West Town, Chicago
Encyclopedia
West Town, located in Chicago
, Illinois
, northwest of the Loop, is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas
. Its name may refer to Western Avenue
, which was the city's western boundary at the time of West Town's settlement, but more likely was a convenient abstraction by the creators of Chicago's community areas
. Then, as now, West Town was a collection of several distinct neighborhoods.
and east of Wicker Park. The generally accepted boundaries of Pulaski Park are Ashland (1600 W) to the west, the Chicago River
and Elston Avenue to the east, the Bloomingdale Line
on the north, and Chicago (800 N) on the south (although some people extend the southern border only to Division Street).
Pulaski Park derives its name from the historic park and fieldhouse
that was designed by Jens Jensen
between 1912 and 1914. 1,200 people were displaced, leading to the razing of a number of buildings while others were moved to nearby locations in the neighborhood. The park and fieldhouse were listed on the National Register of Historic Places
on August 13, 1981. It became an official Chicago Landmark
on July 29, 2003.
The neighborhood borders on Polonia Triangle
which was considered to be the center of Chicago's Polish Downtown, the city’s oldest and most prominent Polish settlement
, functioning as the capital of American Polonia. Because of this, the headquarters of many major Polish organizations in the United States
were found in Pulaski Park such as the Polish National Alliance
, the Polish Daily News
and the Polish Women's Alliance
. Pulaski Park is listed within "Polonia Triangle" as one of the 11 neighborhoods included in The Labor Trail which chronicles Chicago's history of working class
life and struggle. The neighborhood is also home to two of Chicago's Polish Cathedrals: St. Stanislaus Kostka and Holy Trinity Polish Mission
.
Pulaski Park was the area of West Town that served as Chicago Congressman Dan Rostenkowski
's base of operations. The family still owns the building opposite St. Stanislaus Kostka church
at 1372 Evergreen from which he ran his operations. Although Pulaski Park has declined from its heady days as part of the city's Polish Downtown, the entire West Town area has undergone a renaissance as gentrification has transformed the area.
This area's historic proximity to the elevated train and higher population density gave it a more working-class population than Wicker Park. As opposed to other areas of West Town, much of the original housing stock of Pulaski Park has not been torn down for new construction in recent years.
in 1870 and laid out a subdivision with a mix of lot sizes surrounding a 4 acres (1.6 ha) park. The Great Chicago Fire
of 1871 spurred the first wave of development, as homeless Chicagoans looked to build new houses.
Before the turn of the twentieth century, Germans
and Scandinavians
tended to live in the area's north and northwestern sections. Wicker Park became the abode of Chicago's wealthy Northern European immigrants. The district proved especially popular with merchants, who built large mansions along the neighborhood's choicest streets—particularly on Hoyne and Pierce, just southwest of North & Damen, known then as Robey. Hoyne was known as "Beer Baron Row," as many of Chicago's wealthiest brewers
built mansions there.
With the end of the 19th century the area was subsumed into the surrounding Polish Downtown and the area adjacent to the park which gave the neighborhood its name
became known as "the Polish Gold Coast". In the 1890s and 1900s, immigration from Poland
and the completion of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Lines greatly boosted the population density of West Town, especially in areas east of Wicker Park. The area around Division
, Milwaukee
, and Ashland was once known as 'Kostkaville
', and the intersection retains the moniker "Polish Triangle" to this day. The provisional government of Poland met in Wicker Park during World War I
. The near Northwest Side is home to many of the most opulent churches in the Archdiocese of Chicago, built in the so-called 'Polish Cathedral style
'.
Polish immigration into the area accelerated during and after World War II
when as many as 150,000 Poles are estimated to have arrived between 1939 and 1959 as Displaced Persons (DPs). Like the Ukrainians in neighboring Ukrainian Village, they clustered in established ethnic enclaves like this one that offered shops, restaurants, and banks where people spoke their language. Division Street
was referred to as Polish Broadway. Poet John Guzlowski
whose parents first came to the area as DPs commented on growing up in the area in the 1950's that "it felt like everyone was a Pole", a place where the local store owners, priests, cops, trash men, teachers, librarians all either spoke Polish or had family that did.
Nelson Algren
's literary output lionized the Division Street strip in his books such as "The Man With The Golden Arm
" and "Never Come Morning" focusing on the stories of junkies, gamblers, hookers, and drunks in the Polish ghetto. Writing about the area's Polish American
underclass against the background of prevalent anti-immigrant xenophobia
was taken by Poles as blatant Anti-Polonism. and resulted in the book Never Come Morning being banned for decades from the Chicago Public Library
system over the massive outcry by Chicago Polonia. Later controversies to commemorate Algren would bring these old wounds back to surface, most recently when Polonia Triangle
was to be renamed to honor the deceased author.
Beginning in the 1960's, Wicker Park began to change radically. Completion of the Kennedy Expressway
in 1960, whose construction had displaced many residents and torn holes in the sustaining network of Polish-American churches, settlement houses, and neighborhood groups. Additionally Puerto Ricans
and other Latinos displaced by urban renewal in Old Town
and Lincoln Park
began moving in. In 1960 Latinos comprised less than 1 percent of West Town’s population, but by 1970 that number was up to 39 percent. Split from the Lincoln Park
neighborhood only by the Kennedy Expressway
in the late 1950s and 60s, it contained the second largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in Chicago
. It was the original home to the largest Latino gang
at the time, the Latin Kings. The Young Lords
, a human rights
movement, held sit-in
s with L.A.D.O. at the Wicker Park Welfare Office and large nonviolent marches to city hall. Urban renewal
projects were undertaken to combat "urban blight" in some parts of the neighborhood, but disinvestment
continued at a rapid clip as downtown banks redlined West Town for much of the mid-20th century. Wicker Park was also promoted by the city's urban renewal plans, as a good "suburb
within the city" because of its easy access to downtown, via Milwaukee
and the elevated train
(via Damen
and Division
stations). Chicago and Wicker Park reached a nadir in the 1970s, a decade when the city overall lost 11% of its population. During the 1970s, hundreds of cases of insurance-motivated arson
were reported in Wicker Park, near St. Elizabeth Hospital. Many small factories
near the area (many in woodworking
) also closed or moved away.
Efforts by community development groups like Northwest Community Organization (NCO) to stabilize the community through new affordable-housing construction in the 1980s coincided with the arrival of artists attracted by the neighborhood's easy access to the Loop, cheap loft space in the abandoned factories, and distinctly urban feel.
In 1989, the "Around the Coyote" festival was launched to help the hundreds of working artists and micro-galleries in the neighborhood to gain a level of local and international prominence. This 501(c)3 non-profit was established with the mission to "bring to the art community a professional organization that will help artists network and exhibit their art." For decades, the festival centered around the Flatiron Arts Building and was typically held during the month of October, Chicago's Artist Month. As of 2008 "Around the Coyote" revised its preferred locations for the annual festival, which in 2008 was held coincidentally with Looptopia
in May in Chicago's Loop.
Today, the neighborhood is best known for its numerous commercial and entertainment establishments and being a convenient place to live for downtown workers due to its proximity to public transportation and the Loop
. Gentrification
has made the area much more attractive to college-educated white-collar worker
s, although it faced considerable resistance from the working-class Puerto Rican community it displaced. Crime has drastically decreased and many new homes have been built as well as older homes being restored. The area has become a desirable neighborhhood and this has led to increased business activity, with many new bars, restaurants, and stores opening to serve individuals. The neighborhood is known for hosting local art stores and independent businesses.
