Uptown, Chicago
Encyclopedia
Uptown is one of Chicago
’s 77 community areas
. Uptown has well defined boundaries. They are: Foster
on the north; Lake Michigan
on the east; Montrose (Ravenswood to Clark), and Irving Park (Clark to Lake Michigan
) on the south; Ravenswood (Foster to Montrose), and Clark
(Montrose to Irving Park) on the west. Uptown borders three community areas and Lake Michigan
. To the north is Edgewater
, to the west is Lincoln Square
, and to the south is Lake View
.
, with Uptown Square at the center. In 1900, the Northwestern Elevated Railroad constructed its terminal near Montrose and Broadway (now part of the CTA
Red Line
). Uptown became a summer resort town for downtown dwellers, and derived its name from the Uptown Store, which was the commercial center for the community. For a time, all northbound trains from downtown ended in Uptown. From here Uptown became known as an entertainment destination. Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson and other early film stars produced films at the Essanay Studios
on Argyle Street. The Aragon Ballroom, Riviera Theater, Uptown Theatre, and Green Mill Jazz Club are all located within a half block of Lawrence and Broadway. Uptown is also home to one of Chicago's most celebrated final resting spots, Graceland Cemetery
.
The Uptown neighborhood boundary once extended farther to the North, to Hollywood Avenue. Beginning at the turn of the 20th Century, just after the World's Columbian Exposition
, the entire area had experienced a housing construction boom. In the mid 1920s, construction of large and luxurious entertainment venues resulted in many of the ornate and historic Uptown Square buildings which exist today. The craftsmanship and artistry of those Uptown Square buildings reflects the ornate pavilions of the Exposition.
For over a century, Uptown has been a popular Chicago entertainment district, which played a significant role in ushering in the Gilded Age
, the Lyceum
Movement, the jazz age
, the silent film
era, the swing era
, the big band
era, the rock and roll
era, has been a filming location for over 480 movies, has ties to significant spectator sport
athletes and organizations, including the Chicago Blackhawks and three Olympic figure skaters, as well as theater, comedy club
s, dance
performers who later became nationally famous, and even "The People's Music School," a needs-based, tuition-free music school for formal classical music training.
By the 1950s, the middle class was leaving Uptown for more distant suburbs, as commuter rail and elevated train lines were extended. Uptown's housing stock was aging, and old mansions were subdivided. Residential hotels which had housed wives of sailors attached to the Great Lakes Naval Station during World War II now served low-income migrants from the South
and Appalachia
. Uptown developed a reputation as "Hillbilly Heaven" during the 1950s and 1960s. The Council of the Southern Mountains
, headquartered in Berea, Kentucky
launched the Chicago Southern Center in 1963 in Uptown, with help from Chicago philanthropist W. Clement Stone
. Chicago's anti-poverty program opened the Montrose Urban Progress Center. Students for a Democratic Society
initiated a community organizing
project, JOIN (Jobs or Income Now) in 1963. Large-scale urban renewal
projects like Harry S. Truman College eliminated much low-cost housing, and the low-income Southern white residents dispersed. New waves of Asian, Hispanic, and African-American migrants moved into the remaining neighborhoods.
Latinos forced out from other near downtown and lakefront areas by urban renewal settled close to the border with Lakeview at Sheridan, near Irving Park. In 1975 Young Lords
founder Jose (Cha-Cha) Jimenez joined with a broad coalition of whites, blacks and Latinos and ran unsuccessfully against Daley-sponsored Christopher Cohen. They still were able to garner 39% of the vote. His main campaign issue was housing corruption, which was then displacing Latinos and the poor from prime real estate areas of Chicago.
Most recently, since 2000, gentrification
has spread north from neighboring Lakeview
and south from Edgewater
. Median condo prices jumped 69.1% from 2000-2005.
stop on the CTA's Red Line.
Today, many people assume that Buena Park is a "new name" given to this part of Uptown by developers trying to give the area a better name (like those trying to call Humboldt Park "West Bucktown"). In reality, Robert A. Waller developed Buena Park starting in 1887 by subdividing his property. The original Waller home is now the site of St. Mary of the Lake church (built in 1917). Buena Park pre-dates the remainder of Uptown by a number of years. Buena Park is also home to one of the most active neighborhood organizations in Chicago: Buena Park Neighbors.
"The Delectable Ballad of the Waller Lot" by Chicago poet Eugene Field:
Up yonder in Buena Park
There is a famous spot,
In legend and in history
(Known as) the Waller lot.
, is also located in Sheridan Park. The neighborhood can be accessed from either the Wilson
or Lawrence
stop on the CTA's Red Line
.
In 1985, the Sheridan Park Historic District (a National Landmark District) was established to protect the unique single family and smaller multi-family architecture of the area. Some structures of Uptown Square were also added as contributing structures. In 2007, the Sheridan Park area along Dover Street was also registered as an historic district. Many of the homes along Dover are large single family homes from the early 1900s.
and Cambodian
nationality. However, many, if not most, were from ethnic Chinese minorities and, for that reason, became refugees during the Sino-Vietnamese war of the late 1970s. In the span of a few city blocks, Little Vietnam boasts half a dozen Asian grocery stores as well as more than a dozen Vietnamese, Thai, Laotian, and Chinese restaurants. The neighborhood should not be confused with Old Chinatown, which is in the Armour Square
community area on the South Side of the city.
A noteworthy minority within a minority on Argyle are the Bui Doi
, those of mixed Vietnamese and American ancestry. Children of mixed unions had often suffered from discrimination in Vietnam, partly because of hostility to the US armed forces and partly because the women (the unions were almost always of Vietnamese women and American men) were seen as prostitutes. The most discriminated against were those of African American-Vietnamese parents. Uptown was a welcome relief for those who struggled with this oppression.
The neighborhood is centered by the Argyle
stop on the CTA's Red Line.
northern reaches. Its tree-lined streets, historic mansions, and gilded mid-rises reflect the area's development in the bustle of Uptown Chicago's burgeoning entertainment industry in the early 1900s. The diverse housing also includes ornate, terra-cotta clad hotels, immortalized in movies as Chicago Gangster
Era apartment hotels. Some of these 1920s Jazz Age
hotels have been since been converted to SROs
in the area to provide transitional and supportive housing, adding to the tremendously diverse population of the area.
