South Chicago, Chicago
Encyclopedia
South Chicago, formerly known as Ainsworth, is one of the 77 well-defined community areasCommunity areas of ChicagoCommunity 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...
of ChicagoChicagoChicago 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...
, IllinoisIllinoisIllinois 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,...
.
This chevron-shaped community is one of Chicago's 16 lakefront neighborhoods near the southern rim of Lake MichiganLake MichiganLake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
10 miles south of downtown. A working-class neighborhood, it is bordered by East 79th Street on the north, South Chicago Avenue (the Chicago SkywayChicago SkywayThe Chicago Skyway, also known as Chicago Skyway Toll Bridge System, is a toll road in Chicago, Illinois, United States, carrying Interstate 90 from the Indiana Toll Road to the Dan Ryan Expressway on Chicago's South Side leading into the Chicago Loop....
) on the southwest, a small stretch of East 95th Street on the south. With the Calumet RiverCalumet RiverThe Calumet River refers to a system of heavily industrialized rivers and canals in the region between the neighborhood of South Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Gary, Indiana.-Background:...
on the community's southeast side, South Chicago can be considered the literal gateway to the Calumet Region and the first among the four Chicago neighborhoods (East SideEast Side, ChicagoEast Side is one of the 77 official community areas of Chicago, Illinois. It is located on the far south side of the city, between the Calumet River and the Illinois-Indiana state line, approximately south of Downtown Chicago...
, Hegewisch and South Deering) that are considered by the locals as Chicago's Southeast Side. Particularly because most of its streets run off the citywide grid. It also shares the unique Alphabet Avenues with the other three. Yet the Southeast Side is a description that, although true, the city itself continues to resist, but rather includes them all with Chicago's South Side communities.
History
Once a separate community, South Chicago began as a series of scattered Native American settlements before becoming a village. First occupied by a chief named Askhum, considered 'lord' of the vast Callimink (CalumetNorthwest Indiana
Northwest Indiana, also known as the South Shore and The Calumet Region or simply The Region, comprises Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton and Jasper counties in Indiana. This region neighbors Lake Michigan and is part of the Chicago metropolitan area...
) Valley and leader of the Pottawatomie people. They and other Native peoples used South Chicago and the shallow Calumet River
Calumet River
The Calumet River refers to a system of heavily industrialized rivers and canals in the region between the neighborhood of South Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Gary, Indiana.-Background:...
area as portages, for seasonal settlements, hunting and fishing thousands of years before White settlers arrived to the "New World".
The post-Civil War era brought with it great industrial innovation. Developer James H. Bowen, the "Father of South Chicago," and others in a massive land grab wrested the land from its former existence and founded "Ainsworth" among other communities. This community was formed out of wetland prairie to provide residence for the labor force of European immigrants coming to work at the industries developing along the Calumet River, most notably the North Chicago Rolling Mill Company, built at the mouth of the river in 1881. Only fractions of the original topography and habitat remain as is the case with most of urban Chicago. With the entire Chicago Lakefront built on miles of landfill and slag there still remains a small stretch of semi-secluded beachfront just north of the Southworks Site.
This bit of lakefront, once a seasonal settlement for the Pottawatomie, was left alone due to an umovable and deeply embedded bedrock of granite, which defied the development techniques of the time. It is the only natural beach frontage left and virtually unknown on the entire Chicago coastline. This beachfront and the massive outcrop of the Southworks table slag to the south and the water treatment plant to the north is a perfect demonstration of the vigorous advancement of the steel industry and 20th century development.
The four communities of Ainsworth; the Bush, Millgate Cheltemham/South Chicago and Calumet quickly developed into one village referred to collectively as South Chicago during the wave of annexation in 1883. The predominately woodframed architecture of the Bush, Millgate and eastern Cheltemham are a lesson in Victoriana with the 'sunken yards' and bridge-like walk ups from street like Houston, Baltimore and Brandon attesting to the degree infrastructure built up from the original topography of that time. It also demonstrates how South Chicago was not immediately effected by the housing ordinances restricting the use of lumber for home building after The Great 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. Most of the neighborhood north of East 83rd Street and west of South Manistee Avenue was developed after WWII and contain mostly brick homes, but under the ordinance brick homes began being built throughout the newly annexed neighborhood after 1883.