Property values have gone up, increasing the wealth of property owners and making the neighborhood attractive to real estate investors.
The borders of the neighborhood are generally accepted to be North Avenue to the north (at 1600 N) (but the official boundary is the Bloomingdale Trail train tracks just north of North), the Kennedy Expressway on the east north of North Avenue and the Chicago River south of North Avenue, Division to the south (at 1200 N), and Western Avenue to the west (2400 W). Both the East Village and Ukrainian Village are to the south, Humboldt Park is to the west, and Bucktown is to the north.
Notable past and current residents include Nelson Algren
, who lived on the third floor at 1958 W. Evergreen Ave between 1959–1975, Liz Phair
, who penned her first album Exile in Guyville
in and about Wicker Park, James Iha
, former guitarist of the band Smashing Pumpkins, Pro Wrestler Colt Cabana who can be seen on WWE Smackdown as Scotty Goldman, and singer/guitarist Matt Skiba
of The Alkaline Trio. Pro wrestler CM Punk
of World Wrestling Entertainment
currently resides in Wicker Park. Much of Wicker Park was designated as a Chicago Landmark District in 1991.
Wicker Park is the setting of a 2004 film
by the same name. However, the filming of this movie was done on location in Montreal
, Quebec
. Another film of note that uses Wicker Park as its background is High Fidelity
(2000) directed by Stephen Frears
and starring Evanston
-born John Cusack
. It is also a primary source of inspiration for the Skinny Puppy
album Too Dark Park
. Former independent record company Wax Trax Records, a pioneer in releasing industrial music
, had its offices in Wicker Park.
Ukrainian Village is a Chicago
neighborhood located west of Chicago's downtown and south of Wicker Park. Its boundaries are Division Street
to the north, Chicago Avenue to the south, Western Avenue
to the west, and Damen Avenue to the east.
Ukrainian Village, like neighboring East Village began as farmland. Originally German Americans formed the largest ethnic group in the vicinity, however by the turn of the century the neighborhood was largely Slavic
. Similarly to the Lithuanian Downtown in the Chicago neighborhood of Bridgeport
, Ukrainians settled in the district because of their familiarity with Poles
who lived in the surrounding Polish Downtown. Dense settlement of the neighborhood was largely spurred by the 1895 construction of an elevated train
line along Paulina Ave (1700 W) that would later be decommissioned in 1964.
Over the past half century, it has remained a middle-class neighborhood, populated largely by older citizens of Eastern Europe
an ethnicity, bordered (and affected) on many sides by more dangerous areas. It was insulated somewhat from surrounding socioeconomic change in the large industrial areas on its south and west borders by the strong fabric of ethnic institutions as well as the staying power of the Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholic congregations. These local ethnic institutions include the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art
, the Ukrainian National Museum
, and the Ukrainian Cultural Center. Although Ukrainian Village continues to be the center of Chicago's large Ukrainian
community, the gentrification of West Town is rapidly changing the demographic. Ukrainian Village continues to be home to approximately 10,000 ethnic Ukrainians
.
Other notable local landmarks include Ss. Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church, St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, Roberto Clemente High School, St Mary's Hospital, and Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Cathedral
, the latter having been commissioned by St. John Kochurov and designed by famed architect Louis Sullivan
.
On December 4, 2002, the Ukrainian Village District
, centering on Haddon Avenue, Thomas Street, and Cortez Street between Damen and Leavitt Avenues, including portions of Damen, Hoyne and Leavitt Avenues, was designated a Chicago Landmark
District. Extensions to the district were designated in 2005 and on April 11, 2007.
Neighboring "East Village", the area east of Ukrainian Village extending from Damen to Ashland, was originally known as "East Ukrainian Village".
A few scenes from the popular Russian movie from the 1990's, Brother 2, were filmed in and around Ukrainian Village.
Although German-Americans were initially the largest ethnic group in the area, by 1890 Poles were the clear majority, organized around a dense network of Roman Catholic churches such as Holy Innocents and other institutions within the vicinity of Polish Downtown
. These local fraternal and religious organizations helped new immigrants get their bearings. The first home of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth
, a Catholic order founded by a Polish nun, was on West Division. While the convent moved to Des Plaines in 1908, Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital which the sisters founded still remains.
East Village's ethnic turnover coincided with a change in the scale of real estate development, with a host of large residential buildings constructed between Damen and Ashland to create densely packed blocks. East Village's varied built environment juxtaposed ornamented Queen Anne two-flats alongside frame cottages, brick tenements, and greystone three-flats.
Polish immigration into the area accelerated during and after World War II
when as many as 150,000 Poles are estimated to have arrived between 1939 and ’59 as Displaced Persons. Like the Ukrainians in neighboring Ukrainian Village, they clustered in established ethnic enclaves like this one that offered shops, restaurants, and banks where people spoke their language. Division Street
was referred to as Polish Broadway, "teeming with flophouses and gambling dens and polka clubs and workingman’s bars like the Gold Star and Phyllis’ Musical Inn".
Nelson Algren
's literary output lionized the Division Street strip in his books such as "The Man With The Golden Arm
" and "Never Come Morning" focusing on the stories of junkies, gamblers, hookers, and drunks in the Polish ghetto. Writing about the area's Polish American
underclass against the background of prevalent anti-immigrant xenophobia
was taken by Poles as blatant Anti-Polonism. and resulted in the book Never Come Morning being banned for decades from the Chicago Public Library
system over the massive outcry by Chicago Polonia. Later controversies to commemorate Algren would bring these old wounds back to surface, most recently when Polonia Triangle
was to be renamed to honor the deceased author.
In the 1960's East Village began to change radically. Completion of the Kennedy Expressway
in 1960, whose construction had displaced many residents and torn holes in the sustaining network of Polish-American churches, settlement houses, and neighborhood groups. Additionally Puerto Ricans
and other Latinos displaced by urban renewal in Old Town
and Lincoln Park
began moving in. In 1960 Latinos comprised less than 1 percent of West Town’s population, but by 1970 that number was up to 39 percent.
Downtown banks redlined West Town for much of the mid-20th century. Real estate values plummeted as landlords neglected their buildings and speculators sat on vacant land and abandoned property. Small businesses along Chicago Avenues closed, and the arson rate in East Village was so high that in 1976 Mayor Richard J. Daley
convened a task force to address the crisis. The Polish exodus out of the neighborhood followed the Kennedy Expressway into the suburbs. The Northwest Community Organization was founded in 1962 to stem white flight by promoting home ownership and integration between longtime Eastern European residents and the newcomers. The institutional infrastructure that held Ukrainian Village together during the 1970's and 1980's was lacking in East Village. Much of the Polish population had moved northwestward to Avondale
and beyond, while the Latino community which had begun to organize around issues of affordable housing and other redevelopment strategies designed to stave off displacement increasingly came into conflict with the mostly white artists and other urban-pioneer types who by the early 80s constituted a minor but significant presence.
Today this neighborhood has been largely gentrified. East Village's historic proximity to the elevated train and higher population density gave it a more working-class population than Ukrainian Village, and much of the original housing stock has been torn down for new construction in recent years. Several blocks of East Village have recently been designated a Chicago Landmark district to preserve its character with these development pressures.