This lakefront neighborhood is home to Margate Fieldhouse, a gym and fitness facility. The area around the fieldhouse is an official off-leash area in the city for dogs. Annual city permits are required for dogs using the areas.
The fieldhouse is also host to the Margate Playground, with 1400 square feet (130.1 m²) of playspace for children. Artists Jim Brenner, Corinne D. Peterson, Ginny Sykes, and Roman Villareal created a unique space reflecting the urban locale catering to children's interests and local fauna.
to the East, Clark
to the west, and Foster to the north. Andersonville Terrace, or SOFO (South of Foster) are names often given to the area by those who wish to identify more closely with the part of the neighborhood that borders Andersonville. However, the area is rich in Uptown history, claiming Essanay Studios, The Green Mill, a 1930s US Post Office, and the Uptown Theater
as major landmarks.
, Al Capone
, Machine Gun Jack McGurn
, Roger "The Terrible" Touhy and others.
is still a very popular music venue. During the 1920s and 1930s, most of the nation's well-known jazz groups played the Aragon. Live radio broadcasts from the Aragon helped promote the Aragon's entertainers throughout the Midwest and beyond. Hotels quickly sprang up in the Uptown area, and it became a mecca for young adults who visited Chicago to dance to the Big Bands of the 1940s and 1950s. Frank Sinatra
, Tommy Dorsey
, Glenn Miller
, Benny Goodman
, Duke Ellington
, Lawrence Welk
, Guy Lombardo
, Wayne King
and other famous bandleaders often played there. In decades to follow, a very diverse selection of "big name" groups have performed, including The Rolling Stones
, U2
, The Smiths
, The Doors
, Snoop Dogg
, Green Day
, The Kinks
, The Smashing Pumpkins
, Dr. John
, B.B. King, Uriah Heep
, Metallica
, Tommy Bolin
, Black Sabbath
, The Clash
, Tangerine Dream
, Slayer
, Motörhead, Nirvana
, The Ramones and many others.
The Aragon Ballroom is located at the intersection of Lawrence and Winthrop Avenues, just adjacent to the Lawrence Red Line 'L'
stop.
movie palace
which featured live jazz performances with the movies. In the 1970s, the seats were removed on the main floor and it was converted to a concert venue.
The Uptown Theatre
is a large, ornate movie palace
with almost 4,500 seats. The largest in Chicago, this architectural gem is on several Landmark Registers. The Uptown Theatre was designed by famous movie palace
architects, Rapp and Rapp
, who also designed the Chicago Theatre
in the Chicago Loop
. It was managed by the Balaban and Katz
Company.
The Uptown Theatre is currently closed and in a state of decay, but efforts have been made by Friends of the Uptown and other local groups to halt deterioration, restore and reopen the theater. Progress was stymied for years by various legal issues, including disputes by multiple mortgage holders and city liens. However, on August 18, 2008, the Uptown Theatre was sold to Jam Productions Ltd, a Chicago-based music promoter. Jam Productions plans to restore the building and will seek development funds from the City of Chicago to help with this effort.
A 2006 documentary, Uptown: Portrait of a Palace, shows the interior of the theatre. It is also featured on the cover of the book The Chicago Movie Palaces of Balaban and Katz by David Balaban.
Gardens in Paris. It was a sunken gardens area, surrounded by a wall and featured nightly entertainment during the summer months. It also featured a dining room which was later converted to the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge during construction of the Uptown Theatre on the former site of the outdoor music gardens. The club was once owned by "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn
, a right-hand man of Al Capone
, who was a regular patron at The Green Mill. The 1957 movie The Joker Is Wild
is based on the life of a regular performer at the Green Mill, Joe E. Lewis
. Starring Frank Sinatra
, the movie is the story about how Lewis tried to leave his gig at the Green Mill and was attacked and left for dead in his apartment. Lewis survived and continued his successful career in California. The Green Mill Jazz Club still hosts top jazz performers. Patricia Barber
, internationally acclaimed jazz performer, plays there most Monday nights, as she has for the past 15 + years. In 2008, Kurt Elling
was a regularly featured performer with his current band. The Green Mill also hosts a weekly Poetry Slam. Poet Marc Smith is credited for developing the Poetry Slam, and still hosts the weekly events at the Green Mill.
as the West Argyle Street Historic District
. It is easily reached by the Argyle stop
on the Red Line 'L.'
One block east of the Argyle 'L' stop, at the corner of Argyle and Winthrop is The Roots of Argyle mural, a community-produced masterwork depicting 100 years of immigration and daily life on Argyle Street. The over 100 ft (30.5 m). painting was designed by community members and painted by world famous muralist Br. Mark Elder and his mural students from DePaul University.
Gardens in Paris, which is the original namesake for what was then called "Moulin Rouge Gardens."
Investors bought the Moulin Rouge Gardens property and spent one-million dollars to expand the facility. Opened in 1921, Mann's Million Dollar Rainbo Room, named after Fred Mann's wartime service in the U.S. Army's 42nd Infantry or "Rainbow" Division, was said to be the largest nightclub in America, featuring some of the biggest names in Vaudeville
and musical entertainment. Larry Fine (actor)
was performing there the night he was asked to join The Three Stooges. The Rainbo Room had a revolving stage to allow for continuous entertainment. There was table seating for 2,000 patrons and space on the dance floor for an additional 1,500. Until 1927, WMAQ radio shared the 670 kilohertz frequency with station WQJ, which was owned by the Rainbo and Calumet Baking Powder Company
; it broadcast music of the Rainbo's performers as a form of promotion.
In 1927, during prohibition
, it was converted to a major casino and sports venue, called the Rainbo Fronton.
In 1934, during the Chicago World's Fair (A Century of Progress), it became French Casino. The French Casino is where John Dillinger
spent his birthday, June 22, 1934, a month before he was shot.
In 1939, it became Mike Todd
's Theater Cafe, which was a popular dinner theater. Tommy Sutton, the Theater Cafe's choreographer, went on to work with Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington and Nat King Cole, among others. It was also a venue for Championship Wrestling where, in 1955, the first women's tag team wrestling match was held.
