Chicago's Only Castle: The History of Givins' Irish Castle and Its Keepers

On September 11 (note the new date) I will be giving an invited multimedia presentation on "Chicago's Only Castle: Stories of Chicago and Beyond" at the Chicago History Museum at 1601 N. LaSalle St. Here is my latest flyer/poster on this event. I hope there will be a large audience. I had about 300 people attend this event in California in 2024, but even though attendance will likely be smaller, those who come will not be disappointed.

The Chicago History Museum has invited me to make a multimedia presentation on "Chicago's Only Castle: Stories of Chicago and Beyond" on September 18, 2025. Of course, this is exciting news, and I hope we will have many people attend. I will provide more information on this event as we get closer to September 18. The image below is a draft announcement that I have prepared for this presentation, and not what the Chicago History Museum may use.

We're in Sun City, Palm Desert, a plus-55 community, where we've been staying for a couple years now for 6 months. Of course it's beautiful here when we come, and we have a lot of fun here. There are quite a few Chicago transplants here, too, and I was asked by the Community Activities Committee to do a presentation on "Chicago's Only Castle: Stories of Chicago and Beyond" on March 28. The flyer (below) was beautiful and so creative. Before the event wife Nancy told me to watch the faces of the audience, and if people were yawning I should rush through the 1 hour 15 minute multimedia presentation I would do extemporaneously. Well, we had 300 people in attendance (not a typo on the number) in Speaker's Hall. The equipment and the big screen did not fail, and everything went so well. No one was yawning. Five minutes of fame came my way.

Susan DeGrane wrote a nice article on our "Chicago's Only Castle" book. It appears on the first and third pages of the Chicago Tribune's Daily Southtown newspaper. Here's the link:

Updated history of Beverly landmark offers deeper dive on Givins Castle Author Errol Magidson offers more insight into the historic Givins Castle in Beverly in the new edition of his book “Chicago’s Only Castle.”

Our "Chicago's Only Castle" book is featured in "The Villager," a newspaper given to every household in the Beverly-Morgan Park community where the Castle is located. Grace Kuikman wrote a great book review. Here's the link:

https://bapa.org/head-local-authors-provide-history-humor-and-something-for-the-kids/

Head: Local Authors Provide History, Humor and Something for the Kids - Beverly Area Planning Association
‘Chicago’s Only Castle’ Updated With New Stories and Photos By Grace Kuikman Just when you think that you’ve heard the whole story of the Givins Beverly Castle, you find out […]

Head: Local Authors Provide History, Humor and Something for the Kids - Beverly Area Planning Association ‘Chicago’s Only Castle’ Updated With New Stories and Photos By Grace Kuikman Just when you think that you’ve heard the whole story of the Givins Beverly Castle, you find out […]

Chicago's Only Castle was featured on ABC-TV News. Terrell Brown visited the Castle and interviewed Linda Lamberty, historian and our book's editor, and also Beth O'Grady, chair of the Board of Trustees of Beverly Unitarian Church (the present keeper of the Castle). At the end of the story, Terrell Brown promotes our book.

Touring with Terrell: Inside the Givins Castle in Beverly Nestled on a hill in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood sits a work of architectural majesty dubbed "Chicago's Only Castle."

We now have a paperback of Chicago’s Only Castle for those who don’t want to pay for the hardback. It’s available on Amazon at a discount for $58.15 while the hardback is also available at a discount for $70.22. These books are in premium color. Bookies Bookstore in Chicago is offering the hardback for $68, and you receive a companion DVD.

The hardback second edition of Chicago’s Only Castle is now available on Amazon. It has 362 pages, is about 8 ½ x 11, in premium color with over 500 images, and offers many great stories about the caretakers of the Castle tied to the history of Chicago. Bookies, the bookstore in Beverly, has a pre-sale offer for the hardcover with free DVD for the discounted price of $68.00. The book should be available at Bookies before the end of October. The link to purchase the 2nd edition at Bookies is https://www.bookiesbookstores.com/item/XwbwX8sawdptnGlgFQFPEg

Our website is www.chicagosonlycastle.org

Until October 25, the hardback (without DVD) is being sold on Amazon for $70.22.

Errol Magidson, Author
Chicago's Only Castle

We have finally finished the 2nd edition of *Chicago's Only Castle*, and it will be available on Amazon soon. Bookies Bookstore in Chicago will sell it for a lower price. We will let everyone know when it becomes available.