The small area within West Town east of the Kennedy Expressway
and west of the south branch of the Chicago River
, between Division Street (1200N) and Grand Avenue (500N) is referred to as River West, complementing the River North area of the Near North Side
. The small area is bisected by the elevated Union Pacific Railroad
tracks. It contains several large loft buildings, most converted in the mid 1980s for residential use; several housing developments; St. John Cantius church
; The Chicago Academy for the Arts located in St. John Cantius's former school; the Chicago Tribune
's Freedom Center printing facility; some nightclubs and restaurants and a few blocks of historic residential areas.
on the east, Ashland (1600 W) on the west, Division (1200 N) on the north, and Chicago (800 N) or Grand (500 N) on the south. The name apparently refers to Eckhart Park, a one-block square park at the northeast corner of Chicago and Noble (1400 W). Its identity may be disappearing: real estate agents have been including its northern half as an eastern section of Wicker Park, while the southern end of this neighborhood has been identified as West Town since around 2000. This neighborhood was listed as "West Town" in 19th century census records.
, even though it is not in the Community Area of that name. It is perhaps best known for Paseo Boricua
, a half-mile stretch of Division Street
between Western and California Avenues. This stretch of Division is bookended by two 59 feet (18 m)-tall steel Puerto Rican flags, and contains many Puerto Rican stores and restaurants, with a community very resistant to the forces of gentrification that have moved them further west from West Town, Wicker Park, and Ukrainian Village.
Sq
Originally settled by Sicilian
immigrants who moved west from the "Little Sicily" area on Sedgwick Street, near where the Cabrini–Green housing projects were built, and from the Italian neighborhood along the Grand Avenue corridor, it is a very old community with many families that have lived in the neighborhood for over six generations.
In 1929, when a quarry
that had been converted to a large city dump
in the West Town neighborhood had been completely filled, the Bureau of Sanitation transferred part of the site to the Bureau of Parks and Recreation. The city named the area Smith Athletic Field for Joseph Higgins Smith, alderman of the surrounding 32nd ward from 1914 to 1933. In 1959, the city transferred Smith Park to the Chicago Park District
, at which time an artillery piece was placed in the park. A WWII tank
was moved to the southeast corner of the park in the 1980s from its former home at Grand and Western Avenues. This is the landmark by which most Chicagoans recognize Smith Park. The Park District added a spraypool, swimming pool, and bathhouse in the late 1960s and in 1979 a large, modern fieldhouse was constructed. Nine years later, the Park District dedicated its gymnasium to Tom Positano, a high school student who had been active at the park and who posthumously received a Junior Citizenship Award.
.
Comprehensive high schools located in the West Town community area include:
Option high schools include:
Ukrainian village includes the private St. Nicholas Cathedral school and St. Helen School, which offers Catholic education from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade.
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...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, northwest of the Loop, is one of 77 officially designated Chicago 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...
. Its name may refer to Western Avenue
Western Avenue (Chicago)
Western Avenue is the longest continuous street within the city of Chicago at in length. Western Avenue extends south as a continuous road to the Dixie Highway at Sibley Boulevard in Dixmoor, giving the road a total length of . However, Western Avenue extends intermittently through the...
, which was the city's western boundary at the time of West Town's settlement, but more likely was a convenient abstraction by the creators of Chicago's 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...
. Then, as now, West Town was a collection of several distinct neighborhoods.
Pulaski Park
Pulaski Park is a neighborhood directly west of Goose IslandGoose Island (Chicago)
Goose Island is the only island on the Chicago River in Illinois. It is an artificial island, formed by the North Branch of the Chicago River on the west and the North Branch Canal on the east...
and east of Wicker Park. The generally accepted boundaries of Pulaski Park are Ashland (1600 W) to the west, the Chicago River
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...
and Elston Avenue to the east, the Bloomingdale Line
Bloomingdale Line
The Bloomingdale Line is a elevated railroad running east-west on the northwest side of Chicago that the city of Chicago has proposed to convert into a greenway...
on the north, and Chicago (800 N) on the south (although some people extend the southern border only to Division Street).
Pulaski Park derives its name from the historic park and fieldhouse
Pulaski Park (Chicago)
Pulaski Park is a park on the west side of Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1912, and was named after American Revolutionary War hero Casimir Pulaski....
that was designed by Jens Jensen
Jens Jensen (landscape architect)
Jens Jensen was a Danish-American landscape architect.-Early life:Jens Jensen was born near Dybbøl in Slesvig, Denmark, in 1860, to a wealthy farming family. For the first nineteen years of his life he lived on his family's farm, which cultivated his love for the natural environment...
between 1912 and 1914. 1,200 people were displaced, leading to the razing of a number of buildings while others were moved to nearby locations in the neighborhood. The park and fieldhouse were listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National 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...
on August 13, 1981. It became an official Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark is a designation of the Mayor of Chicago and the Chicago City Council for historic buildings and other sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artistic, cultural,...
on July 29, 2003.
The neighborhood borders on Polonia Triangle
Polonia Triangle
Polonia Triangle , also known as the Polish Triangle, is located in West Town, in what had been the historical Polish Downtown area of Chicago. It is bound by Division, Ashland and Milwaukee Avenue. A single-tiered fountain made of black iron with a bowl about nine feet in diameter is installed...
which was considered to be the center of Chicago's Polish Downtown, the city’s oldest and most prominent Polish settlement
Poles in Chicago
Chicago Polonia, refers to both immigrant Poles and Americans of Polish heritage living in Chicago, Illinois. They are a part of worldwide Polonia, the proper term for the Polish Diaspora outside of Poland. Poles in Chicago have contributed to the economic, social and cultural well-being of Chicago...
, functioning as the capital of American Polonia. Because of this, the headquarters of many major Polish organizations in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
were found in Pulaski Park such as the Polish National Alliance
Polish National Alliance
The Polish National Alliance is the largest and one of the oldest Polish fraternal organizations in the United States, founded on 15 February 1880 in Philadelphia under the influence of Polish patriot Agaton Giller. Its first president was Juliusz Andrzejkowicz.The PNA founded a number of...
, the Polish Daily News
Dziennik Zwiazkowy (Polish Daily News)
Dziennik Związkowy or Polish Daily News, is the largest and the oldest Polish language newspaper in the United States. Established in 1908 in Chicago as an organ of the Polish National Alliance from whose headquarters at Polonia Triangle in Chicago's Polish Downtown the paper was originally printed...
and the Polish Women's Alliance
Polish Women's Alliance
The Polish Women's Alliance of America is a a fraternal benefit society that was founded on May 22, 1898 in Chicago, Illinois....
. Pulaski Park is listed within "Polonia Triangle" as one of the 11 neighborhoods included in The Labor Trail which chronicles Chicago's history of working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
life and struggle. The neighborhood is also home to two of Chicago's Polish Cathedrals: St. Stanislaus Kostka and Holy Trinity Polish Mission
Holy Trinity Polish Mission
Holy Trinity Church - historic church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. It is a prime example of the so-called 'Polish Cathedral style' of churches, in both its opulence and grand scale. Along with such monumental religious edifices as St. Mary of the Angels, St. Hedwig's or St...
.
