Polonia Triangle
Encyclopedia
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 at its center. The Division
stop on the Blue line
subway
is also located here.
Polonia Triangle was considered to be the center of Chicago's Polish Downtown, the city’s oldest and most prominent Polish settlement
. In many ways it functioned as the capital of American Polonia with the headquarters for almost every major Polish organization in the United States
clustered within its vicinity beginning with the Polish National Alliance
to the Polish Daily News
. Polonia Triangle is one of 11 neighborhoods included in The Labor Trail which chronicles Chicago's history of working class
life and struggle. The site is still home to the Chopin Theatre
and is used for processions during Corpus Christi
by parishioners of two of Chicago's Polish Cathedrals: St. Stanislaus Kostka and Holy Trinity Polish Mission
.
The first dealt with renaming the plaza after Nelson Algren
, whose controversial novels prominently displayed the Polish American
underclass and was taken by Chicago's Polish community as Anti-Polonism. In the end a compromise was reached where the Triangle kept its name and a newly installed fountain was named after Algren and inscribed with a quote from 'Chicago: City on the Make' around the fountain's base: "For the masses who do the city's labor also keep the city's heart".
The second more recent one has been a push by a number of area residents led by Zygmunt Dyrkacz, head of the Chopin Theatre
, to artistically redevelop the Triangle as "the gateway to Wicker Park".
area has undergone a renaissance as gentrification has transformed the area. The old "Polish Broadway" along Division Street
is becoming an increasingly thriving business district, full of nightclubs, restaurants and cafes. These changes have accelerated calls to improve what had become a long neglected area, most recently publicized in the Chicago Reader's in depth report titled "Wicker Park's Dirty Doorstep: Round two of the battle over the glorified bus stop known as the Polish Triangle".
Additionally, the Metropolitan Planning Council along with the Placemaking Movement and WPB (Wicker Park/ Bucktown) have jointly undertaken an initiative to redevelop and renovate Polonia Triangle.
West Town, Chicago
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...
, in what had been the historical 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...
area of Chicago
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...
. It is bound by 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...
, Ashland and Milwaukee Avenue
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...
. A single-tiered fountain made of black iron with a bowl about nine feet in diameter is installed at its center. The 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...
stop on the Blue line
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...
subway
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...
is also located here.
Polonia Triangle 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...
. In many ways it functioned as the capital of American Polonia with the headquarters for almost every major Polish organization in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
clustered within its vicinity beginning with 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...
to 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...
. Polonia Triangle is one of 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 site is still home to the Chopin Theatre
Chopin Theatre
Chopin Theatre is an American for-profit cultural organization located along Polonia Triangle in Wicker Park within the West Town community area of Chicago...
and is used for processions during Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi (feast)
Corpus Christi is a Latin Rite solemnity, now designated the solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ . It is also celebrated in some Anglican, Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches. Like Trinity Sunday and the Solemnity of Christ the King, it does not commemorate a particular event in...
by parishioners of 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...
.
Controversies
There have been two major controversies relating to Polonia Triangle.The first dealt with renaming the plaza after 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...
, whose controversial novels prominently displayed the 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 and was taken by Chicago's Polish community as Anti-Polonism. In the end a compromise was reached where the Triangle kept its name and a newly installed fountain was named after Algren and inscribed with a quote from 'Chicago: City on the Make' around the fountain's base: "For the masses who do the city's labor also keep the city's heart".
The second more recent one has been a push by a number of area residents led by Zygmunt Dyrkacz, head of the Chopin Theatre
Chopin Theatre
Chopin Theatre is an American for-profit cultural organization located along Polonia Triangle in Wicker Park within the West Town community area of Chicago...
, to artistically redevelop the Triangle as "the gateway to Wicker Park".
Redevelopment
Although Polonia Triangle has deteriorated from its heady days as the center of Polish Downtown, the entire West TownWest Town, Chicago
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...
area has undergone a renaissance as gentrification has transformed the area. The old "Polish Broadway" along 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...
is becoming an increasingly thriving business district, full of nightclubs, restaurants and cafes. These changes have accelerated calls to improve what had become a long neglected area, most recently publicized in the Chicago Reader's in depth report titled "Wicker Park's Dirty Doorstep: Round two of the battle over the glorified bus stop known as the Polish Triangle".
Additionally, the Metropolitan Planning Council along with the Placemaking Movement and WPB (Wicker Park/ Bucktown) have jointly undertaken an initiative to redevelop and renovate Polonia Triangle.