This is the detailed description:

The Castle, located in the Beverly neighborhood of Chicago at 10244 S. Longwood Drive, was built in 1886 and 1887. It looks like a real medieval castle. If you love seeing historic images of Chicago and reading about Chicago's history from the late 1860s on, this hardbound book, in premium color with over 500 images, is for you, and This second edition is 75 pages longer than the first.

Chicago's Only Castle regales its reader with the history of a treasure buried on Chicago's far Southwest Side of which few people beyond the neighborhood seem to be aware. The compelling stories of the five keepers of the Castle unfold against the backdrop of, and directly connect to, Chicago's rich history, including the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, the cable-car era, the dawn of the automobile, the Century of Progress International Exposition of 1933-34, and myriad little-known details about Chicago's past. The inspiration behind the building, and its first occupant, was Robert Cartwright Givins, a Renaissance man of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who immigrated from Canada and whose grandfather was a celebrated colonel there in the War of 1812. Givins, noted for his always-clever real estate promotions, was a well-known Chicago personality; a developer active across the City, Cook County, and other places in the United States; a popular novelist of his day; a vocal citizens' advocate; and, together with wife Emma, a globetrotter whose travel reviews were published in the Chicago Evening Post. He was at one time announced in local papers as a candidate for mayor of Chicago.

In addition to Givins, Julia Thayer of the Chicago Female College, the Burdett family, the Siemens family, and Beverly Unitarian Church have been "keepers" of the Castle, and their dynamic stories are told in the book, as well. Julia Thayer was a poet and president of the Chicago Female College, a finishing school for girls, that was housed in the Castle for a time, J. B. Burdett, was an inventor, a manufacturer, and an early automobilist. Burdett and wife Jessie won one of the earliest automobile races in Chicago, the 40-mile journey to Joliet held in 1901. Miroslaw Siemens, a prominent Chicago physician of Ukrainian descent, who was influential in preserving the history of the Ukraine. He was a founder of the Ukrainian National Museum in Chicago and a benefactor of St. Nicholas Catholic Cathedral when it first opened as a church. He was the leader of the group that sponsored the Ukrainian National Pavilion at Chicago's Century of Progress World's Fair held in 1933-34. Son Roman Siemens grew up in the Castle and later became the only doctor at the famous Battle of Bastogne in World War II. Beverly Unitarian Church, the last and present Castle-keeper, has a long and rich history beginning in 1878 in Englewood, then a Chicago suburb, in 1878 and supporting equal rights, justice for all, seeking truth, and helping the less fortunate. The first minister was a woman, Rev. Florence Kollock, who was revered by the congregation as was her successor, Rev. Rufus White. Decades later, Rev. Hunter Leggitt marched in Selma and Montgomery with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1965 to protest the unequal voting rights in the South. Subsequently, Rosa Parks spoke at the Castle. The Church and the community had the Castle restored during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are great new stories in the 2nd edition of Chicago's Only Castle. For example, when Robert C. Givins, the Castle's inspiration and first occupant, came to Chicago with only a few cents, he wrote about how he survived his first days here. Another story is when he graduated law school at Chicago University (now the University of Chicago), his fellow graduates joined law firms as clerks, but he decided to try to open his own law office. Another of the new stories is about Miroslaw Siemens, a prominent Ukrainian American who was a founder of the Ukrainian National Museum; he was interviewed by the House on Un-American Activities in 1939, which as that time was an important force in exposing N***s in the United States. An incredible photo in this edition is one of the Castle and its original property extending to the Horton mansion (built in 1890) is an 1899 aerial photo taken by a camera affixed to a box kite.

In addition to the foreword by Elliot Krick for the first and second editions and the preface by me, there are 15 chapters, a prologue, and three appendices (Acknowledgments and Credits, References, and Index). The chapters are as follows:

I. Introduction, II. Givins Family History, III. Robert Givins Family Era, IV. Givins and His Castle, V. Givins: Renaissance Man, VI. Chicago Female College, VII. Burdett Family, VIII. Siemens Family, IX. Beverly Unitarian Church: The Beginning, X. Beverly Unitarian Church: Visser Family, XI. Beverly Unitarian Church: Children’s Addition, XII. Beverly Unitarian Church: Chrysalis and Beyond, XIII. Ghosts, XIV. Restoration Campaign, and XV. Conclusion.

Yes, Chapter XIII is "Ghosts," and the book will be available in October before Halloween.