In 1957, The Theater Cafe was converted to an ice skating rink, called Rainbo Arena, which was a practice rink for the Chicago Blackhawks
including the year they won the 1961 Stanley Cup
. The Rainbo Arena was also a training rink for several Olympic figure skaters, housed a pro bowling alley and the original Kinetic Playground music venue.
In the 1960s and thereafter, The Rainbo was a popular late night roller rink until it was torn down for a new housing development called Rainbo Village. When the building was being demolished in 2003, an assortment of human bones and tennis shoes were discovered in what had been the building's basement. How the bones and shoes ended up there has remained unresolved.
, found that black jazz bands were popular with the Arcadia Ballroom late night crowds. It was one of the few places on the north side of Chicago which would book black jazz bands in the 1920s and 1930s, the other being the Green Mill Jazz Club. The building was destroyed in a fire in the 1950s.
, who was discovered there by the head of the William Morris Agency. Danny would later go on to star in movies and in "Make Room For Daddy", one of the longest running sitcoms in American Television history.
straddles Uptown—providing soccer and athletic fields, a segment of the Chicago lakefront bicycle/running path, Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary ("The Magic Hedge"), a sledding hill, Puptown Dog Park, Wilson Skatepark and Waveland (Marovitz) Golf Course to the south. Also in the Uptown portion of Lincoln Park is Montrose Beach, which includes a dog beach at its northern edge, and Montrose Harbor, a marina for local and transient boaters and home to the Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club.
Two parks, which are inland parts of lakefront Lincoln Park, are located just west of Lake Shore Drive. Called Clarenden Park and Margate Park, each feature athletic fields, children's playgrounds and indoor sports facilities. Chase Park, located on the west side of Clark Street at Leland Avenue, has indoor and outdoor athletic facilities, as well as an outdoor pool and tennis courts.
In southwestern Uptown is historic Graceland Cemetery
. Visitors here can find the elaborate tombs of Chicago's famed dead. Because some of Chicago's famous architects designed memorials and are buried here, the Chicago Architecture Foundation
offers several walking tours of the cemetery during the spring, summer, and fall.
district.
In December 2009, a Chicago Tribune story reported on the problem facing eastern sections of Uptown where several nursing homes clustered in the area house the mentally ill, including felons. Many of these residents have committed a variety of serious crimes including murder, and 11 nursing homes in the area house 318 convicted felons and 1350 mentally ill people.
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
’s 77 community areas
Community areas of Chicago
Community areas in Chicago refers to the work of the Social Science Research Committee at University of Chicago which has unofficially divided the City of Chicago into 77 community areas. These areas are well-defined and static...
. Uptown has well defined boundaries. They are: Foster
Foster Avenue (Chicago)
Foster Avenue is a major east-west street on the North Side of Chicago as well as the northwestern suburbs. Foster Avenue separates the Chicago lakefront neighborhoods of Edgewater to the north and Uptown to the south....
on the north; Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
on the east; Montrose (Ravenswood to Clark), and Irving Park (Clark to Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
) on the south; Ravenswood (Foster to Montrose), and Clark
Clark Street (Chicago)
Clark Street is a north-south street in Chicago, Illinois that runs close to the shore of Lake Michigan from the northern city boundary with Evanston, to 2200 South in the city street numbering system...
(Montrose to Irving Park) on the west. Uptown borders three community areas and Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
. To the north is Edgewater
Edgewater, Chicago
Edgewater is a lakefront community area in the North Side of the city of Chicago, Illinois seven miles north of the Loop. As one of Chicago’s 77 official community areas, Edgewater is bounded by Foster Avenue on the south, Devon Avenue on the north, Ravenswood Avenue on the west, and Lake Michigan...
, to the west is Lincoln Square
Lincoln Square, Chicago
Lincoln Square, located on the North Side of the city of Chicago, Illinois, is one of 77 well-defined Chicago community areas. Greater Lincoln Square encompasses the smaller neighborhoods of Ravenswood Manor, Ravenswood Gardens, Ravenswood, Bowmanville, Budlong Woods and Lincoln Square...
, and to the south is Lake View
Lakeview, Chicago
Lake View, or Lakeview, is one of the 77 community area of the Chicago, Illinois, located in the city's North Side. It is bordered by West Diversey Parkway on the south, West Irving Park Road on the north, North Ravenswood Avenue on the west, and the shore of Lake Michigan on the east...
.
History
The historical, cultural, and commercial center of Uptown is BroadwayBroadway Street (Chicago)
Broadway is a major street in Chicago's Lakeview, Uptown, and Edgewater community areas on the city's North Side, running from Diversey Parkway to Devon Avenue . Originally called Evanston Avenue, the name of the street was changed to Broadway on August 15, 1913 as part of 467 road name changes...
, with Uptown Square at the center. In 1900, the Northwestern Elevated Railroad constructed its terminal near Montrose and Broadway (now part of the CTA
Chicago Transit Authority
Chicago Transit Authority, also known as CTA, is the operator of mass transit within the City of Chicago, Illinois and some of its surrounding suburbs....
Red Line
Red Line (Chicago Transit Authority)
The northern terminus of the Red Line is Howard Street in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago , on the City Limits farthest north. The Red Line extends southeasterly on an elevated embankment structure about a half-mile west of the lakefront to Touhy Avenue then turns south along Glenwood...
). Uptown became a summer resort town for downtown dwellers, and derived its name from the Uptown Store, which was the commercial center for the community. For a time, all northbound trains from downtown ended in Uptown. From here Uptown became known as an entertainment destination. Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson and other early film stars produced films at the Essanay Studios
Essanay Studios
The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was an American motion picture studio. It is best known today for its series of Charlie Chaplin comedies of 1915.-Founding:...
on Argyle Street. The Aragon Ballroom, Riviera Theater, Uptown Theatre, and Green Mill Jazz Club are all located within a half block of Lawrence and Broadway. Uptown is also home to one of Chicago's most celebrated final resting spots, Graceland Cemetery
Graceland Cemetery
Graceland Cemetery is a large Victorian era cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, USA. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at the intersection of Clark Street and Irving Park Road...
.
The Uptown neighborhood boundary once extended farther to the North, to Hollywood Avenue. Beginning at the turn of the 20th Century, just after the World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
, the entire area had experienced a housing construction boom. In the mid 1920s, construction of large and luxurious entertainment venues resulted in many of the ornate and historic Uptown Square buildings which exist today. The craftsmanship and artistry of those Uptown Square buildings reflects the ornate pavilions of the Exposition.