South Chicago was bustling with waves of immigrants as the popularity of the World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
of 1893. The steel mill became U.S. Steel
U.S. Steel
The United States Steel Corporation , more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an integrated steel producer with major production operations in the United States, Canada, and Central Europe. The company is the world's tenth largest steel producer ranked by sales...
South Works
South Works
South Works is an area in South Chicago, Chicago near the mouth of the Calumet River that was previously home to a US Steel facility and is presently vacant.-Steel works:...
in 1901, continuing to attract immigrants from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, 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"...
, Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. During the 1950s many residents called the northeast section of South Chicago *"The Bush" and worked in the local massive steel mill, US Steel. Others worked in neighboring steel mills such as Youngstown Steel, Republic Steel, Bethlehem Steel, and LaSalle Steel. At its zenith, South Chicago helped make the Chicago metropolitan area the leading producer of steel products in the nation. The Sears Tower
Sears Tower
Sears' optimistic growth projections were not met. Competition from its traditional rivals continued, with new competition by retailing giants such as Kmart, Kohl's, and Wal-Mart. The fortunes of Sears & Roebuck declined in the 1970s as the company lost market share; its management grew more...
and the Hancock
John Hancock Center
John Hancock Center at 875 North Michigan Avenue in the Streeterville area of Chicago, Illinois, is a 100-story, 1,127-foot tall skyscraper, constructed under the supervision of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with chief designer Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan...
Building were built from South Chicago steel. The embers, (graphite) from the smokestacks would cause the cars and sidewalks to sparkle and created a golden glow throughout the night. Softball and bowling were popular pastimes. Large Polish weddings on Saturdays were also a common sight.
Throughout the early 1910s, Mexicans from a variety of regions within Mexico began to settle in communities throughout Chicago including South Chicago. South Chicago became one of the first growing Mexican communities in Chicago. The community faced many challenges including many racist attacks by the more assimilated groups. The early Mexican community began to band together and worked to help build Our Lady of Guadalupe Church as they were not welcomed in other churches throughout the area. South Chicago's Mexican Patriotic Club's Mexican Independence Day (Sept. 16th) Parade was the first such parade in Chicago also celebrated with a carnival of rides and booths.
Current life
While South Chicago has a sizable African AmericanAfrican American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
population, existing ethnic groups continue to have strong community ties in the area. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the oldest parish founded by Mexicans
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
in the City of Chicago. Immaculate Conception, St. Michael's
St. Michael's in Chicago
St. Michael - historic church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago located at E. 83rd Street and S. South Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois....
, two churches 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...
' and later Saint Bronislava have served South Chicago's Polish
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...
residents for over 80 years and now have significant sized Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
populations as well. The first Catholic parish established in South Chicago was St. Patrick, which was founded by Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...
s.
Much of the business and shopping is done along Commercial Avenue. Several privately owned businesses such as clothing stores, furniture and retail, and beauty salons, can be found along Commercial Avenue. Restaurants from Nigerian to Italian cuisine are found in South Chicago. Despite the slow economy, more "Mom and Pop" stores flourish throughout South Chicago's residential areas, than in any other neighborhood. East 83rd Street, East 87th Street and south along Commercial Avenue to East 95th Street have attracted corporations, businesses and new banks into the community. Commercial Avenue is also home to many non-profit organizations including Healthy South Chicago, the Alianza Leadership Institute, Centro Comunitario Juan Diego, El Valor, and SEDCOM.
Parks and infrastructure
Wedged between East 89th Street, South Muskegon Avenue and the sycamore tree-lined South Chicago Avenue is the historic triangular Bessemer ParkBessemer Park
Bessemer Park is a public park in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. Created in 1904, it was named for Henry Bessemer, the inventor of the eponymous steelmaking process. The name is appropriate, since Chicago's most productive steel mill, the U.S. Steel Southworks, was located just a mile away.The park was...
, named after English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
inventor Henry Bessemer
Henry Bessemer
Sir Henry Bessemer was an English engineer, inventor, and businessman. Bessemer's name is chiefly known in connection with the Bessemer process for the manufacture of steel.-Anthony Bessemer:...
