Logan Square, Chicago

Coordinates: 41°55.7′N 87°42.4′W / 41.9283°N 87.7067°W / 41.9283; -87.7067
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Logan Square
Neighborhoods
List
Area
 • Total3.23 sq mi (8.37 km2)
Population
 (2020)
CDT)
ZIP Codes
parts of 60614, 60618, 60622, 60639, 60647
Median household income (2020)$84,653[1]
Source: Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) July 2022 Release

Logan Square is an official community area, historical neighborhood, and

community areas established for planning purposes. The Logan Square neighborhood, located within the Logan Square community area, is centered on the public square that serves as its namesake, located at the three-way intersection of Milwaukee Avenue, Logan Boulevard and Kedzie Boulevard
.

The community area of Logan Square is, in general, bounded by the

the 606 (also known as the Bloomingdale Trail) on the south.[2] The area is characterized by the prominent historical boulevards, stately greystones and large bungalow
-style homes.

History

Logan Square circa 1909

Name and Centennial Monument

Logan Square is named for

Jesuit missionaries, farmers, and laborers intended to represent Illinois contributions to the nation through transportation as a railroad crossroads for passengers and freight (represented by a train extending across the arm of one of the figures), education, commerce, grain and commodities, religion and exploration, along with the "pioneering spirit" during the state's first century
.

Development

Originally developed by early settlers like Martin Kimbell (of Kimball Avenue fame) in the 1830s, forming around the towns of "Jefferson," "Maplewood," and "Avondale', the vicinity was annexed into the city of Chicago in 1889 and renamed Logan Square. Many of its early residents were English or Scandinavian origin, mostly Norwegians and Danes, along with both a significant Polish and Jewish population that followed. Milwaukee Avenue, which spans the community, is one of the oldest roads in the area and remains both a cultural and commercial artery. The road traces its origins prior to 1830 as a Native American trail and became known as "Northwest Plank Road" when it was constructed with wooden boards in 1849. In 1892, a streetcar line was extended along Milwaukee Avenue and, in 1895, the electrified elevated rail line (today's Blue Line) was built alongside the road up to Logan Square itself, stimulating a new building boom. Milwaukee Avenue was finally paved in 1911 to accommodate motor cars. A baseball stadium at the corner of Milwaukee and Diversey hosted the Logan Square Baseball Club, which defeated both the Chicago Cubs and White Sox, who had just played each other in the crosstown 1906 World Series.[5]

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1930114,174—
1940110,010−3.6%
1950106,763−3.0%
196094,799−11.2%
197088,462−6.7%
198084,768−4.2%
199082,605−2.6%
200082,6850.1%
201073,595−11.0%
202071,665−2.6%
[6]

Present

Today, the neighborhood is home to a diverse population including an established

Latino community (primarily Mexican and Puerto Rican, with some Cuban), a number of ethnicities from Eastern Europe (mostly Poles), and a growing number of Millennials, due to gentrification.[7][8] Additionally, the increase in housing costs in nearby Wicker Park, Lincoln Park, and the other Lakefront communities has led to many of Chicago's aspiring artists and restaurateurs to call Logan Square home. By 2000, gentrification had taken hold in Logan Square itself.[9] Residents are attracted to the community for its beautiful park-like boulevards, part of Chicago's 26-mile Chicago park and boulevard system. Known as the "Logan Square Boulevards District", the area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and became a protected Chicago Landmark in 2005. Additional development includes the partnerships between residents and the city to support the Comfort Station at Logan Square, new and renewed parks (See Palmer Square Park, below), the Bloomingdale Trail
(an elevated "rails to trails" project), Logan Plaza, and sensitive developments (e.g. The Green Exchange and Chicago Printed String Building), along with the preservation of numerous historic buildings (historic commercial, industrial and residential structures) and several other important sustainable and green projects.

Churches

Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church, 1993

Logan Square has many churches along its boulevards including Minnekirken, the historic Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church located on the public square, and a meeting house of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints one block west. Just south of the square on Kedzie Avenue, Armitage Baptist Church is located in the former Masonic Temple, and to the east of the square on Logan Boulevard are the Episcopal Church of the Advent, a new Seventh-day Adventist Church and St. John Berchmans Catholic Church.

St. Luke's Lutheran Church of Logan Square, previously located just north of Logan Boulevard on Francisco Ave., sold their historic building in 2015 to New Community Covenant Church. St. Luke's now meets in the same building as Grace Methodist Church. Bucktown has three of the city's most noted

St. Mary of the Angels
. On Fullerton just east of Milwaukee is a Christian Science church offering services in Spanish. On Ridgeway, just north of Fullerton, is Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church and School.