For over a century, Uptown has been a popular Chicago entertainment district, which played a significant role in ushering in the Gilded Age
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
, the Lyceum
Lyceum
The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies between countries; usually it is a type of secondary school.-History:...
Movement, the jazz age
Jazz Age
The Jazz Age was a movement that took place during the 1920s or the Roaring Twenties from which jazz music and dance emerged. The movement came about with the introduction of mainstream radio and the end of the war. This era ended in the 1930s with the beginning of The Great Depression but has...
, the silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
era, the swing era
Swing Era
The Swing era was the period of time when big band swing music was the most popular music in the United States. Though the music had been around since the late 1920s and early 1930s, being played by black bands led by such artists as Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Benny Moten, Ella Fitzgerald,...
, the big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
era, the rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
era, has been a filming location for over 480 movies, has ties to significant spectator sport
Spectator sport
A spectator sport is a sport that is characterized by the presence of spectators, or watchers, at its matches. For instance, Tennis, Rugby, F-1, baseball, basketball, cricket, football , and ice hockey are spectator sports, while hunting or underwater hockey typically are not...
athletes and organizations, including the Chicago Blackhawks and three Olympic figure skaters, as well as theater, comedy club
Comedy club
A comedy club is a venue, typically a nightclub, bar, or restaurant where people watch or listen to performances, including stand-up comedians, improvisational comedians, impersonators, magicians, ventriloquists and other comedy acts...
s, dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
performers who later became nationally famous, and even "The People's Music School," a needs-based, tuition-free music school for formal classical music training.
By the 1950s, the middle class was leaving Uptown for more distant suburbs, as commuter rail and elevated train lines were extended. Uptown's housing stock was aging, and old mansions were subdivided. Residential hotels which had housed wives of sailors attached to the Great Lakes Naval Station during World War II now served low-income migrants from the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
and Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
. Uptown developed a reputation as "Hillbilly Heaven" during the 1950s and 1960s. The Council of the Southern Mountains
Council of the Southern Mountains
Council of the Southern Mountains was a non-profit organization, active from 1912 to 1989, concerned with education and community development in southern Appalachia.-Origins:...
, headquartered in Berea, Kentucky
Berea, Kentucky
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 9,851 people, 3,693 households, and 2,426 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,055.4 people per square mile . There were 4,115 housing units at an average density of 440.9 per square mile...
launched the Chicago Southern Center in 1963 in Uptown, with help from Chicago philanthropist W. Clement Stone
W. Clement Stone
William Clement Stone was a businessman, philanthropist and New Thought self-help book author.-Early life and work:...
. Chicago's anti-poverty program opened the Montrose Urban Progress Center. Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
initiated a community organizing
Community organizing
Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. A core goal of community organizing is to generate durable power for an organization representing the community, allowing it to influence...
project, JOIN (Jobs or Income Now) in 1963. Large-scale urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
projects like Harry S. Truman College eliminated much low-cost housing, and the low-income Southern white residents dispersed. New waves of Asian, Hispanic, and African-American migrants moved into the remaining neighborhoods.
Latinos forced out from other near downtown and lakefront areas by urban renewal settled close to the border with Lakeview at Sheridan, near Irving Park. In 1975 Young Lords
Young Lords
The Young Lords, later Young Lords Organization and in New York , Young Lords Party, was a Puerto Rican nationalist group in several United States cities, notably New York City and Chicago.-Founding:...
founder Jose (Cha-Cha) Jimenez joined with a broad coalition of whites, blacks and Latinos and ran unsuccessfully against Daley-sponsored Christopher Cohen. They still were able to garner 39% of the vote. His main campaign issue was housing corruption, which was then displacing Latinos and the poor from prime real estate areas of Chicago.
Most recently, since 2000, gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
has spread north from neighboring Lakeview
Lakeview, Chicago
Lake View, or Lakeview, is one of the 77 community area of the Chicago, Illinois, located in the city's North Side. It is bordered by West Diversey Parkway on the south, West Irving Park Road on the north, North Ravenswood Avenue on the west, and the shore of Lake Michigan on the east...
and south from Edgewater
Edgewater, Chicago
Edgewater is a lakefront community area in the North Side of the city of Chicago, Illinois seven miles north of the Loop. As one of Chicago’s 77 official community areas, Edgewater is bounded by Foster Avenue on the south, Devon Avenue on the north, Ravenswood Avenue on the west, and Lake Michigan...
. Median condo prices jumped 69.1% from 2000-2005.
Neighborhoods
Buena Park
Buena Park is a neighborhood bounded by Montrose Avenue, Irving Park Road, Graceland Cemetery and Lake Shore Drive. The core of the neighborhood is very suburban with driveways and spacious lots. It is in sharp contrast to the skyscrapers that populate the area around it. It can be accessed from the SheridanSheridan (CTA)
Sheridan is an 'L' station on the CTA's Red Line. It is an elevated station with two island platforms, located at 3940 North Sheridan Road, in the of Wrigleyville neighborhood of Chicago's Lakeview community area. Sheridan is the closest 'L' stop to Graceland Cemetery, which is about one-half...
stop on the CTA's Red Line.
Today, many people assume that Buena Park is a "new name" given to this part of Uptown by developers trying to give the area a better name (like those trying to call Humboldt Park "West Bucktown"). In reality, Robert A. Waller developed Buena Park starting in 1887 by subdividing his property. The original Waller home is now the site of St. Mary of the Lake church (built in 1917). Buena Park pre-dates the remainder of Uptown by a number of years. Buena Park is also home to one of the most active neighborhood organizations in Chicago: Buena Park Neighbors.
"The Delectable Ballad of the Waller Lot" by Chicago poet Eugene Field:
Up yonder in Buena Park
There is a famous spot,
In legend and in history
(Known as) the Waller lot.
Sheridan Park
Sheridan Park is a neighborhood bounded by Lawrence Avenue on the north, Clark on the west, Montrose on the south and Broadway on the east. It is mostly residential, containing six-flats, single family homes, and courtyard apartment buildings. There is a growing business district along Wilson Avenue, which bisects Sheridan Park from Broadway to Clark. Truman College, one of the City Colleges of ChicagoCity Colleges of Chicago
The City Colleges of Chicago is a system of seven community colleges which provide learning opportunities for Chicago residents at the schools or online, and also members of the US military through the Navy Campus to enhance their knowledge and skills. Student enrollment was 115,000 in 2007...
