In Seattle, this concept was refined a bit. NORTHGATE CENTER, whose first stores opened 4 months after business commenced at the PARK FOREST COMMERCIAL CENTER, was also built using the inward-facing stores concept. This time, however, they opened onto a narrow pedestrian promenade...or "miracle mall."
The distinction of being the first quote-unquote "mall" in -or around- the Windy City would be given to EVERGREEN PLAZA (another south side center). The original complex, completed in 1952, was an L-shaped strip center with four sections of its shopping concourse having stores facing each other.
A circa-1960 map showing Chicagoland's major suburban shopping centers.
-Click on image for a larger view-
By the time of our 1960 map, there were five "mall" shopping hubs in Cook County's inner ring suburbs. An additional two centers had recently opened in the outer ring suburbs of Carpentersville (Kane County) and Joliet (Will County). Du Page County would not have its first mall until 1962. Lake County opened its first in 1965.
By 1960, Chicago's expressway system was extensive. The city lays claim to one of the earliest expressways in the nation. Lake Shore Drive was dedicated in 1933. Moreover, the Congress (later Eisenhower) Expressway featured the nation's first expressway-median rail rapid transit line.
As one can see, most of Chicago's early malls were not built adjacent to the area's expressway network. The northwest entrance into OLD ORCHARD (1956) was three blocks off of the Edens Expressway. HILLSIDE CENTER, also opened in 1956, would have been the first "freeway friendly" mall in the city. However, this center was nearly 5 years old before a segment of the adjacent Congress Expressway opened to traffic.
