ill

Cologne

Not Cologne: the cathedral there is next to the railway station and near a river. This feels vaguely like Brussels, but that's really only a guess.

Paul Mison Not Brussels, I think. In modern photos of St. Gudula Cathedral, and from what I see on the Wikipedia page, it has symmetrical towers, and a vaulted window over the front-middle section. This cathedral has a tall column & a short one — possibly due to war damage, but it still looks different than St. Gudula — and there seems to be a round rose window.

Antwerp?

The Cathedral of Our Lady seems to be a match — taller tower on the front-left, partiallly-round rose window at the front-middle. And the surrounding buildings look similar.




I'm not totally convinced yet, but it's the closest match I've been able to come up with.

Strasbourg! A friend lived just over the road from the cathedral and sent me a postcard; looked familiar, I thought....

Building still there in 2013 Streetview

"The sister building located at 522 Jefferson, built in 1883, is even more ornate because it has two completely decorated facades, one on Jefferson and one facing 6th Street. The structure is three stories of brick with tile and stone trim in the same designs as its sister. There is a pressed metal cornice, and on Jefferson Street iron columns and corbeled brick cornice. Arch windows, iron balconies and an arch entryway are on the 6th Street side. It has a flat roof, 1x1 lintel windows, masonry load bearing walls, and a stone foundation." npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/d848631f-06d4-43e3-9d9c-3a7887...

Still there as of 2019, though the storefront is empty and looking a bit rundown.

If I'm not mistaken, we are looking southwest, and the road on the other ide is Green Street. The bridge over Green Street is the Chicago & Northwestern New Line that now runs along the western edge of O'Hare Field.

I must disagree with Ree Kavok (sorry) as the shadows look to be behind the cars which means the sun is to the right of and behind the camera. Given that, this shot looks towards the northeast and would have been taken mid-day. Today's O'Hare would be in the distance extending to the left of the shot. but I could be wrong.