, is also located in Sheridan Park. The neighborhood can be accessed from either the Wilson
Wilson (CTA)
Wilson is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's Red Line, part of the Chicago 'L' metro system. It is located in the Uptown neighborhood at 4620 North Broadway in Chicago, Illinois . It is the closest station to Harry S Truman College. The station has a large central island platform serving...
or Lawrence
Lawrence (CTA)
Lawrence is an 'L' station on the Chicago Transit Authority's Red Line. It is an elevated station located at 1117 West Lawrence Avenue in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The adjacent stations are Argyle, located about one third of a mile to the north, and Wilson, about one quarter...
stop on the CTA's Red Line
Red Line (Chicago Transit Authority)
The northern terminus of the Red Line is Howard Street in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago , on the City Limits farthest north. The Red Line extends southeasterly on an elevated embankment structure about a half-mile west of the lakefront to Touhy Avenue then turns south along Glenwood...
.
In 1985, the Sheridan Park Historic District (a National Landmark District) was established to protect the unique single family and smaller multi-family architecture of the area. Some structures of Uptown Square were also added as contributing structures. In 2007, the Sheridan Park area along Dover Street was also registered as an historic district. Many of the homes along Dover are large single family homes from the early 1900s.
Little Vietnam
This neighborhood is mostly populated by residents who had VietnameseVietnamese people
The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
and Cambodian
Khmer people
Khmer people are the predominant ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for approximately 90% of the 14.8 million people in the country. They speak the Khmer language, which is part of the larger Mon–Khmer language family found throughout Southeast Asia...
nationality. However, many, if not most, were from ethnic Chinese minorities and, for that reason, became refugees during the Sino-Vietnamese war of the late 1970s. In the span of a few city blocks, Little Vietnam boasts half a dozen Asian grocery stores as well as more than a dozen Vietnamese, Thai, Laotian, and Chinese restaurants. The neighborhood should not be confused with Old Chinatown, which is in the Armour Square
Armour Square, Chicago
Armour Square is both the name of a Chicago neighborhood on the city's South Side, as well as the larger, officially defined community area that the neighborhood is located in. The Armour Square community area also includes Chinatown and the CHA Wentworth Gardens housing project...
community area on the South Side of the city.
A noteworthy minority within a minority on Argyle are the Bui Doi
Bui doi
Bui doi refers to Vietnamese street children, especially the Amerasian offspring of American soldiers and Vietnamese mothers abandoned at the end of the Vietnam War. The phrase connotes "uncared-for child," and literally translates as "living dust" or "dust of life". It is intended to bring to...
, those of mixed Vietnamese and American ancestry. Children of mixed unions had often suffered from discrimination in Vietnam, partly because of hostility to the US armed forces and partly because the women (the unions were almost always of Vietnamese women and American men) were seen as prostitutes. The most discriminated against were those of African American-Vietnamese parents. Uptown was a welcome relief for those who struggled with this oppression.
The neighborhood is centered by the Argyle
Argyle (CTA)
Argyle is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system. It is situated between the Berwyn and Lawrence stations on the Red Line, which runs from Rogers Park at Chicago's northern city limits, through downtown Chicago, to Roseland...
stop on the CTA's Red Line.
Margate Park
Margate Park forms the eastern border of Uptown and Edgewater, nested between the recently revitalized strip of new construction on Sheridan Rd. and the pleasantries of the Lincoln ParkLincoln Park
Lincoln Park is an urban park in Chicago, which gave its name to the Lincoln Park, Chicago community area.Lincoln Park may also refer to:-Urban parks:*Lincoln Park , California*Lincoln Park, San Francisco, California...
northern reaches. Its tree-lined streets, historic mansions, and gilded mid-rises reflect the area's development in the bustle of Uptown Chicago's burgeoning entertainment industry in the early 1900s. The diverse housing also includes ornate, terra-cotta clad hotels, immortalized in movies as Chicago Gangster
Gangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....
Era apartment hotels. Some of these 1920s Jazz Age
Jazz Age
The Jazz Age was a movement that took place during the 1920s or the Roaring Twenties from which jazz music and dance emerged. The movement came about with the introduction of mainstream radio and the end of the war. This era ended in the 1930s with the beginning of The Great Depression but has...
hotels have been since been converted to SROs
Single Room Occupancy
A single room occupancy is a multiple-tenant building that houses one or two people in individual rooms , or to the single room dwelling itself...
in the area to provide transitional and supportive housing, adding to the tremendously diverse population of the area.
This lakefront neighborhood is home to Margate Fieldhouse, a gym and fitness facility. The area around the fieldhouse is an official off-leash area in the city for dogs. Annual city permits are required for dogs using the areas.
The fieldhouse is also host to the Margate Playground, with 1400 square feet (130.1 m²) of playspace for children. Artists Jim Brenner, Corinne D. Peterson, Ginny Sykes, and Roman Villareal created a unique space reflecting the urban locale catering to children's interests and local fauna.
Andersonville Terrace (North Uptown)
This area of Uptown has been identified as many different names over the years. Its borders are Lawrence to the south, BroadwayBroadway Street (Chicago)
Broadway is a major street in Chicago's Lakeview, Uptown, and Edgewater community areas on the city's North Side, running from Diversey Parkway to Devon Avenue . Originally called Evanston Avenue, the name of the street was changed to Broadway on August 15, 1913 as part of 467 road name changes...
to the East, Clark
Clark Street (Chicago)
Clark Street is a north-south street in Chicago, Illinois that runs close to the shore of Lake Michigan from the northern city boundary with Evanston, to 2200 South in the city street numbering system...
to the west, and Foster to the north. Andersonville Terrace, or SOFO (South of Foster) are names often given to the area by those who wish to identify more closely with the part of the neighborhood that borders Andersonville. However, the area is rich in Uptown history, claiming Essanay Studios, The Green Mill, a 1930s US Post Office, and the Uptown Theater
Uptown Theatre (Chicago)
The Uptown Theatre, also known as the Balaban and Katz Uptown Theatre, is a massive, ornate movie palace in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Designed by Rapp and Rapp and constructed in 1925, it the last of the "big three" movie palaces built by the Balaban & Katz theatre chain run by...
as major landmarks.