Pulaski Park was the area of West Town that served as Chicago Congressman Dan Rostenkowski
Dan Rostenkowski
Daniel David "Dan" Rostenkowski was a United States Representative from Illinois, serving from 1959 to 1995. Raised in a blue-collar neighborhood on the Northwest Side of Chicago, Rostenkowski rose to become one of the most powerful legislators in Washington. He was a member of the Democratic Party...
's base of operations. The family still owns the building opposite St. Stanislaus Kostka church
St. Stanislaus Kostka in Chicago
The St. Stanislaus Kostka Church is a historic church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago located in the Pulaski Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.St...
at 1372 Evergreen from which he ran his operations. Although Pulaski Park has declined from its heady days as part of the city's Polish Downtown, the entire West Town area has undergone a renaissance as gentrification has transformed the area.
This area's historic proximity to the elevated train and higher population density gave it a more working-class population than Wicker Park. As opposed to other areas of West Town, much of the original housing stock of Pulaski Park has not been torn down for new construction in recent years.
Wicker Park
Wicker Park is a Chicago neighborhood northwest of the Loop, south of Bucktown and west of Pulaski Park. Charles and Joel Wicker purchased 80 acres (32 ha) of land along Milwaukee AvenueMilwaukee Avenue (Chicago)
Milwaukee Avenue is a major diagonal street in the city of Chicago and the northern suburbs. True to its name, it once led to the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Starting with a short section at N. Canal and W. Lake Streets, it begins in earnest at the corner of N Desplaines and W. Kinzie Streets...
in 1870 and laid out a subdivision with a mix of lot sizes surrounding a 4 acres (1.6 ha) park. The Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S...
of 1871 spurred the first wave of development, as homeless Chicagoans looked to build new houses.
Before the turn of the twentieth century, Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
and Scandinavians
Scandinavians
Scandinavians are a group of Germanic peoples, inhabiting Scandinavia and to a lesser extent countries associated with Scandinavia, and speaking Scandinavian languages. The group includes Danes, Norwegians and Swedes, and additionally the descendants of Scandinavian settlers such as the Icelandic...
tended to live in the area's north and northwestern sections. Wicker Park became the abode of Chicago's wealthy Northern European immigrants. The district proved especially popular with merchants, who built large mansions along the neighborhood's choicest streets—particularly on Hoyne and Pierce, just southwest of North & Damen, known then as Robey. Hoyne was known as "Beer Baron Row," as many of Chicago's wealthiest brewers
Brewing
Brewing is the production of beer through steeping a starch source in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BCE, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was used in ancient Egypt...
built mansions there.
With the end of the 19th century the area was subsumed into the surrounding Polish Downtown and the area adjacent to the park which gave the neighborhood its name
Wicker Park (Chicago park)
Wicker Park is an urban park in Chicago, Illinois named after Charles G. Wicker and Joel H. Wicker.- History :Charles G. Wicker and Joel H. Wicker donated a parcel of land to the City of Chicago in 1870. The City of Chicago installed a small reservoir inside the triangular park. In 1890 the West...
became known as "the Polish Gold Coast". In the 1890s and 1900s, immigration from Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and the completion of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Lines greatly boosted the population density of West Town, especially in areas east of Wicker Park. The area around Division
Division Street (Chicago)
Division Street is a major east-west street in Chicago, Illinois, located at 1200 North . Division Street begins in the Gold Coast neighborhood near Lake Shore Drive, passes through Polonia Triangle at Milwaukee Avenue into Wicker Park and continues to Chicago's city limits and into the city's...
, Milwaukee
Milwaukee Avenue (Chicago)
Milwaukee Avenue is a major diagonal street in the city of Chicago and the northern suburbs. True to its name, it once led to the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Starting with a short section at N. Canal and W. Lake Streets, it begins in earnest at the corner of N Desplaines and W. Kinzie Streets...
, and Ashland was once known as 'Kostkaville
Polonia Triangle
Polonia Triangle , also known as the Polish Triangle, is located in West Town, in what had been the historical Polish Downtown area of Chicago. It is bound by Division, Ashland and Milwaukee Avenue. A single-tiered fountain made of black iron with a bowl about nine feet in diameter is installed...
', and the intersection retains the moniker "Polish Triangle" to this day. The provisional government of Poland met in Wicker Park during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The near Northwest Side is home to many of the most opulent churches in the Archdiocese of Chicago, built in the so-called 'Polish Cathedral style
Polish Cathedral style
The Polish Cathedral architectural style is a North American genre of Catholic church architecture found throughout the Great Lakes and Middle Atlantic regions as well as in parts of New England...
'.
Polish immigration into the area accelerated during and after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when as many as 150,000 Poles are estimated to have arrived between 1939 and 1959 as Displaced Persons (DPs). Like the Ukrainians in neighboring Ukrainian Village, they clustered in established ethnic enclaves like this one that offered shops, restaurants, and banks where people spoke their language. Division Street
Division Street (Chicago)
Division Street is a major east-west street in Chicago, Illinois, located at 1200 North . Division Street begins in the Gold Coast neighborhood near Lake Shore Drive, passes through Polonia Triangle at Milwaukee Avenue into Wicker Park and continues to Chicago's city limits and into the city's...
was referred to as Polish Broadway. Poet John Guzlowski
John Guzlowski
-Personal life:John Guzlowski was born the son of parents who met in a slave labor camp in Nazi Germany. His mother Tekla Hanczarek came from a small community west of Lviv in what was then Poland where her father was a forest warden. His father Jan was born in a farming community north of Poznań...
whose parents first came to the area as DPs commented on growing up in the area in the 1950's that "it felt like everyone was a Pole", a place where the local store owners, priests, cops, trash men, teachers, librarians all either spoke Polish or had family that did.
Nelson Algren
Nelson Algren
Nelson Algren was an American writer.-Early life:Algren was born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Goldie and Gerson Abraham. At the age of three he moved with his parents to Chicago, Illinois where they lived in a working-class, immigrant neighborhood on the South Side...
's literary output lionized the Division Street strip in his books such as "The Man With The Golden Arm
The Man with the Golden Arm (novel)
The Man with the Golden Arm is a novel by Nelson Algren that details the trials and hardships of illicit card dealer "Frankie Machine", along with an assortment of colorful characters, on Chicago's Near Northwest Side. A veteran of World War II, Frankie struggles to stabilize his personal life...
" and "Never Come Morning" focusing on the stories of junkies, gamblers, hookers, and drunks in the Polish ghetto. Writing about the area's Polish American
Polish American
A Polish American , is a citizen of the United States of Polish descent. There are an estimated 10 million Polish Americans, representing about 3.2% of the population of the United States...
underclass against the background of prevalent anti-immigrant xenophobia
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
was taken by Poles as blatant Anti-Polonism. and resulted in the book Never Come Morning being banned for decades from the Chicago Public Library
Chicago Public Library
The Chicago Public Library is the public library system that serves the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 79 branches, including a central library, two regional libraries, and branches distributed throughout the city....
system over the massive outcry by Chicago Polonia. Later controversies to commemorate Algren would bring these old wounds back to surface, most recently when Polonia Triangle
Polonia Triangle
Polonia Triangle , also known as the Polish Triangle, is located in West Town, in what had been the historical Polish Downtown area of Chicago. It is bound by Division, Ashland and Milwaukee Avenue. A single-tiered fountain made of black iron with a bowl about nine feet in diameter is installed...
was to be renamed to honor the deceased author.