, whose iron ore refining process revolutionized steel production. The park was designed by the Olmsted Brothers
Olmsted Brothers
The Olmsted Brothers company was an influential landscape design firm in the United States, formed in 1898 by stepbrothers John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. .-History:...
of the renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, as well as Chicago landmarks Washington Park
Washington Park (Chicago park)
On December 6, 1879, former U.S. President Ulysses Grant took part in a tree planting ceremony in the park. A memorial boulder with a plaque commemorated the event. In the 1920s black semiprofessional baseball teams played at Washington Park...
and Jackson Park
Jackson Park (Chicago)
Jackson Park is a 500 acre park on Chicago's South Side, located at 6401 South Stony Island Avenue in the Woodlawn community area. It extends into the South Shore and Hyde Park community areas, bordering Lake Michigan and several South Side neighborhoods...
, built for the World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
of 1891. Their work on the park started in early 1904 and finished late in 1905. The fieldhouse, only modestly upgraded, retains much of its original charm. The Bessemer Park Nature and Wildlife Garden is among Chicago's 23 noted natural "preserves" of native fauna and wildlife habitat. Bessemer Park
Bessemer Park
Bessemer Park is a public park in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. Created in 1904, it was named for Henry Bessemer, the inventor of the eponymous steelmaking process. The name is appropriate, since Chicago's most productive steel mill, the U.S. Steel Southworks, was located just a mile away.The park was...
and Russell Square Park on the corner of Bond Avenue and East 83rd Street (*the Bush), are among their last commissions, Bessemer Park
Bessemer Park
Bessemer Park is a public park in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. Created in 1904, it was named for Henry Bessemer, the inventor of the eponymous steelmaking process. The name is appropriate, since Chicago's most productive steel mill, the U.S. Steel Southworks, was located just a mile away.The park was...
is one of the largest parks on the South Side
South Side (Chicago)
The South Side is a major part of the City of Chicago, which is located in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Much of it has evolved from the city's incorporation of independent townships, such as Hyde Park Township which voted along with several other townships to be annexed in the June 29,...
. Eckersall Playground Park and Stadium is centrally located in South Chicago at the corner of East 83rd Street and South Yates Avenue. Other new greenspaces are planned throughout the community including what is current called "Park No. 503" at 8900 South Green Bay Avenue in the Millgate community. Designated bike paths from East 83rd Street, South Shore Drive/Mackinaw Avenue and South Chicago Avenue connect directly to the Burnham Greenway Trail which links to a comprehensive system of greenways throughout the Calumet Region.
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
with the look and feel of a landscaped boulevard. The former Southworks site Brownfield, an area larger than the Loop, is a cleared and remediated table of slag and concrete, currently being transformed into Chicago's newest lakefront park with the feel of wide open prairie land. The purchase of the property from notable world-class developers, has put South Chicago at the center of the city's, and the Nation's largest lakefront redevelopment effort in the 21st Century. Mixed residential, retail and lake recreation are quietly planned. The new lakefront park, as yet nameless (which is nearing completion), was the missing link effectively closing the century old gap between Chicago's world-class chain of parks between South Shore
South Shore, Chicago
South Shore is one of 77 well-defined community areas of the City of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. A predominately black neighborhood located along Chicago's southern lakefront, it is a relatively stable and gentrifying neighborhood...
's Rainbow Beach Park in South Shore
South Shore, Chicago
South Shore is one of 77 well-defined community areas of the City of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. A predominately black neighborhood located along Chicago's southern lakefront, it is a relatively stable and gentrifying neighborhood...
and Calumet Park
Calumet Park
Calumet Park is a 198 acre park in Chicago, Illinois. It provides access to Lake Michigan from the East Side neighborhood on the city's Southeast Side. The park contains approximately 0.9 miles of lake frontage from 95th Street to 102nd Street...
in East Side
East Side, Chicago
East Side is one of the 77 official community areas of Chicago, Illinois. It is located on the far south side of the city, between the Calumet River and the Illinois-Indiana state line, approximately south of Downtown Chicago...
neighborhoods, fulfilled the dreams of noted Chicago planner and architect, Daniel Burnham
Daniel Burnham
Daniel Hudson Burnham, FAIA was an American architect and urban planner. He was the Director of Works for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He took a leading role in the creation of master plans for the development of a number of cities, including Chicago and downtown Washington DC...
and business mogal and philanthropist Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward is an online retailer that carries the same name as the former American department store chain, founded as the world's #1 mail order business in 1872 by Aaron Montgomery Ward, and which went out of business in 2001...