Uptown Entertainment District
Historically a very popular tourist destination, the Uptown Entertainment District is home to various music venues, nightclubs, restaurants and shops. The Uptown Entertainment District is now experiencing a revival, with new restaurants and shops opening every year. Uptown Square, at the center of the Uptown Entertainment District, was designated as a National Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. Uptown is also a stop for Chicago Gangster tours, with many locations tied to infamous gangsters such as John DillingerJohn Dillinger
John Herbert Dillinger, Jr. was an American bank robber in Depression-era United States. He was charged with, but never convicted of, the murder of an East Chicago, Indiana police officer during a shoot-out. This was his only alleged homicide. His gang robbed two dozen banks and four police stations...
, Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
, Machine Gun Jack McGurn
Jack McGurn
"Machine Gun" Jack McGurn was an Italian-American mobster and key member of Al Capone's Chicago Outfit.-Early life:...
, Roger "The Terrible" Touhy and others.
Aragon Ballroom
The Aragon BallroomAragon Ballroom (Chicago)
The Aragon Ballroom is the name of a ballroom in Chicago, Illinois.Located on West Lawrence Avenue approximately five miles north of downtown in the Uptown neighborhood, it was built in 1926 and designed in the Moorish architectural style with the interior resembling a Spanish village and named...
is still a very popular music venue. During the 1920s and 1930s, most of the nation's well-known jazz groups played the Aragon. Live radio broadcasts from the Aragon helped promote the Aragon's entertainers throughout the Midwest and beyond. Hotels quickly sprang up in the Uptown area, and it became a mecca for young adults who visited Chicago to dance to the Big Bands of the 1940s and 1950s. Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
, Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982...
, Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
, Wayne King
Wayne King
Wayne King was an American musician, songwriter, singer and orchestral leader. He was sometimes referred to as "the Waltz King" because much of his most popular music involved waltzes; "The Waltz You Saved For Me" was his standard set closing song in live performance and on numerous radio...
and other famous bandleaders often played there. In decades to follow, a very diverse selection of "big name" groups have performed, including The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
, The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
, Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
, Green Day
Green Day
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...
, The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
, The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...
, Dr. John
Dr. John
Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
, B.B. King, Uriah Heep
Uriah Heep (band)
Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969 and regarded as a seminal classic hard rock act of the 1970s. Uriah Heep's progressive/art rock/heavy metal fusion's distinctive features have always been massive keyboards sound, strong vocal harmonies and David Byron's operatic vocals...
, Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
, Tommy Bolin
Tommy Bolin
Thomas Richard "Tommy" Bolin was an American-born guitarist who played with Zephyr , The James Gang , and Deep Purple , in addition to doing solo work...
, Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
, The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
, Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The band has undergone many personnel changes over the years, with Froese being the only continuous member...
, Slayer
Slayer
Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...
, Motörhead, Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, The Ramones and many others.
The Aragon Ballroom is located at the intersection of Lawrence and Winthrop Avenues, just adjacent to the Lawrence Red Line 'L'
Lawrence (CTA)
Lawrence is an 'L' station on the Chicago Transit Authority's Red Line. It is an elevated station located at 1117 West Lawrence Avenue in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The adjacent stations are Argyle, located about one third of a mile to the north, and Wilson, about one quarter...
stop.
Riviera Theater
The Riviera Theater, also a popular music venue, was once a Jazz AgeJazz Age
The Jazz Age was a movement that took place during the 1920s or the Roaring Twenties from which jazz music and dance emerged. The movement came about with the introduction of mainstream radio and the end of the war. This era ended in the 1930s with the beginning of The Great Depression but has...
movie palace
Movie palace
A movie palace is a term used to refer to the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opened every year between 1925 and 1930.There are three building types in particular which can be subsumed...
which featured live jazz performances with the movies. In the 1970s, the seats were removed on the main floor and it was converted to a concert venue.
Uptown Theatre
Uptown Theatre (Chicago)
The Uptown Theatre, also known as the Balaban and Katz Uptown Theatre, is a massive, ornate movie palace in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Designed by Rapp and Rapp and constructed in 1925, it the last of the "big three" movie palaces built by the Balaban & Katz theatre chain run by...
is a large, ornate movie palace
Movie palace
A movie palace is a term used to refer to the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opened every year between 1925 and 1930.There are three building types in particular which can be subsumed...
with almost 4,500 seats. The largest in Chicago, this architectural gem is on several Landmark Registers. The Uptown Theatre was designed by famous movie palace
Movie palace
A movie palace is a term used to refer to the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opened every year between 1925 and 1930.There are three building types in particular which can be subsumed...
architects, Rapp and Rapp
Rapp and Rapp
The architectural firm Rapp and Rapp was active in Chicago, Illinois during the early 20th century. The brothers Cornelius W. Rapp and George Leslie Rapp of Carbondale, Illinois were the named partners and 1899 alumnus of the University of Illinois School of Architecture...
, who also designed the Chicago Theatre
Chicago Theatre
The Chicago Theatre, originally known as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre, is a landmark theater located on North State Street in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1921, the Chicago Theatre was the flagship for the Balaban and Katz group of theaters run by A. J. Balaban, his brother...
in the Chicago Loop
Chicago Loop
The Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago...
. It was managed by the Balaban and Katz
Balaban and Katz
The first incarnation of the Balaban and Katz Theatre corporation appeared in 1916 in Chicago by A. J. Balaban, Barney Balaban, Sam Katz, and Morris Katz. It held its first meeting as a Delaware corporation on January 21, 1925. Famous Players-Lasky Corporation bought a controlling interest in...
Company.
The Uptown Theatre is currently closed and in a state of decay, but efforts have been made by Friends of the Uptown and other local groups to halt deterioration, restore and reopen the theater. Progress was stymied for years by various legal issues, including disputes by multiple mortgage holders and city liens. However, on August 18, 2008, the Uptown Theatre was sold to Jam Productions Ltd, a Chicago-based music promoter. Jam Productions plans to restore the building and will seek development funds from the City of Chicago to help with this effort.