Beginning in the 1960's, Wicker Park began to change radically. Completion of the Kennedy Expressway
Kennedy Expressway
The John F. Kennedy Expressway is a long highway that travels northwest from the Chicago Loop to O'Hare International Airport. The expressway is named for the 35th U.S. President, John F. Kennedy. The Interstate 90 portion of the Kennedy is a part of the much longer I-90...
in 1960, whose construction had displaced many residents and torn holes in the sustaining network of Polish-American churches, settlement houses, and neighborhood groups. Additionally Puerto Ricans
Puerto Ricans in Chicago
Puerto Ricans in Chicago are people living in Chicago who have citizenship or ancestral connections to the island of Puerto Rico. They have contributed to the economic, social and cultural well-being of Chicago for more than seventy years.- History :...
and other Latinos displaced by urban renewal in Old Town
Old Town, Chicago
Old Town is a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, bounded by the Ogden Ave. right-of-way on the northwest, Larrabee Street on the west, Clybourn Avenue on the southwest and Division Street on the south and Clark Street on the east and northeast. It spans across eastern parts of the community areas...
and Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park, Chicago
Lincoln Park, is one of the 77 community areas on Chicago, Illinois North Side, USA. Named after Lincoln Park, a vast park bordering Lake Michigan, the community area is anchored by the Lincoln Park Zoo and DePaul University...
began moving in. In 1960 Latinos comprised less than 1 percent of West Town’s population, but by 1970 that number was up to 39 percent. Split from the Lincoln Park
Lincoln 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...
neighborhood only by the Kennedy Expressway
Kennedy Expressway
The John F. Kennedy Expressway is a long highway that travels northwest from the Chicago Loop to O'Hare International Airport. The expressway is named for the 35th U.S. President, John F. Kennedy. The Interstate 90 portion of the Kennedy is a part of the much longer I-90...
in the late 1950s and 60s, it contained the second largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in Chicago
Puerto Ricans in Chicago
Puerto Ricans in Chicago are people living in Chicago who have citizenship or ancestral connections to the island of Puerto Rico. They have contributed to the economic, social and cultural well-being of Chicago for more than seventy years.- History :...
. It was the original home to the largest Latino gang
Gang
A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...
at the time, the Latin Kings. The 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:...
, a human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
movement, held sit-in
Sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of protest that involves occupying seats or sitting down on the floor of an establishment.-Process:In a sit-in, protesters remain until they are evicted, usually by force, or arrested, or until their requests have been met...
s with L.A.D.O. at the Wicker Park Welfare Office and large nonviolent marches to city hall. 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 were undertaken to combat "urban blight" in some parts of the neighborhood, but disinvestment
Disinvestment
Disinvestment, sometimes referred to as divestment, refers to the use of a concerted economic boycott, with specific emphasis on liquidating stock, to pressure a government, industry, or company towards a change in policy, or in the case of governments, even regime change...
continued at a rapid clip as downtown banks redlined West Town for much of the mid-20th century. Wicker Park was also promoted by the city's urban renewal plans, as a good "suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
within the city" because of its easy access to downtown, via Milwaukee
Milwaukee Avenue (Chicago)
Milwaukee Avenue is a major diagonal street in the city of Chicago and the northern suburbs. True to its name, it once led to the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Starting with a short section at N. Canal and W. Lake Streets, it begins in earnest at the corner of N Desplaines and W. Kinzie Streets...
and the elevated train
Blue Line (Chicago Transit Authority)
The Blue Line consists of a long trunk line in the Chicago Transit Authority's rapid transit system which extends through Chicago's Loop from O'Hare International Airport at the far northwest end of the city, through downtown via the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway, and across the West Side to its...
(via Damen
Damen (CTA Blue Line)
Damen is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving the Blue Line. It serves the popular and growing Bucktown and Wicker Park neighborhoods...
and Division
Division (CTA)
Division is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving the Blue Line. The Division street station is at Polonia Triangle, the corner of Milwaukee, Ashland, and Division Street and serves the Wicker Park area of West Town, Chicago...
stations). Chicago and Wicker Park reached a nadir in the 1970s, a decade when the city overall lost 11% of its population. During the 1970s, hundreds of cases of insurance-motivated arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
were reported in Wicker Park, near St. Elizabeth Hospital. Many small factories
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
near the area (many in woodworking
Woodworking
Woodworking is the process of building, making or carving something using wood.-History:Along with stone, mud, and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood...
) also closed or moved away.
Efforts by community development groups like Northwest Community Organization (NCO) to stabilize the community through new affordable-housing construction in the 1980s coincided with the arrival of artists attracted by the neighborhood's easy access to the Loop, cheap loft space in the abandoned factories, and distinctly urban feel.
In 1989, the "Around the Coyote" festival was launched to help the hundreds of working artists and micro-galleries in the neighborhood to gain a level of local and international prominence. This 501(c)3 non-profit was established with the mission to "bring to the art community a professional organization that will help artists network and exhibit their art." For decades, the festival centered around the Flatiron Arts Building and was typically held during the month of October, Chicago's Artist Month. As of 2008 "Around the Coyote" revised its preferred locations for the annual festival, which in 2008 was held coincidentally with Looptopia
Looptopia
Looptopia was a dusk-to-dawn cultural event that was held in 2007 and 2008 in the city of Chicago. Billed as "Chicago's White Night", Looptopia was modeled after Nuit Blanche held annually in Paris. It premiered on the evening of May 11 through the morning May 12, 2007 in Chicago's central business...
in May in Chicago's 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...
. 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 made the area much more attractive to college-educated white-collar worker
White-collar worker
The term white-collar worker refers to a person who performs professional, managerial, or administrative work, in contrast with a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor...
s, although it faced considerable resistance from the working-class Puerto Rican community it displaced. Crime has drastically decreased and many new homes have been built as well as older homes being restored. The area has become a desirable neighborhhood and this has led to increased business activity, with many new bars, restaurants, and stores opening to serve individuals. The neighborhood is known for hosting local art stores and independent businesses.
Property values have gone up, increasing the wealth of property owners and making the neighborhood attractive to real estate investors.
The borders of the neighborhood are generally accepted to be North Avenue to the north (at 1600 N) (but the official boundary is the Bloomingdale Trail train tracks just north of North), the Kennedy Expressway on the east north of North Avenue and the Chicago River south of North Avenue, Division to the south (at 1200 N), and Western Avenue to the west (2400 W). Both the East Village and Ukrainian Village are to the south, Humboldt Park is to the west, and Bucktown is to the north.
Notable past and current residents include Nelson Algren
Nelson Algren
Nelson Algren was an American writer.-Early life:Algren was born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Goldie and Gerson Abraham. At the age of three he moved with his parents to Chicago, Illinois where they lived in a working-class, immigrant neighborhood on the South Side...
, who lived on the third floor at 1958 W. Evergreen Ave between 1959–1975, Liz Phair
Liz Phair
Phair's entry into the music industry began when she met guitarist Chris Brokaw, a member of the band Come. Brokaw and Phair moved to San Francisco together, and Phair tried to become an artist there...
