“Sarah Holden and her husband, Dave Shaddick, their daughters, Hazel and Pearl, as well as three cats and three lizards, are about to move a few blocks from their current home and into the historic Victorian — their dream home — after three years of renovations.

“The tree, a blue spruce, was planted when the previous owner, Jim Mulligan, moved into the home in 1976. He was part of a succession of home owners who were all known by a single name. Before it was the Mulligan house, it was the Thornton house and belonged to longtime neighborhood physician Francis E. Thornton.

Before him, it was occupied by the man who built the home in 1899, Spencer Kimbell, whose father, Martin Kimbell, was a pioneer when he moved to the area now known as Logan Square from New York in the 1830s. Back then it was part of Jefferson Township, before becoming part of Chicago in the late 1800s.

“City officials gave the Kimbell family a nod by naming a street in their honor, but when street signs went up, the name was misspelled as Kimball.

“‘The story goes that one of Martin Kimbell’s sons went around with a bucket of paint and painted an E over all the A’s,’ said Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago.

“But the wrong name remains, and in the coming days the tall pine tree on Kimball will no longer be a geographic marker for folks in the neighborhood, but the beautifully restored Victorian home behind it will surely become one.

“An honorary street sign honoring Mulligan is set to go up later this year in the 2500 block of North Kimball.” (Dudek, Chicago Sun-Times, 11/1/24 )

Read the full story at Chicago Sun-Times

• Planted with love nearly 50 years ago, 54-foot blue spruce will be Chicago’s official Christmas tree; Jim Mulligan’s kids would hide behind the tree, which grew tall next to a historic home in Logan Square where they once lived. The new owners of the house aim to honor his memory by donating the massive tree to the city,  Mitch Dudek, Chicago Sun-Times, 11/1/24
• Chicago’s Christmas Tree Is a Logan Square Original, 53-Foot Spruce Will Soon Light Up Millennium Park, Patty Wetli, WTTW Chicago, 11/1/24
• Planted with love nearly 50 years ago, 54-foot blue spruce will be Chicago’s official Christmas tree; Jim Mulligan’s kids would hide behind the tree, which grew tall next to a historic home in Logan Square where they once lived. The new owners of the house aim to honor his memory by donating the massive tree to the city,  Mitch Dudek, WTTW Chicago, 11/1/24