A 2006 documentary, Uptown: Portrait of a Palace, shows the interior of the theatre. It is also featured on the cover of the book The Chicago Movie Palaces of Balaban and Katz by David Balaban.
Green Mill Jazz Club
The Green Mill Jazz Club is located at 4802 N. Broadway in Chicago, on the site of a much bigger Green Mill Gardens complex, which was an outdoor music gardens fashioned after The Moulin RougeMoulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge is a cabaret built in 1889 by Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Olympia. Close to Montmartre in the Paris district of Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy in the 18th arrondissement, it is marked by the red windmill on its roof. The closest métro station is Blanche.The Moulin Rouge is...
Gardens in Paris. It was a sunken gardens area, surrounded by a wall and featured nightly entertainment during the summer months. It also featured a dining room which was later converted to the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge during construction of the Uptown Theatre on the former site of the outdoor music gardens. The club was once owned by "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn
Jack McGurn
"Machine Gun" Jack McGurn was an Italian-American mobster and key member of Al Capone's Chicago Outfit.-Early life:...
, a right-hand man of Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
, who was a regular patron at The Green Mill. The 1957 movie The Joker Is Wild
The Joker Is Wild
The Joker Is Wild is a film starring Frank Sinatra, Jeanne Crain, and Mitzi Gaynor, and Eddie Albert which tells the story of Joe E. Lewis, the popular singer and comedian who was a major attraction in nightclubs during 1920s to early 1950s....
is based on the life of a regular performer at the Green Mill, Joe E. Lewis
Joe E. Lewis
Joe E. Lewis , born Joseph Klewan in New York City, was an American comedian and singer.-Biography:...
. Starring Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, the movie is the story about how Lewis tried to leave his gig at the Green Mill and was attacked and left for dead in his apartment. Lewis survived and continued his successful career in California. The Green Mill Jazz Club still hosts top jazz performers. Patricia Barber
Patricia Barber
-Discography:* Split Premonition Records * Distortion of Love Antilles * Cafe Blue Blue Note, Premonition Records * Modern Cool Blue Note, Premonition Records...
, internationally acclaimed jazz performer, plays there most Monday nights, as she has for the past 15 + years. In 2008, Kurt Elling
Kurt Elling
Kurt Elling is an American jazz vocalist, composer, lyricist and vocalese performer. Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Rockford, Elling first became interested in music through his father, who was Kapellmeister at a Lutheran church...
was a regularly featured performer with his current band. The Green Mill also hosts a weekly Poetry Slam. Poet Marc Smith is credited for developing the Poetry Slam, and still hosts the weekly events at the Green Mill.
Argyle Street Asian restaurants and shops
Argyle Street, from Sheridan to Broadway and spilling onto Broadway, features Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Laotian, French Vietnamese and Cambodian ethnic restaurants and bakeries. There are also many Asian groceries, shops and trading companies that sell unique Asian merchandise. This area is locally called by many different names, including New Chinatown, North Chinatown, Little Chinatown, Little Saigon, New Saigon, Little Cambodia, Vietnamese Town or Little Vietnam. The surrounding neighborhood, which has attracted Asian immigrants and refugees for the past several decades, is listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as the West Argyle Street Historic District
West Argyle Street Historic District
The West Argyle Street Historic District is a historic district in the Uptown community area of Chicago, Illinois. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 3, 2010...
. It is easily reached by the Argyle stop
Argyle (CTA)
Argyle is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system. It is situated between the Berwyn and Lawrence stations on the Red Line, which runs from Rogers Park at Chicago's northern city limits, through downtown Chicago, to Roseland...
on the Red Line 'L.'
One block east of the Argyle 'L' stop, at the corner of Argyle and Winthrop is The Roots of Argyle mural, a community-produced masterwork depicting 100 years of immigration and daily life on Argyle Street. The over 100 ft (30.5 m). painting was designed by community members and painted by world famous muralist Br. Mark Elder and his mural students from DePaul University.
The Rainbo
The Rainbo, at 4812 N. Clark, was purchased in 2002 and torn down to make way for a new condo and townhouse development. At one point, however, it was a very popular outdoor music garden, fashioned after the Moulin RougeMoulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge is a cabaret built in 1889 by Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Olympia. Close to Montmartre in the Paris district of Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy in the 18th arrondissement, it is marked by the red windmill on its roof. The closest métro station is Blanche.The Moulin Rouge is...
Gardens in Paris, which is the original namesake for what was then called "Moulin Rouge Gardens."
Investors bought the Moulin Rouge Gardens property and spent one-million dollars to expand the facility. Opened in 1921, Mann's Million Dollar Rainbo Room, named after Fred Mann's wartime service in the U.S. Army's 42nd Infantry or "Rainbow" Division, was said to be the largest nightclub in America, featuring some of the biggest names in Vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
and musical entertainment. Larry Fine (actor)
Larry Fine (actor)
Louis Feinberg , known professionally as Larry Fine, was an American comedian and actor, who is best known as a member of the comedy act The Three Stooges.-Early life:...
was performing there the night he was asked to join The Three Stooges. The Rainbo Room had a revolving stage to allow for continuous entertainment. There was table seating for 2,000 patrons and space on the dance floor for an additional 1,500. Until 1927, WMAQ radio shared the 670 kilohertz frequency with station WQJ, which was owned by the Rainbo and Calumet Baking Powder Company
Calumet Baking Powder Company
Calumet Baking Powder Company was an American food company established in 1889 in Chicago, Illinois, by baking powder salesman, William Monroe Wright. His newly formulated double-acting baking powder took its name from the Native American name for a peace pipe given to the lands now known as...
; it broadcast music of the Rainbo's performers as a form of promotion.
In 1927, during prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
, it was converted to a major casino and sports venue, called the Rainbo Fronton.
In 1934, during the Chicago World's Fair (A Century of Progress), it became French Casino. The French Casino is where John Dillinger
John Dillinger
John Herbert Dillinger, Jr. was an American bank robber in Depression-era United States. He was charged with, but never convicted of, the murder of an East Chicago, Indiana police officer during a shoot-out. This was his only alleged homicide. His gang robbed two dozen banks and four police stations...
spent his birthday, June 22, 1934, a month before he was shot.
In 1939, it became Mike Todd
Mike Todd
Michael Todd was an American theatre and film producer, best known for his 1956 production of Around the World in Eighty Days, which won an Academy Award for Best Picture...