, who penned her first album Exile in Guyville
Exile in Guyville
The album, which was out of print, was again available on CD, vinyl and, for the first time, in digital format. The special reissue package includes three never-before-released songs from the original recording sessions: "Ant in Alaska", "Say You", and an untitled instrumental with Phair on guitar...
in and about Wicker Park, James Iha
James Iha
James Yoshinobu Iha b. March 26, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois) is a Japanese American rock musician. He is best known as having been a guitarist and co-founder of the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins and for his eclectic musical projects of recent years, most notably being a permanent...
, former guitarist of the band Smashing Pumpkins, Pro Wrestler Colt Cabana who can be seen on WWE Smackdown as Scotty Goldman, and singer/guitarist Matt Skiba
Matt Skiba
Matthew Thomas Skiba is the lead singer and guitarist of Alkaline Trio.-Early life and family:...
of The Alkaline Trio. Pro wrestler CM Punk
CM Punk
Phillip Jack "Phil" Brooks , better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE and working on its Raw brand currently serving his second title reign as WWE Champion....
of World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
currently resides in Wicker Park. Much of Wicker Park was designated as a Chicago Landmark District in 1991.
Wicker Park is the setting of a 2004 film
Wicker Park (film)
Wicker Park is a 2004 American psychological drama/romantic mystery film directed by Paul McGuigan and starring Josh Hartnett. The film is a remake of the 1996 French movie L'Appartement...
by the same name. However, the filming of this movie was done on location in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. Another film of note that uses Wicker Park as its background is High Fidelity
High Fidelity (film)
High Fidelity is a 2000 American comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears and starring John Cusack and the Danish actress Iben Hjejle. The film is based on the 1995 British novel of the same name by Nick Hornby, with the setting moved from London to Chicago and the name of the lead character...
(2000) directed by Stephen Frears
Stephen Frears
Stephen Arthur Frears is an English film director.-Early life:Frears was born in Leicester, England to Ruth M., a social worker, and Dr Russell E. Frears, a general practitioner and accountant. He did not find out that his mother was Jewish until he was in his late 20s...
and starring Evanston
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
-born John Cusack
John Cusack
John Paul Cusack is an American film actor and screenwriter. He has appeared in more than 50 films, including The Journey of Natty Gann, Say Anything..., Grosse Point Blank, The Thin Red Line, Stand by Me, Con Air, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, Serendipity, Runaway Jury, The Ice Harvest,...
. It is also a primary source of inspiration for the Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial musical group, formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1982. The group is widely considered to be the founders of the electro-industrial genre....
album Too Dark Park
Too Dark Park
-Personnel:*Nivek Ogre – vocals*cEvin Key – drums, synthesizer, guitar, objects, treatments*Dwayne Goettel – synthesizer, keyboards, guitar, bass*Mr. D. Pleven – fretless bass , stick bass *Green Guy – 12 string *Greg Reely – piano , mixing...
. Former independent record company Wax Trax Records, a pioneer in releasing industrial music
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
, had its offices in Wicker Park.
Ukrainian Village
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...
neighborhood located west of Chicago's downtown and south of Wicker Park. Its boundaries are Division Street
Division Street (Chicago)
Division Street is a major east-west street in Chicago, Illinois, located at 1200 North . Division Street begins in the Gold Coast neighborhood near Lake Shore Drive, passes through Polonia Triangle at Milwaukee Avenue into Wicker Park and continues to Chicago's city limits and into the city's...
to the north, Chicago Avenue to the south, Western Avenue
Western Avenue (Chicago)
Western Avenue is the longest continuous street within the city of Chicago at in length. Western Avenue extends south as a continuous road to the Dixie Highway at Sibley Boulevard in Dixmoor, giving the road a total length of . However, Western Avenue extends intermittently through the...
to the west, and Damen Avenue to the east.
Ukrainian Village, like neighboring East Village began as farmland. Originally German Americans formed the largest ethnic group in the vicinity, however by the turn of the century the neighborhood was largely Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
. Similarly to the Lithuanian Downtown in the Chicago neighborhood of Bridgeport
Bridgeport, Chicago
Bridgeport, one of 77 community areas of Chicago, is a neighborhood located on the city's South Side. It is bounded, generally, on the west and north by the Chicago River, on the east by Canal Street, and on the south by Pershing Road.-History:...
, Ukrainians settled in the district because of their familiarity with Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
who lived in the surrounding Polish Downtown. Dense settlement of the neighborhood was largely spurred by the 1895 construction of an elevated train
Chicago 'L'
The L is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs. It is operated by the Chicago Transit Authority...
line along Paulina Ave (1700 W) that would later be decommissioned in 1964.
Over the past half century, it has remained a middle-class neighborhood, populated largely by older citizens of Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an ethnicity, bordered (and affected) on many sides by more dangerous areas. It was insulated somewhat from surrounding socioeconomic change in the large industrial areas on its south and west borders by the strong fabric of ethnic institutions as well as the staying power of the Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholic congregations. These local ethnic institutions include the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art
Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art
The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art is a modern art museum serving the greater Chicago area with an ongoing program of cultural exhibitions, literary events, film screenings and music recitals. UIMA was founded in 1971 by Dr. Achilles Chreptowsky in the heart of Chicago's Ukrainian Village,...
, the Ukrainian National Museum
Ukrainian National Museum
Ukrainian National Museum is located in the historical Ukrainian Village neighborhood of Chicago, USA. It is home to a plethora of Ukrainian artifacts, artwork, musical instruments, and embroidered folk costumes among its growing collection....
, and the Ukrainian Cultural Center. Although Ukrainian Village continues to be the center of Chicago's large Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
community, the gentrification of West Town is rapidly changing the demographic. Ukrainian Village continues to be home to approximately 10,000 ethnic Ukrainians
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
.
Other notable local landmarks include Ss. Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church, St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, Roberto Clemente High School, St Mary's Hospital, and Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Cathedral
Holy Trinity Cathedral, Chicago
Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral is the Cathedral Church of the Orthodox Church in America Diocese of the Midwest. It is one of only two churches designed by Louis Sullivan, one of the seminal architects of the 20th century...
, the latter having been commissioned by St. John Kochurov and designed by famed architect Louis Sullivan
Louis Sullivan
Louis Henri Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism" He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an...
.
On December 4, 2002, the Ukrainian Village District
Ukrainian Village District
The Ukrainian Village District is a landmark-designated district of residential buildings within the West Town community area of Chicago, Illinois...
, centering on Haddon Avenue, Thomas Street, and Cortez Street between Damen and Leavitt Avenues, including portions of Damen, Hoyne and Leavitt Avenues, was designated a Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark is a designation of the Mayor of Chicago and the Chicago City Council for historic buildings and other sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artistic, cultural,...
District. Extensions to the district were designated in 2005 and on April 11, 2007.
Neighboring "East Village", the area east of Ukrainian Village extending from Damen to Ashland, was originally known as "East Ukrainian Village".
A few scenes from the popular Russian movie from the 1990's, Brother 2, were filmed in and around Ukrainian Village.
East Village
East Village or "East Ukrainian Village" is a neighborhood directly east of Ukrainian Village. The generally accepted boundaries of East Village are Ashland (1600 W) on the east, Damen (2000 W) on the west, Division (1200 N) on the north, and Chicago (800 N) on the south (although some people extend the southern border to Grand Ave).Although German-Americans were initially the largest ethnic group in the area, by 1890 Poles were the clear majority, organized around a dense network of Roman Catholic churches such as Holy Innocents and other institutions within the vicinity of Polish Downtown
Polish Downtown (Chicago)
Polish Downtown was Chicago’s oldest and most prominent Polish settlement. Polish Downtown was the political, cultural and social capital of not only Poles in Chicago but Polish Americans throughout North America as well...