Palmer Square, a large rectangular-shaped historic public space and park which is also part of the Logan Square community, is home to St. Sylvester Catholic Church and School and the Serbian Orthodox Church of the Holy Resurrection. Also, Grace Methodist Church stands at the corner of Kimball and Wrightwood Avenues, as does a Spanish Pentecostal church, across the street.

Kimball Avenue Church,[10] whose 103-year-old building once stood at the corner of Kimball and Medill Avenues, continues to meet in Logan Square and has rehabilitated the land on which the church once stood into a corner garden. In 2015 the church began raising funds to use a portion of the land as the future site of a prayer labyrinth.

Neighborhoods

Belmont Gardens

Belmont Gardens spans the Chicago Community Areas of Logan Square and

Fullerton Avenue
to the South.

Most of the land between Fullerton Avenue and Diversey Avenue as well as Kimball to the

Union Pacific/Northwest rail line was empty as late as the 1880s, mostly consisting of the rural "truck farms" that peppered much of Jefferson Township. This began to change with the annexation of this rustic hinterland to the city in 1889 in anticipation of the World's Columbian Exposition
that would focus the country's eyes on Chicago just a few years later in 1893.

Belmont Gardens' first urban development began thanks to Homer Pennock, who founded the industrial village of Pennock, Illinois. Centered on Wrightwood Avenue, which was originally laid out as "Pennock Boulevard", the area was planned to be a hefty industrial and residential district. The development was so renowned that the village was highlighted in a "History of Cook County, Illinois" authored by Weston Arthur Goodspee and Daniel David Healy.

Healy Metra Station
was originally named after this now lost settlement.

While Homer Pennock's

Irving Park Road
.

Belmont gardens offered more than just a less congested setting for its new residents. Due to its proximity to rail along the

industry that still survives in the city's Pulaski Industrial Corridor. It was adjacent to his own factory that Mr. Walter E. Olson built what the Chicago Tribune put at the top of its list of the "Seven Lost Wonders of Chicago",[13]

The Olson Park and Waterfall Complex, a 22-acre garden and waterfall remembered by Chicagoans citywide as the place they fondly reminisce heading out to for family trips on the weekend. The ambitious project took 200 workers more than six months to fashion it out of 800 tons of stone and 800 yards of soil.

blue collar
feel as much of surrounding Logan Square and Avondale undergo increased gentrification.

Bucktown

Polish Cathedrals
" located in Bucktown.

Bucktown is a neighborhood located in the east of the Logan Square community area in Chicago, directly north of

Loop. Bucktown gets its name from the large number of goats raised in the neighborhood during the 19th century when it was an integral part of the city's famed Polish Downtown. The original Polish term for the neighborhood was Kozie Prery (Goat Prairie). Its boundaries are Fullerton Avenue to the north, Western Avenue to the west, Bloomingdale or North Avenue[14][15]
to the south, and the Kennedy Expressway to the east. Bucktown's original boundaries were Fullerton Avenue, Damen Avenue (formerly Robey Street), Armitage Avenue and Western Avenue.

Bucktown is primarily residential, with a mix of older single family homes, new builds with edgy architecture, and converted industrial loft spaces.

St. Mary of the Angels
- date from this era.

The early Polish settlers had originally designated many of Bucktown's streets with names significant to their people – Kosciusko, Sobieski, Pulaski and Leipzig (after the

Teutonic hue – Hamburg, Frankfort, Berlin and Holstein. Anti-German sentiment during World War I brought about another name-change that left today's very Anglo-Saxon sounding names: McLean, Shakespeare, Charleston, and Palmer.[17]

Polish immigration into the area accelerated during and after

Belarusians
.

young professionals
. In recent years, many trendy taverns and restaurants have opened in the neighborhood. There also have been a considerable number of "teardowns" of older housing stock, often followed by the construction of larger, upscale residential buildings.

Bucktown has a significant shopping district on Damen Avenue, extending north from North Avenue (in Wicker Park) to Webster Avenue. The neighborhood is readily accessible via the

Blue Line and has multiple access points to the elevated Bloomingdale Trail
, also known as the 606.

Kosciuszko Park

This article is about the neighborhood. For the park, see Kosciuszko Park (Chicago).
Kosciuszko Park is located by the intersection of Diversey and Pulaski.

Kosciuszko Park (correctly pronounced "Ko-shchoosh-coe" in Polish) spans the Chicago Community Areas of Logan Square and Avondale like neighboring Belmont Gardens, located within its northwest portion, where the Pulaski Industrial Corridor abuts these residential areas. Colloquially known by locals as "Koz Park", or even the "Land of Koz",[19] the area is a prime example of a local identity born thanks to the green spaces created by Chicago's civic leaders of the Progressive Era.