, for a free and clear lakefront.
Famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
had also once designed a comprehensive plan for the shoreline before it became hyper-industrialized.
Transportation
Located as far as 3300 east of the CTAChicago Transit Authority
Chicago Transit Authority, also known as CTA, is the operator of mass transit within the City of Chicago, Illinois and some of its surrounding suburbs....
Red Line
Red Line (Chicago Transit Authority)
The northern terminus of the Red Line is Howard Street in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago , on the City Limits farthest north. The Red Line extends southeasterly on an elevated embankment structure about a half-mile west of the lakefront to Touhy Avenue then turns south along Glenwood...
in some areas, South Chicago is not connected to the Chicago L rapid transit system. The neighborhood does, however, contain 4 newly-rebuilt Metra Electric Line
Metra Electric Line
The Metra Electric District is an electrified commuter rail line owned and operated by Metra which connects Millennium Station in downtown Chicago, with the city's southern suburbs...
, South Chicago Branch stations: Cheltenham E. 79th St., East 83rd Street
83rd Street (Metra Electric)
83rd Street is an electrified commuter rail station along the South Chicago Branch of the Metra Electric Line in the South Side of the city of Chicago. The station is located on 83rd Street at Exchange Aveue near Russell Square Park, and is away from the northern terminus, Millennium Station...
, 87th Street
87th Street (Metra Electric)
87th Street is the penultimate stop on the South Chicago Branch of the Metra Electric Line in the South Side of Chicago. The station is located at 87th Street, one block East of Commercial Avenue, and is away from the northern terminus, Millennium Station...
, and 93rd Street/South Chicago
South Chicago (93rd Street) (Metra)
The South Chicago Metra Electric Line station is located on East 93rd St and South Baltimore Avenue in Chicago's South Chicago neighborhood. The station provides transport services to Chicago's South Chicago, South Deering, Hegewisch, and East Side neighborhoods...
, which terminates in the heart of the neighborhood's business district along South Baltimore Avenue, and is the community's most accessible commuter rail service to downtown Chicago. Although Metra is mainly a suburban service, the outbound South Chicago Branch, which terminates within Chicago's city limits is the only Metra line to do so.
South Chicago is also served by a number of Chicago Transit Authority bus routes, services which enable commuters to make relatively easy connections to downtown and other Chicago neighborhoods. The buses that serve South Chicago are:
- N5 - South Shore Night Bus
- 6 - Jackson Park Express (terminates at the northeast corner of South Chicago)
- 14 - Jeffery Express
- 15 - Jeffery Local
- 26 - South Shore Express
- 30 - South Chicago
- 71 - 71st/South Shore
- 79 - 79th
- N79 - 79th Night Bus
- 87 - 87th
- 95E - 93rd-95th
Future
As part of an effort to stimulate sustainable and equitable economic development in the South Chicago neighborhood, the City of Chicago is sponsoring its redevelopment. The effort represents one of the largest sustainable neighborhood revitalization developments in the country and will serve as a guide to the city for sustainable redevelopment on the south side for the next 25 years.Chicago’s plan will be rated by the United States Green Building Council and is part of the Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for Neighborhood Development pilot program.
US Steel South Works Site Redevelopment
A thirty year development plan estimated to cost $4 billion was approved by the city in September 2010, for the former site of the huge steel mill, which operated along the neighborhood's shoreline from 1880 to 1992. The site has undergone extensive demolition and environmental remediation since 1992. The plan calls for extension of Lake Shore DriveLake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive is a mostly freeway-standard expressway running parallel with and alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan through Chicago, Illinois, USA. Except for the portion north of Foster Avenue , Lake Shore Drive is designated as part of U.S...
, with site construction to begin in 2012.
External links
- City of Chicago Official Map
- Chicago Tourism - Southeast side
- A piece on the US Steel South Works plant on Forgotten ChicagoForgotten ChicagoForgotten Chicago is an organization that seeks to discover and document little known elements of Chicago’s infrastructure, architecture, neighborhoods and general cityscape, whether existing or historical....
- An article by urbanologist William Olson discussing South Chicago's sustainable redevelopment plan. Retrieved January 13, 2009