. These local fraternal and religious organizations helped new immigrants get their bearings. The first home of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth
Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth
The Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth are a Roman Catholic religious order which was founded in Rome in 1875 by Blessed Mary of Jesus the Good Shepherd . The Sisters of the Holy Family are an apostolic, international congregation, located on four continents and in thirteen countries. There are...
, a Catholic order founded by a Polish nun, was on West Division. While the convent moved to Des Plaines in 1908, Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital which the sisters founded still remains.
East Village's ethnic turnover coincided with a change in the scale of real estate development, with a host of large residential buildings constructed between Damen and Ashland to create densely packed blocks. East Village's varied built environment juxtaposed ornamented Queen Anne two-flats alongside frame cottages, brick tenements, and greystone three-flats.
Polish immigration into the area accelerated during and after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when as many as 150,000 Poles are estimated to have arrived between 1939 and ’59 as Displaced Persons. Like the Ukrainians in neighboring Ukrainian Village, they clustered in established ethnic enclaves like this one that offered shops, restaurants, and banks where people spoke their language. Division Street
Division Street (Chicago)
Division Street is a major east-west street in Chicago, Illinois, located at 1200 North . Division Street begins in the Gold Coast neighborhood near Lake Shore Drive, passes through Polonia Triangle at Milwaukee Avenue into Wicker Park and continues to Chicago's city limits and into the city's...
was referred to as Polish Broadway, "teeming with flophouses and gambling dens and polka clubs and workingman’s bars like the Gold Star and Phyllis’ Musical Inn".
Nelson Algren
Nelson Algren
Nelson Algren was an American writer.-Early life:Algren was born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Goldie and Gerson Abraham. At the age of three he moved with his parents to Chicago, Illinois where they lived in a working-class, immigrant neighborhood on the South Side...
's literary output lionized the Division Street strip in his books such as "The Man With The Golden Arm
The Man with the Golden Arm (novel)
The Man with the Golden Arm is a novel by Nelson Algren that details the trials and hardships of illicit card dealer "Frankie Machine", along with an assortment of colorful characters, on Chicago's Near Northwest Side. A veteran of World War II, Frankie struggles to stabilize his personal life...
" and "Never Come Morning" focusing on the stories of junkies, gamblers, hookers, and drunks in the Polish ghetto. Writing about the area's Polish American
Polish American
A Polish American , is a citizen of the United States of Polish descent. There are an estimated 10 million Polish Americans, representing about 3.2% of the population of the United States...
underclass against the background of prevalent anti-immigrant xenophobia
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
was taken by Poles as blatant Anti-Polonism. and resulted in the book Never Come Morning being banned for decades from the Chicago Public Library
Chicago Public Library
The Chicago Public Library is the public library system that serves the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 79 branches, including a central library, two regional libraries, and branches distributed throughout the city....
system over the massive outcry by Chicago Polonia. Later controversies to commemorate Algren would bring these old wounds back to surface, most recently when Polonia Triangle
Polonia Triangle
Polonia Triangle , also known as the Polish Triangle, is located in West Town, in what had been the historical Polish Downtown area of Chicago. It is bound by Division, Ashland and Milwaukee Avenue. A single-tiered fountain made of black iron with a bowl about nine feet in diameter is installed...
was to be renamed to honor the deceased author.
In the 1960's East Village began to change radically. Completion of the Kennedy Expressway
Kennedy Expressway
The John F. Kennedy Expressway is a long highway that travels northwest from the Chicago Loop to O'Hare International Airport. The expressway is named for the 35th U.S. President, John F. Kennedy. The Interstate 90 portion of the Kennedy is a part of the much longer I-90...
in 1960, whose construction had displaced many residents and torn holes in the sustaining network of Polish-American churches, settlement houses, and neighborhood groups. Additionally Puerto Ricans
Puerto Ricans in Chicago
Puerto Ricans in Chicago are people living in Chicago who have citizenship or ancestral connections to the island of Puerto Rico. They have contributed to the economic, social and cultural well-being of Chicago for more than seventy years.- History :...
and other Latinos displaced by urban renewal in Old Town
Old Town, Chicago
Old Town is a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, bounded by the Ogden Ave. right-of-way on the northwest, Larrabee Street on the west, Clybourn Avenue on the southwest and Division Street on the south and Clark Street on the east and northeast. It spans across eastern parts of the community areas...
and Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park, Chicago
Lincoln Park, is one of the 77 community areas on Chicago, Illinois North Side, USA. Named after Lincoln Park, a vast park bordering Lake Michigan, the community area is anchored by the Lincoln Park Zoo and DePaul University...
began moving in. In 1960 Latinos comprised less than 1 percent of West Town’s population, but by 1970 that number was up to 39 percent.
Downtown banks redlined West Town for much of the mid-20th century. Real estate values plummeted as landlords neglected their buildings and speculators sat on vacant land and abandoned property. Small businesses along Chicago Avenues closed, and the arson rate in East Village was so high that in 1976 Mayor Richard J. Daley
Richard J. Daley
Richard Joseph Daley served for 21 years as the mayor and undisputed Democratic boss of Chicago and is considered by historians to be the "last of the big city bosses." He played a major role in the history of the Democratic Party, especially with his support of John F...
convened a task force to address the crisis. The Polish exodus out of the neighborhood followed the Kennedy Expressway into the suburbs. The Northwest Community Organization was founded in 1962 to stem white flight by promoting home ownership and integration between longtime Eastern European residents and the newcomers. The institutional infrastructure that held Ukrainian Village together during the 1970's and 1980's was lacking in East Village. Much of the Polish population had moved northwestward to Avondale
Avondale, Chicago
Avondale is one of 77 officially designated Chicago, Illinois community areas. It is located on the Northwest Side of Chicago. Its main borders are the North Branch of the Chicago River, Diversey Avenue, Addison Street, Pulaski Road and the Union Pacific/Northwest rail line; bisecting the community...
and beyond, while the Latino community which had begun to organize around issues of affordable housing and other redevelopment strategies designed to stave off displacement increasingly came into conflict with the mostly white artists and other urban-pioneer types who by the early 80s constituted a minor but significant presence.
Today this neighborhood has been largely gentrified. East Village's historic proximity to the elevated train and higher population density gave it a more working-class population than Ukrainian Village, and much of the original housing stock has been torn down for new construction in recent years. Several blocks of East Village have recently been designated a Chicago Landmark district to preserve its character with these development pressures.
River West
Kennedy Expressway
The John F. Kennedy Expressway is a long highway that travels northwest from the Chicago Loop to O'Hare International Airport. The expressway is named for the 35th U.S. President, John F. Kennedy. The Interstate 90 portion of the Kennedy is a part of the much longer I-90...
and west of the south branch of the Chicago River
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...
, between Division Street (1200N) and Grand Avenue (500N) is referred to as River West, complementing the River North area of the Near North Side
Near North Side, Chicago
The Near North Side is one of 77 well-defined community areas of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is located north and east of the Chicago River, just north of the central business district . To its east is Lake Michigan and its northern boundary is the 19th-century city limit of Chicago,...
