’s Brown Honorary Street Signs, now in its second edition, it doesn’t have all the answers. The organization has had to not only juggle the more than 2,000 commemorative names that have been designated monthly in cumulative fashion since 1984, but also try to recognize an “undetermined” number of such signs that had been approved and erected before the program was official.
If Gladstone Park were to depend on outside sources like this one for its information, it would conclude the neighborhood has only one honorary street…Honorary Frank Monaco Way on the corner of N. Moody with W. Ardmore, awarded in 2016. On the block that holds St. Elizabeth of the Trinity (formerly St. Tarcissus) Roman Catholic Church, school and parsonage, it honors one of the school’s “legendary” coaches who was again feted by students when the octogenarian revisited the school in 2024. But Gladstone Park actually has at least five more honorary streets.
Honorary Frank Monaco Way on N. Moody, one of Gladstone Park’s commemorative streets, designated in 2016. This view was snapped at the corner of N. Moody with W. Ardmore and is on the block that holds the St. Elizabeth of the Trinity (formerly St. Tarcissus) Roman Catholic Church, school and parsonage. Photo by Mina.
Gladstonians will find a second commemorative street sign, Honorary John Cadogan Way, at the intersection of N. Merrimac and W. Ardmore. It is dedicated to the 1992-1996 Chicago Police Department Patrol Division Chief who was credited with instituting the first reorganization of the city’s 1200 neighborhood police beats in more than 20 years, according to the June 28, 2002 Chicago Tribune.
Gladstone Park’s second commemorative street, Honorary John Cadogan Way, at the corner of N. Merrimac and W. Ardmore. Cadogan, a Chicago Police Department Patrol Division Chief from 1992-1996, was recognized for being the first to reorganize the city’s 1200 neighborhood police beats in more than 20 years. Photo by Mina.
The third commemorative street sign is Honorary Pastor Paul Pfeffer Way, found on the corner of W. Peterson and N. Melvina. There is little online information to document his connections to the community.
The third commemorative street sign in Gladstone Park, Honorary Pastor Paul Pfeffer Way, on the corner of W. Peterson and N. Melvina. It is unknown who the dedicatee is. Unfortunately the sign has been bent by some unknown event for some time. Photo by Mina.
On the 5600 block of McVicker occupied by the Rufus M. Hitch Elementary School is the fourth honorary street for former principal Deborah Reese, who died in 2014. Head of the school for 10 years. Reese was acknowledged for her remarkable passion and devotion to the school and its students. Praised for not being afraid to speak out and ruffle feathers as she sought to alleviate problems stemming from overseeing the then second most overcrowded school in Chicago, Reese was recognized for working tirelessly to bring the community together.
[Deborah Reese.png here]
Gladstone Park’s fifth Honorary Street is for James B. “Jimmy” Cummings (1956–2022), a 65-year-old Chicago resident who was deeply rooted in his neighborhood. Having lived on the 6100 block of N. McVicker between N. Matson and Indian Road now named after him, he was widely known as a supportive, lifelong friend to all, greeting everyone who passed by nearby Indian Road Park. After his death, Chicago Fire Fighter Union Local 2 announced a “last alarm” for Cummings as one of its former firefighter-EMTs.
[James Cummings.png here]
Gladstone Park’s sixth commemorative street sign is legendary, dedicated to what is undoubtedly the Gladstone Park’s most well-known attraction. On the corner of N. Milwaukee and W. Highland is Honorary Superdawg Way in recognition of the iconic Superdawg Hot Dog Drive-In…that blast from the past that’s nationally known as one of the few remaining midcentury restaurants that still offers carhop service.
Gladstone Park’s fourth commemorative street sign, Honorary Superdawg Way, recognizes perhaps its greatest attraction: the Superdawg Hot Dog Drive-In Restaurant with carhop service and architecture from midcentury America. Since the restaurant isn’t on a corner, but is between a W. Devon gas station and Sky Liquors on N. Milwaukee, the sign can be seen at the corner of N. Milwaukee and W. Highland. Photo by Mina.
Turns out, Gladstonians were lucky to have snuck the Superdawg sign by the City Council when it did. For in 2016, when 85 new honorary street signs were approved throughout Chicago, there was an uproar over their burgeoning numbers. Applicant requirements were tightened up in 2017, limiting the commemorative signs only to individuals and groups — not buildings, places, or events. And people being commemorated had to be dead. During the next two years the number of new honorary streets was cut to less than half, according to graphs mounted by Honorary Chicago.
But even more significantly, the onus for the establishment and maintenance of the honorary streets was put squarely on the backs of the aldermen and nominating wards. Not only can wards nominate no more than two honorary street signs a year, but also they must pay for their signs’ production, installation, and removal when necessary. Because, even though none of the Gladstone Park signs ever came down, the commemorative signs were given five-year expiration dates. Perhaps this rule came about after the Council felt it had to repeal the controversial “Honorary Trump Plaza Way” sign the same year (2016) it was lobbying for all the other new rules. Now if a commemorative street sign doesn’t get renewed for another five-year period, provisions call for its removal.
No one yet knows how this will shake out. Will the Chicago Department of Streets & Sanitation sneak in in the dead of night and quietly take down Gladstone Park’s Honorary Street Signs recognizing Frank Monaco, John Cadogan, Pastor Paul Pfeffer and Superdawg because our ward didn’t or couldn’t renew them? We have to hope not.