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The Geospatial Side: A Microhistory

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600 State Street on a 1900 GIS map

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This city document discusses the eviction of Lewis and Sarah Baturin, Russian immigrants who lived at 600 State Street in 1910. 

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The 1929 GIS map shows the area demolished as a consequence of the Capitol Park Extension Commission's work during the 1910s.

600 State Street

1900: Henry & Pauline Claster, Clarissa, Joseph, & Jeanette Claster; Joseph Lipman; Albert Cohen; Samuel Krauss; Lena Baturin

A group of Russians shared this home. Of the nine occupants, there was a family of five and four unrelated boarders. All four of the boarders were young, single, and immigrants from Russia. The home-renter and his wife were also Russian, but they had their three children in America.

1910: Lewis & Sarah Baturin, Mary, Harvey, Arthur, & Mildred Baturin

A new group, not including any boarders, lived in this house. The family of six included Russian-born parents and four American-born kids. All of them could read and write, but the parents could not speak English.

1920 & 1930: N/A

By these years, due to the location of the house and the ongoing demolition for the Capitol Park Extension Commission, the plot no longer existed. This specific example is demonstrative of the general trend of displacement. Anyone within the square of N. Third, N. Seventh, Forster, and Walnut Streets was in the zone of impact and would meet a similar result.

Families in other locations escaped this fate, but that does not guarantee that the homeowners are permanent residents. At 111 Evergreen Street, in the 9th Ward near the Old 8th Ward, there was a new group every decade. The occupants ranged from nuclear families to widowed individuals to single boarders, all not staying for more than ten years. The case of 1618 Walnut is slightly different. Too far north in the 8th Ward to feel the impact of the Capitol extension, the family managed to stay for several decades. The family never owned the house, but from 1900 to 1920 they lived in this location without boarders or extended family like many other 8th Ward households. 

The Geospatial Side: A Microhistory