. The small area is bisected by the elevated Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
tracks. It contains several large loft buildings, most converted in the mid 1980s for residential use; several housing developments; St. John Cantius church
St. John Cantius in Chicago
St. John Cantius Church is a historic church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago located in Chicago, Illinois.It is a prime example of the so-called 'Polish Cathedral style' of churches in both its opulence and grand scale. Along with such monumental religious edifices as St. Mary of the...
; The Chicago Academy for the Arts located in St. John Cantius's former school; the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
's Freedom Center printing facility; some nightclubs and restaurants and a few blocks of historic residential areas.
Noble Square
Noble Square is directly east of East Village. The generally accepted boundaries of Noble Square are the Kennedy ExpresswayKennedy Expressway
The John F. Kennedy Expressway is a long highway that travels northwest from the Chicago Loop to O'Hare International Airport. The expressway is named for the 35th U.S. President, John F. Kennedy. The Interstate 90 portion of the Kennedy is a part of the much longer I-90...
on the east, Ashland (1600 W) on the west, Division (1200 N) on the north, and Chicago (800 N) or Grand (500 N) on the south. The name apparently refers to Eckhart Park, a one-block square park at the northeast corner of Chicago and Noble (1400 W). Its identity may be disappearing: real estate agents have been including its northern half as an eastern section of Wicker Park, while the southern end of this neighborhood has been identified as West Town since around 2000. This neighborhood was listed as "West Town" in 19th century census records.
Humboldt Park
The western portion of the West Town community area is referred to as "Humboldt Park". The 104-block area east of Humboldt Park, west of Western Avenue, and north of Chicago Avenue is commonly referred to as part of Humboldt ParkHumboldt Park, Chicago
Humboldt Park is one of 77 officially designated community areas located on the northwest side of Chicago, Illinois. The Humboldt Park neighborhood is widely known for its large Puerto Rican presence...
, even though it is not in the Community Area of that name. It is perhaps best known for Paseo Boricua
Paseo Boricua
Paseo Boricua is a street section in the West Side of Chicago. It is located on Division Street, between Western Avenue and California Avenue, in the neighborhood of Humboldt Park, more commonly known as little Puerto Rico...
, a half-mile stretch of Division Street
Division Street (Chicago)
Division Street is a major east-west street in Chicago, Illinois, located at 1200 North . Division Street begins in the Gold Coast neighborhood near Lake Shore Drive, passes through Polonia Triangle at Milwaukee Avenue into Wicker Park and continues to Chicago's city limits and into the city's...
between Western and California Avenues. This stretch of Division is bookended by two 59 feet (18 m)-tall steel Puerto Rican flags, and contains many Puerto Rican stores and restaurants, with a community very resistant to the forces of gentrification that have moved them further west from West Town, Wicker Park, and Ukrainian Village.
Sq
Smith Park
Smith Park or "The Patch" lies within Chicago’s West Town community. Its formal name comes from the city park on its south border. Bounded by Chicago Avenue (800N) on the north, Grand Avenue (550N) on the south, Western Avenue (2400W) on the east and Washtenaw Avenue (2700W) on the west; the majority of the neighborhood sits within Chicago's 26th Ward, with a small portion a part of the 1st Ward.Originally settled by Sicilian
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
immigrants who moved west from the "Little Sicily" area on Sedgwick Street, near where the Cabrini–Green housing projects were built, and from the Italian neighborhood along the Grand Avenue corridor, it is a very old community with many families that have lived in the neighborhood for over six generations.
In 1929, when a quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
that had been converted to a large city dump
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
in the West Town neighborhood had been completely filled, the Bureau of Sanitation transferred part of the site to the Bureau of Parks and Recreation. The city named the area Smith Athletic Field for Joseph Higgins Smith, alderman of the surrounding 32nd ward from 1914 to 1933. In 1959, the city transferred Smith Park to the Chicago Park District
Chicago Park District
The Chicago Park District is the oldest and largest park district in the U.S.A, with a $385 million annual budget. It has the distinction of spending the most per capita on its parks, even more than Boston in terms of park expenses per capita...
, at which time an artillery piece was placed in the park. A WWII tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
was moved to the southeast corner of the park in the 1980s from its former home at Grand and Western Avenues. This is the landmark by which most Chicagoans recognize Smith Park. The Park District added a spraypool, swimming pool, and bathhouse in the late 1960s and in 1979 a large, modern fieldhouse was constructed. Nine years later, the Park District dedicated its gymnasium to Tom Positano, a high school student who had been active at the park and who posthumously received a Junior Citizenship Award.
Education
West Town residents are assigned to schools in the Chicago Public SchoolsChicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools, commonly abbreviated as CPS by local residents and politicians and officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, is a large school district that manages over 600 public elementary and high schools in Chicago, Illinois...
.
Comprehensive high schools located in the West Town community area include:
- Roberto Clemente High School
- Wells Community Academy High SchoolWells Community Academy High SchoolWells Community Academy High School is a 4-year public high school located in the West Town neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois. Wells serves grades 9 through 12, and is a part of the Chicago Public Schools District 299...
Option high schools include:
- Noble Street Charter High SchoolNoble Street Charter High SchoolNoble Street Charter High School is a public charter high school in Chicago with multiple campuses throughout the city:*Chicago Bulls College Prep *Gary Comer College Prep...
- Holy Trinity High SchoolHoly Trinity High School (Chicago)Holy Trinity High School is a Catholic secondary school founded in Chicago, Illinois, United States, by the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1910. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago....
Ukrainian village includes the private St. Nicholas Cathedral school and St. Helen School, which offers Catholic education from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade.
Landmarks
- Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox CathedralHoly Trinity Cathedral, ChicagoHoly Trinity Orthodox Cathedral is the Cathedral Church of the Orthodox Church in America Diocese of the Midwest. It is one of only two churches designed by Louis Sullivan, one of the seminal architects of the 20th century...
- Division Street Russian and Turkish BathsDivision Street Russian and Turkish BathsDivision Street Russian and Turkish Baths is a traditional Russian-style bathhouse at 1914 W. Division Street in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, which has operated since 1906...
See also
- Chopin TheatreChopin TheatreChopin Theatre is an American for-profit cultural organization located along Polonia Triangle in Wicker Park within the West Town community area of Chicago...
- Polish Americans
- Polish Cathedral stylePolish Cathedral styleThe Polish Cathedral architectural style is a North American genre of Catholic church architecture found throughout the Great Lakes and Middle Atlantic regions as well as in parts of New England...
External links
- Official City of Chicago West Town Community Map
- Humboldt Park
- Historic district description
- Bucktown Arts, Leisure, Businesses
- Humboldt Park Arts, Culture, Gentrification, Immigration
- Encyclopedia of Chicago entry on West Town
- Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art
- Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago
- Wicker Park & Bucktown Chamber of Commerce
- West Town Chamber of Commerce
- Wicker Park Advisory Council
- Around the Coyote Arts Organization
- Wicker Park News
- Wicker Park Food Co-Op
- Ukrainian Village Neighborhood Association
- East Village Association
- Puerto Ricans and gentrification
- New York Times: On the Old 'Polish Broadway,' Boutiques and Spas Arrive