![Demolition of Nate's Deli](https://maxwellstreetfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/wrecking-ball-demolishes-Nates-Deli-McFarland-1995-copy-485x500.jpg)
In the 1990s, the University of Illinois at Chicago began to buy up land in the area, tacitly using the threat of future powers of eminent domain to let building and business owners know that they would expand the campus southward to take over the Market area. After the city of Chicago moved the Maxwell Street Market away from its historic location in 1994, the message was clear. Nate’s Delicatessen, a neighborhood institution at 807 W. Maxwell Street, was one of the early sales and was closed in 1995. The wrecking ball hit this neighborhood institution and demolished it in 1995. Nate’s Deli was formerly Lyon’s Delicatessen, and African American Nate Duncan bought the business and building from his former Jewish employer Ben Lyon, keeping the kosher style food. Nate’s Deli was also the “office” of the unofficial Market Master. A UIC student residence hall was later built on the site. (Credit: Photo by Merlyn McFarland 1995)