Who is Torrence Avenue in Chicago Illinois named for?
Named after Joseph T. Torrence, a blacksmith, a blast furnace builder, a union fighter,a developer of Calumet Harbor, a promoter of the Chicago elevated train system, a Republican, and a wealthy man. He was born in Mercer city,Pennsylvania. In the civil war he became a major general. Torrence was also a founding father of East Chicago, Indiana. He helped lay out the town and held title to 1,000 acres. Torrence never lived near the area in which the street is named, he lived on the gold coast at Lake Shore Drive and Bellevue place.