's Theater Cafe, which was a popular dinner theater. Tommy Sutton, the Theater Cafe's choreographer, went on to work with Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington and Nat King Cole, among others. It was also a venue for Championship Wrestling where, in 1955, the first women's tag team wrestling match was held.
In 1957, The Theater Cafe was converted to an ice skating rink, called Rainbo Arena, which was a practice rink for the Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
including the year they won the 1961 Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
. The Rainbo Arena was also a training rink for several Olympic figure skaters, housed a pro bowling alley and the original Kinetic Playground music venue.
In the 1960s and thereafter, The Rainbo was a popular late night roller rink until it was torn down for a new housing development called Rainbo Village. When the building was being demolished in 2003, an assortment of human bones and tennis shoes were discovered in what had been the building's basement. How the bones and shoes ended up there has remained unresolved.
Arcadia Ballroom
The Arcadia Ballroom, at 4444 N. Broadway was one of the first Dance Halls in Chicago. Promoter Paddy Harmon, who later developed Dreamland Ballroom and the Chicago StadiumChicago Stadium
The Chicago Stadium was an indoor sports arena and theater in Chicago. It opened in 1929, and closed in 1994.-History:The Stadium hosted the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL from 1929–1994 and the Chicago Bulls of the NBA from 1967–1994....
, found that black jazz bands were popular with the Arcadia Ballroom late night crowds. It was one of the few places on the north side of Chicago which would book black jazz bands in the 1920s and 1930s, the other being the Green Mill Jazz Club. The building was destroyed in a fire in the 1950s.
5100 Club
The 5100 Club, at 5100 N. Broadway Avenue, was a nightclub that hosted comedy performances before the advent of television. One regular headliner was Danny ThomasDanny Thomas
Danny Thomas was an American nightclub comedian and television and film actor, best known for starring in the television sitcom Make Room for Daddy . He was also the founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital...
, who was discovered there by the head of the William Morris Agency. Danny would later go on to star in movies and in "Make Room For Daddy", one of the longest running sitcoms in American Television history.
Parks, Beaches and Boating
Chicago's Lincoln ParkLincoln Park
Lincoln Park is an urban park in Chicago, which gave its name to the Lincoln Park, Chicago community area.Lincoln Park may also refer to:-Urban parks:*Lincoln Park , California*Lincoln Park, San Francisco, California...
straddles Uptown—providing soccer and athletic fields, a segment of the Chicago lakefront bicycle/running path, Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary ("The Magic Hedge"), a sledding hill, Puptown Dog Park, Wilson Skatepark and Waveland (Marovitz) Golf Course to the south. Also in the Uptown portion of Lincoln Park is Montrose Beach, which includes a dog beach at its northern edge, and Montrose Harbor, a marina for local and transient boaters and home to the Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club.
Two parks, which are inland parts of lakefront Lincoln Park, are located just west of Lake Shore Drive. Called Clarenden Park and Margate Park, each feature athletic fields, children's playgrounds and indoor sports facilities. Chase Park, located on the west side of Clark Street at Leland Avenue, has indoor and outdoor athletic facilities, as well as an outdoor pool and tennis courts.
Hospitals
- Chicago Lakeshore Hospital
- Thorek Hospital and Medical Center
- Louis A. Weiss Memorial HospitalLouis A. Weiss Memorial HospitalLouis A. Weiss Memorial Hospital, affiliated with University of Chicago Medical Center, is an urban hospital located in Uptown, Chicago, Illinois. This is a 369-bed hospital, located on the site where there used to be Clarendon Beach, a famous beach of the city...
- U.S. Public Health Hospital
Clinics
- Argyle Medical Centerhttp://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Argyle.Medical.Center.773-989-7661
Schools
- American Islamic College
- Uplift School
- Brenneman Elementary School
- Disney Elementary Magnet School
- Goudy Elementary School
- John T. McCutcheon Elementary School
- Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School
- St. Augustine CollegeSt. Augustine College (Chicago)St. Augustine College is the first bilingual institution of higher education in Illinois. In was founded on 7 October 1980, under the auspices of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. The founding of a college was the culmination of ten years of work by Spanish Episcopal Services and Father Carlos A....
- St. Mary of the Lake Elementary School
- St. Thomas of Canterbury Elementary School
- Stewart Elementary School
- Stockton Elementary School
- Harry S Truman CollegeHarry S Truman CollegeHarry S Truman College, popularly called Truman College and formerly called Mayfair College, is a city college of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. Located at 1145 West Wilson Avenue in the Uptown neighborhood, the school was named in honor of U.S...
- Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School
Graceland Cemetery
Graceland Cemetery
Graceland Cemetery is a large Victorian era cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, USA. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at the intersection of Clark Street and Irving Park Road...
. Visitors here can find the elaborate tombs of Chicago's famed dead. Because some of Chicago's famous architects designed memorials and are buried here, the Chicago Architecture Foundation
Chicago Architecture Foundation
The Chicago Architecture Foundation is a nonprofit group in Chicago, Illinois, USA, dedicated to increasing the public's understanding of architecture and design...
offers several walking tours of the cemetery during the spring, summer, and fall.
Controversy
In 2008 a group of residents sued the City of Chicago over its designation of the Wilson Yards lot as a TIFTax increment financing
Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, is a public financing method which has been used as a subsidy for redevelopment and community improvement projects in many countries including the United States for more than 50 years...
district.
In December 2009, a Chicago Tribune story reported on the problem facing eastern sections of Uptown where several nursing homes clustered in the area house the mentally ill, including felons. Many of these residents have committed a variety of serious crimes including murder, and 11 nursing homes in the area house 318 convicted felons and 1350 mentally ill people.
External links
- Official City of Chicago Uptown Community Map
- Lakeside Community Development Corporation
- Business Partners- The Chamber for Uptown
- Uptown Chicago Commission
- Buena Park Neighbors
- Magnolia Malden Neighbors
- Compass Rose Cultural Crossroads Collection of articles, some of which relate to Uptown history
- Uptown History Blog Blog with images from Uptown's past.
- Uptown Update News and Commentary from the 46th Ward of Chicago
- SeeClickFix Report non-emergency issues in the Uptown neighborhood