The boundaries of Kosciuszko Park are generally held to be

Altgeld
to the South.

Kosciuszko Park and Avondale were at the Northwestern edge of the Milwaukee Avenue "Polish Corridor"—a contiguous stretch of Polish settlement which spanned this thoroughfare all the way from

Irving Park Road
.

Adjacent to Kosciuszko Park's border with Avondale proper near the intersection of George Street and Lawndale Avenue is

Chicago's Polish community such as the Art Deco headquarters of the Polish National Alliance, the brick structure was an imposing edifice. One of the building's highlights was a lovely chapel with a masterfully crafted altar that was dedicated to the Black Madonna. The entire complex was sold to a developer who subsequently razed the entire complex, while the new "St. Joseph Village" opened in 2005 on the site of the former Madonna High School and now operates at 4021 W. Belmont Avenue. The park later became home to one of the two first Polish language
Saturday schools in Chicago. While the school has since moved out of their small quarters at the park fieldhouse, the Tadeusz Kościuszko School of Polish Language continues to educate over 1,000 students to the present day, reminding all of its origins in Kosciuszko Park with its name.

It was the park of

Tudor revival-style fieldhouse, expanded in 1936 to include an assembly hall, just two years after the 22 separate park districts were consolidated into the Chicago Park District
. The park complex expanded during the 1980s with the addition of a new natatorium at the corner of Diversey and Avers.

The green space afforded by the park quickly became the backdrop for community gatherings. Residents utilized the grounds at Kosciuszko Park for bonfires, festivals and neighborhood celebrations, and for a time, even an ice skating rink that would be set up every winter. Summertime brought the opportunity for outdoor festivities, peppered with sports and amateur shows featuring softball games, social dancing, a music appreciation hour, and the occasional visit by the city's "mobile zoo".

Today "The Land of Koz" is a diverse neighborhood, and becoming even more so as gentrification advances further northwest. New people are entering Kosciuszko Park and joining earlier residents whose roots trace back to Latin America and Poland. Yet the park that lent the neighborhood its name still serves its residents, where through play, performance, and even the occasional outdoor film screening it functions as the venue where the community can come together.

Logan Square

Logan Square is a neighborhood located in the north-central portion of the Logan Square community area in Chicago. The neighborhood boundaries of Logan Square were originally held to be

Diversey Parkway on the north, and Fullerton Avenue to the south. However, as memory of the village and later neighborhood of Maplewood has receded, the boundaries have grown beyond these streets, with eastern boundary has now shifted to the North Branch of the Chicago River and the northern border past Diversey Avenue
.

The area is characterized by the prominent historical

Norwegian-American cultural center, Chicago Norske Klub. Many elaborate, stylish, and expensive houses and mansions line historic Logan and Kedzie Boulevards where the club was once situated. Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church (Norwegian: Den Norske Lutherske Minnekirke), also known as Minnekirken, is also located on Kedzie Boulevard in Logan Square.[20]

Palmer Square

Palmer Square Park

The Palmer Square neighborhood of Chicago is a pocket neighborhood located within the Logan Square community, directly west of Bucktown, north of Humboldt Park, and northwest of Wicker Park. Although there is no clear consensus on this neighborhood's exact boundaries, the City of Chicago Neighborhoods Map shows that it is generally bound by Fullerton Avenue (2400 N) to the north, Armitage Avenue (2000 N) to the south, Kedzie Boulevard (3200 W) to the west, and Milwaukee Avenue to the east.[21]

The neighborhood takes it name from the 7.68-acre (31,100 m2) Palmer Square Park (pictured to the left) that sits near the western edge of the neighborhood and is the namesake of

abolitionist, friend and supporter of Abraham Lincoln, and, as the Military Governor of Kentucky in 1865-1866, aggressively commanded Federal forces to root out the remnants of slavery in that state.[22]

As the bicycle craze swept Chicago beginning in the mid-1880s, the then-called Palmer Place oval became a popular track for bicycle-riding "wheelmen", also known as "scorchers", who competed with pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages. Ignaz Schwinn (1860-1948), founder of the Schwinn Bicycle Company, lived at the corner of W. Palmer St. and N. Humboldt Blvd.[23] The City of Chicago in 2005 received a matching grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to develop a children's play space, walking trails, soft surface jogging trail, open lawn areas, lighting, seating, and landscaping in Palmer Square. After extensive community input and prolonged design and construction periods, the Chicago Park District (CPD) finished construction of the park and opened it to the public in July 2009.

