When Jessica King and Will Duncan purchased FitzGerald’s nightclub just days before the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the world in 2020, the couple knew they were buying more than just a music venue. Local sentiment about the Berwyn venue was significant.
Once she was immersed in her role managing the club’s social media presence, King began visiting the Berwyn Historical Society to learn more about the history of the place. She began to wonder if there was a way to recognize the role that FitzGerald’s had played for generations in Berwyn and the surrounding communities.
King thought that establishing the building as a landmark would help preserve its history in the best way possible. With the help of the Berwyn Historical Society, she put together enough of a timeline to apply to the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office with a preliminary application to be added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The agency approved the application in October and provided a list of consultants who could help shepherd the application through the landmark process. King said they are now working to prepare that final application and hope to know whether FitzGerald’s can be listed on the National Historic Register by this summer.
King, who lives in Oak Park with Duncan with their kids, said that their family loves the community surrounding FitzGerald’s and are excited to do what they can to enshrine FitzGerald’s in the community.
“Seeing the amount of engagement and what this place means, not just to people who come here now, but to generations of families, it feels like the only gift we can give back. Making it a landmark makes it stable for generations to come,” she said.
How much FitzGerald’s meant to the community was apparent during the pandemic when the lockdowns kept the club closed. Members rallied to support the new owners, while the owners responded in kind. FitzGerald’s provided music to the masses with their “Stay at Home” concert series, in which their truck travelled through local neighborhoods providing music. They kept connected with their fans through virtual cocktail classes and drive-in concerts in the parking lot of ReUse Depot in Maywood.
They supported the careers of local artists with “Song for Song” streaming concerts, in which FitzGerald’s live-streamed shows with no audiences with a virtual tip jar. “Live From Where They Live” shows featured artists performing in their own homes, again with a virtual tip jar to support the featured musicians.
Through all the necessary online outreach during that period, King said she realized that the FitzGerald’s community was large and supportive. Another thing she noticed? FitzGerald’s has very deep roots in the community.
As King was posting on social media about the nightclub, she said she also noticed something unusual. “We’d post photos of the fifties or the eighties,” she said, and their followers responded with their memories of the club. “The responses became an outpouring of love for the space. People were emailing and sharing stories of their families or their parents coming here.”
King put out a request for historic photos of FitzGerald’s and began to put together a timeline of the club.
“People who love FitzGerald’s would go do research on their own. We started getting newspaper clippings going back to the 1930’s,” she said.
The building at 6615 Roosevelt Road was built in the early 1900’s. A 1919 Sanborn map shows the presence of a “hall” on the site. Until roughly 1925, it was used as a hunting lodge and sports team headquarters. While the exact timeline is a bit fuzzy due to the Prohibition, King said that the site has been a live music venue since at least the 1930’s.
Near the end of the prohibition era, there is evidence of 6613 W. Roosevelt known as “Club Ritz,” advertised in the Berwyn Life, Oct. 25, 1933. | Provided 
Ranucci’s Night Spot as advertised in the Cicero Life in Mar. 31, 1944. | Provided 
Club Whitehall: As the United States reeled from the Great Depression, big band music became increasingly popular throughout the 1930’s, inspiring new popular swing dances like the jitterbug and the jive. | Provided 
The Hunt Club Lounge announcing their grand opening.
In the 1950’s through the early 1960’s, it was home to The Hunt Club, a nightclub whose live acts included Turk Murphy, Bob Scobey and Lil Armstrong. When The Hunt Club closed, the building became The Deer Lodge, and housed pool tables and a fortune teller.
The FitzGerald family purchased the club in 1980 and re-established a live music venue. When the FitzGerald family retired, they passed the baton to Duncan, who is a veteran of Chicago music establishments like Thalia Hall and Dusek’s/Punch House. Duncan and King, his wife and co-owner, are keeping the family business alive and thriving.
