Resembling a set from a zombie movie or a fake town from a 1950s nuclear testing site, Bensenville [3], Ill., is a partially abandoned village just west of Chicago near the O'Hare [4] Airport. Over the last 5 years, the City of Chicago has bought up more than 500 homes and businesses in Bensenville to prepare the way for a planned airport expansion project. A year ago, Bensenville filed a lawsuit to stop the city from demolishing the sleepy suburban neighborhood it had bought up. While a judge decided what to do on the matter, the houses and businesses have sat abandoned. Deer run through the streets. The swimming pools are still full. A few families, hesitant to talk to reporters, remain.
Let's take a tour at a handful of homes stationed in this doomed pocket of Illinois [5]' vanishing village. After all, they won't be there much longer. [6]
All photos by Jing Zhou.Photos were taken during a roadtrip in Mid-July, prompted by an article in the Reader. [7]
#1 You've got mail
Photo by Jing Zhou.
A roadtrip to Bensenville is a ticket to creepytown. And pictures like this give you a sense of why that is. It's the small things like this open mailbox that make you shiver. Did the owners just up and vanish while checking their mail one morning? (See it on our Google map [8]).
#2 Fancier Houses
Photo by Jing Zhou.
These were the nicest houses we saw in the acquisition area. The Reader
article mentions mansions, but we didn't see anything that met that
description in the acquisition area. Maybe you will? These houses are
located on Garden Avenue, just a few hundred yards off Irving Park
Road. (See it on our GoogleMap [9])
#3 Seen better days
Photo by Jing Zhou.
This photo, taken from the sidewalk, shows how rough some of these homes looked. While many appeared in great shape, more than a few were pretty rundown.
#4 Christmas in July part 1
Photo by Jing Zhou.
More creepiness. Notice the Christmas lights still on this house? This was actually quite common, as you'll see.(See it on our Google map [10].)
#5 Beware of Dog
Photo by Jing Zhou.
There's definitely no reason to "Beware of Dog" anymore at this address.(See it on our Google Map. [11])
#6 Christmas in July part 2
Photo by Jing Zhou.
More abandoned Christmas lights! (See it on our Google map [12].)
#7 Bring in the spooky
Photo by Jing Zhou.
The way the trees had grown over and around this house made it seem just a little more sinister than some of the rest.
#8 All Boarded-Up
Photo by Jing Zhou.
The city took no chances when it came to boarding up some of these places. (See it on our Google map [12])
#9 The Hand of Destiny
Photo by Jing Zhou.
Is that the shadow of a tree looming over this house? Or a giant, gnarled, spectral hand reaching in to snatch it up?
#10 Icky but irrelvant
Photo by Jing Zhou.
Here's one last soon-to-be demolished house for the road.(See it on our Google map [13].)
As I said in the intro. The houses being demolished to make way for O'Hare's planned expansion aren't necessarily the prettiest ones I've seen. In some cases, they're downright homely in my opinion, as with this one. Nevertheless, with their demolition imminent, its worth it to take a look at these places and think about what they might have meant to the people who lived in them
Be sure to head back to the front page of the blog for more Bensenville news, photos and links.