A series of live music performances in Palmer Square Park takes place each Sunday during the summer of 2021.[24]

Palmer Square's location places its residents within walking distance to a growing number of shops, coffee houses, bars, and restaurants, in particular, on the major streets which form the borders of the neighborhood. The heart of Palmer Square is mainly leafy residential streets. Easy access to the

public transportation system also makes it a popular neighborhood for commuters to the Chicago Loop and for students who attend colleges nearby, such as DePaul University. The neighborhood has easy access to four entrances to the Kennedy Expressway (routes I-90/94) and is served by the California and Western stations of the CTA's Blue Line for a quick ride to Chicago's downtown and O'Hare . The CTA
's bus routes 94 California, 56 Milwaukee, 73 Armitage, and 74 Fullerton also run through this neighborhood.

Public libraries

The Chicago Public Library operates one branch located in the Logan Square community area, the Logan Square Branch at 3030 W. Fullerton. Although the branch in Kosciuszko Park was one of the systems most utilized branches, it was closed by the 1950s.

Cultural organizations

Congress Theater on Milwaukee Ave. (2008)

Logan Square has a number of diverse cultural centers, such as The Comfort Station, an art gallery and event space, and AnySquared Projects, a nonprofit art collective;

Chicago's Polish Village. The Lincoln Lodge on Milwaukee Avenue presents live comedy most nights of the week.[26] Next door is the office of In These Times, an independent magazine founded in 1976 which focuses on social justice.[27]

Media organizations making their home in Logan Square include the Community TV Network—a youth media organization—and the

Chicago Independent Media Center. The neighborhood is covered by a number of neighborhood news blogs, including LoganSquarist.[28]

A comprehensive redevelopment of the historic Congress Theater, including its 4,900 seat hall, a 30-room hotel, restaurants, and 14 affordable apartments, was approved by the Chicago City Council in March, 2019.[29] On June 28, 2021, David Baum announced that Baum Revision has taken over the project and is planning to redevelop the landmark theater as well as the surrounding apartments and retail space, using the already approved plan (although excluding the associated 72-unit apartment building).[30] On June 9, 2022, the project was approved by the City's Permit Review Committee; further approval by the full City Council is required before construction may begin. The budget is reported to be $70.4 million, including $9 million in historic tax credits and $20 million in Tax Increment Funding.[31]

Government and infrastructure

The Roberto Clemente Post Office is located in Logan Square.[32]

Logan Square is served by three stops on the CTA's Blue Line: Western, California, and Logan Square. All three stations provide 24/7 service to O'Hare International Airport, downtown, and Forest Park.

Education

Residents are zoned to Chicago Public Schools.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago runs Our Lady of Grace School in Logan Square,[33] St. John Berchmans School on Logan Boulevard and St. Sylvester School on Palmer Square.

Politics

The Logan Square community area has supported the

2012 presidential election, Logan Square cast 22,608 votes for Barack Obama and cast 3,362 votes for Mitt Romney (83.88% to 12.47%).[35]

Notable people

  • Jessica Camacho (born 1982), actress (The Flash, Taken, and Watchmen), was a childhood resident of Logan Square[36]
  • F.B.I. against the Soviet Union, was a childhood resident of 3264 West Fullerton Avenue[37][38]
  • Eve Ewing (born 1986), sociologist, author, poet, and visual artist, was a childhood resident of Logan Square[39]
  • Polish-American author and poet was a childhood resident of Logan Square[40]
  • Lori Lightfoot (born 1962), 56th Mayor of Chicago (2019-2023), resides in Logan Square with her wife and daughter[41]
  • Adam Lizakowski (born 1956), a Polish poet, translator, and photographer, former resident, he founded the Unpaid Rent group, a collective of Polish language poets who were based out of his former home in Logan Square[42]
  • Richard Nickel (1928–1972), photographer and preservationist, was a childhood resident of Logan Square[43]
  • Knute Rockne (1888–1931), football coach, was a childhood resident of Logan Square[44] He grew up in the Logan Square area of Chicago, on the northwest side of the city.[45]
  • Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives (1975-1981), was a childhood resident of Logan Square[46]
  • Mike Royko (1932–1997), author and Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper columnist, was a childhood resident of Logan Square living at 2122 North Milwaukee Avenue[47]
  • Ignaz Schwinn (1860-1948), a designer, a founder, and the eventual sole owner of the Schwinn Bicycle Company[23]
  • Shel Silverstein (1930–1999), author and poet, was a childhood resident of Logan Square[48]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Community Data Snapshot - Logan Square" (PDF). cmap.illinois.gov. MetroPulse. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  2. ^ Logan Square chicago.gov
  3. ^ Becker, Lynn (August 10, 2007). "Between the Boulevards: An architectural tour". Chicago Reader. Retrieved March 18, 2009.
  4. ^ Hermann, Andrew (August 9, 1991). "Public statues are lumberman's legacy to city". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2009.
  5. ^ "History of Logan Square". Pillars & Porticos. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  6. ^ Paral, Rob. "Chicago Community Areas Historical Data". Archived from the original on March 18, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
  7. ^ "The Demographic Statistical Atlas of the United States - Statistical Atlas". statisticalatlas.com. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  8. ^ "Longtime Latino Stronghold Logan Square is Now Majority White, New Data Show". December 10, 2020.
  9. S2CID 258955054
    ..
  10. ^ "Home | Kimball Avenue Church". kimballavenuechurch.org. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  11. ^ "History of Cook County, Illinois" https://g.co/kgs/Ac8ui5
  12. ISBN 978-1-4671-1118-8
    .
  13. ^ "Seven Lost Wonders of Chicago" https://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-0508290065aug29-story.html chicagotribune.com
  14. ^ "Chicago Cityscape - Map of building projects, properties, and businesses in Bucktown - Chicago neighborhood". www.chicagocityscape.com. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  15. ^ "History – Bucktown Community Org".
  16. The Huffington Post
    . June 23, 2011. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  17. ^ a b "Northwest Chicago Historical Society - Bucktown". Nwchicagohistory.org. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  18. ^ Ukrainian Village & East Village Neighborhood Guide: A Tale of Two Villages. Archived October 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine Martha Bayne, Chicago Reader, May 8, 2008.
  19. ^ Greene, Nick (March 7, 2014). "How Chicago's Neighborhoods Got Their Names". Mental Floss.
  20. ^ Chicago Norske Klub (Norwegian-American Immigration Commission 1825–1925)
  21. ^ City neighborhoods. Old map
  22. ^ "John M. Palmer was Civil War leader, political legend". May 12, 2012.
  23. ^ a b "Palmer (John McAuley) Square Park | Chicago Park District". www.chicagoparkdistrict.com. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  24. ^ "Front Porch Jazz Shows Helped Logan Square Neighbors Through 2020 Lockdown. Now, They're Weekly Concerts in Palmer Square Park". June 8, 2021.
  25. ^ "AnySquared Projects". anysquared.com. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  26. ^ "Calendar".
  27. ^ "In These Times". In These Times. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  28. ^ "Home". LoganSquarist. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  29. ^ "Office of the City Clerk - Record #: SO2019-1050".
  30. ^ "Long-Vacant Congress Theater Could Reopen in 2023 with New Developer on Board". June 29, 2021.
  31. ^ "Landmarks approves Congress Theater redevelopment". June 14, 2022.
  32. ^ "Post Office™ Location – ROBERTO CLEMENTE Archived July 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine". United States Postal Service. Retrieved on January 23, 2011.
  33. ^ "About OLG Archived January 25, 2011, at the Wayback Machine". Our Lady of Grace School. Retrieved on April 14, 2011.
  34. DNAInfo. Archived from the original
    on September 24, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  35. DNAInfo. Archived from the original
    on February 3, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  36. ^ Delany, Beth (December 19, 2019). "Living the Dream". Splash. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  37. ^ United States Census Records Found via Heritage Quest Online. Use last name Chilovsky to find.
  38. ISBN 9781442249578
    . Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  39. ^ Morgan, Adam (August 17, 2017). "The Next Generation of Chicago Afrofuturism". Chicago Magazine. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  40. ^ Dixon, Lauren (June 20, 2017). "Refugees of Logan Square". LoganSquarist. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  41. ^ "Lori Lightfoot On Why She Chose To Live In Logan Square And How Living There Shaped Her Worldview". Block Club Chicago. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  42. ^ Bauer, Mark (May 15, 2003). "Magnetic Pole". Chicago Reader. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  43. ISBN 978-0471144267
    .
  44. ^ "Death of Rockne". Time Magazine. April 6, 1931. Archived from the original on December 15, 2008. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
  45. ISBN 9780809387953
    .
  46. ^ "William A. Redmond Memoir". Illinois Legislative Research Unit. 1982. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  47. ^ "Mike Royko Street Honor the Right Idea, Group Says". DNAinfo Chicago. Archived from the original on August 29, 2019. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  48. ^ Alessio, Carolyn (May 11, 1999). "A Poet with Heart and Edge". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 21, 2018.

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Logan-Bucktown.
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