Hyde Park, Chicago

Hyde Park (Chicago, Illinois)

Community Area 41 - Hyde Park Location within the city of Chicago
Latitude Longitude	41°48′N, 87°35.4′W
Neighborhoods	Hyde Park
ZIP Code	parts of 60615, 60637
Area	4.27 km² (1.65 mi²)
Population (2000) Density	29,920 (up 4.51% from 1990) 7,001.3 /km²
Demographics	White Black Hispanic Asian Other	43.5% 37.7% 4.11% 11.3% 3.39%
Median household income	$44,142
Source: U.S. Census, Record Information Services

Hyde Park, located on the South Side of Chicago, in Cook County, Illinois, United States and seven miles south of the Chicago Loop, is one of 77 well defined Chicago community areas. It is home to The DuSable Museum of African American History, the Hyde Park Art Center, the Museum of Science and Industry, The Renaissance Society, and the University of Chicago. It is formerly the name of a Township that included numerous other community areas that have all been annexed by the city of Chicago.

Hyde Park was founded by Paul Cornell in the 1850s near the Illinois Central Railroad south of Chicago. In 1861, the Hyde Park Township was incorporated, extending from 39th to 63rd Streets. The southern border was later extended as far as 138th Street. The community was organized as a township and was independent of Chicago until 1889.[1] As a township, the 1889 Hyde Park stretched from 39th Street south to 138th Street and as far west as State Street; but as a 21st century neighborhood, its definition has shrunk to a core area grouped closely around Cornell's development on 53rd Street and the lakefront. Today, the name Hyde Park is officially applied to the neighborhood from 51st Street ("Hyde Park Blvd.") to the neighborhood around Midway Plaisance Blvd. or simply "The Midway" (between 59th and 60th) because this is has bee designated as a community area by the City of Chicago.^[1] The neighborhood's eastern boundary is Lake Michigan and its western boundary is Washington Park. The official community areas were defined in the early 20th century and the current meaning of the Hyde Park neighborhod includes the area between 47th Street and 51st Street ("E. Hyde Park Blvd.") as a part of Hyde Park,^[2] although this area is officially the south half of the Kenwood neighborhood. The Hyde Park Herald, a local newspaper, has covered neighborhood news since 1882.

History

Paul Cornell, a successful businessman, real-estate speculator, and abolitionist, purchased 300 acres of land between 51st and 55th streets along the Lake Michigan lakefront and the Illinois Central Railroad in the 1850s,^[3] with the hope of attracting other Chicago businessmen and their families to the area. Some of Cornell's associates, including the sheriff, used their houses in Hyde Park as stops on the underground railroad. The neighborhood was seven miles south of downtown Chicago, and enjoyed weather tempered by Lake Michigan; cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. Cornell parceled out the land and successfully negotiated for a rail depot at 53rd St to lure guests to The Hyde Park House, a hotel he built to serve as the neighborhood's social epicenter.^[3] The hotel served as the popular focal point of most community activity from the 1850's until it burned in an 1879 fire. It was visited by popular and well-to-do guests, including the newly widowed Mary Todd Lincoln. In 1917, a new structure was erected on the site of the hotel. It is now a condominium building called the Hampton House.

In the early 1890s, with the founding of The University of Chicago by John D. Rockefeller, Hyde Park began to make its mark. In 1893, Hyde Park hosted the World's Columbian Exposition. While the fair covered hundreds of acres, the only structure left today is Charles Atwood's Palace of Fine Arts, which has since been converted into Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.

The Hyde Park Bank

The University of Chicago, with leadership from William Rainey Harper, its first president, and large financial contributions from John D. Rockefeller, quickly became one of the nation's best universities. It has since grown to become a highly-prestigious research university that has had over 70 Nobel prize winners associated with it. The University of Chicago continues to dominate the neighborhood physically and politically.

By the 1930s, Hyde Park was prospering as a popular hotel and resort area boasting over 100 hotels, including a dozen elaborate structures on the lakefront.^[3] By the 1940's, following the Depression and during the war, some of these hotels began to cater to a less affluent and transient population.^[3] Many were later converted to apartment and condominium buildings.

In fact, by the 1950s, Hyde Park was suffering from the economic decline that was affecting much of the South Side -- a decline that began during and after World War I, with the Great Migration of African-Americans from the southern to the northern states. Large numbers of these migrants, traveling to Chicago, settled in Hyde Park, which then offered inexpensive but substandard housing. The result was the University of Chicago's controversial sponsorship of one of the largest urban-renewal plans in the nation, organized via the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, with the goal of creating an "interracial community of high standards^{[citation needed]}."

In the 1960s, as a result of the project, Hyde Park's average income soared by 70%, but its Black population fell by 40%, since the substandard housing for poorer Blacks and other minorities had been purchased, torn down, and replaced, and these residents could not afford to remain in the newly-rehabilitated areas. On the other hand, middle-class Blacks were offered increased opportunities for employment and home-ownership. The project meant that Hyde Park did not experience the same economic depression that occurred in neighboring areas, such as Woodlawn, Washington Park, and Oakland. Also, it ensured that it remained a very racially-diverse neighborhood^{[citation needed]}.

Hyde Park hosts 1700 East 56th Street the tallest building in Chicago south of 13th Street.

Notable residents

Notable Hyde Park residents have included:

• Clarence Darrow
• Hugh Hefner
• Saul Bellow
• Julius Rosenwald
• Muhammad Ali
• Marshall Field
• Harold Washington
• Swami Vivekananda
• Bernardine Dohrn
• Louis Farrakhan
• Jay Noel Yuenger of White Zombie

The neighborhood has also produced three U.S. Senators: Paul Douglas, Carol Moseley Braun, and Barack Obama. The neighborhood contains buildings designed by such famous architects as Eero Saarinen, I.M. Pei, Mies van der Rohe, Rafael Vinoly, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Institutions

The University of Chicago seen from Cornell Street.

Hyde Park is home to a number of higher education institutions:

• The University of Chicago
• The Catholic Theological Union, a seminary of 28 Roman Catholic religious orders (not the diocesan seminary of the Archdiocese of Chicago)
• The Chicago Theological Seminary, a seminary of the United Church of Christ
• The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
• The McCormick Theological Seminary, a seminary of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
• The Meadville Lombard Theological School, a seminary of the Unitarian Universalist Association
• The Vivekananda Vedanta Society Chicago
• Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture, a non-profit and experiential education program for college students who want to 'study abroad' in Chicago
• The Oriental Institute within the University of Chicago

Local controversies

Many Hyde Park residents are politically active within and beyond Hyde Park. Political activities and controversies (of varying levels of importance) in Hyde Park include:

• Debate over urban renewal plans and construction
• Planned reconstruction of the lakeshore at Promontory Point
• Election campaigns of resident Harold Washington and Senate candidates (cited above)
• University construction and expansion
• Financial and management problems at the Hyde Park Co-Op, a supermarket and member-based cooperative
• Challenges associated with the off-campus behavior of students at Kenwood High School
• Local economic development, such as the new Borders bookstore
• The possible sale and redevelopment of Harper Court, an outdoor shopping center that was designed with local artisans, small businessowners and the community in mind.

Location and transportation

Bus Nr. 6 (Jackson Park Express)

Hyde Park is generally defined as bordered by Cottage Grove Avenue on the west, 51st Street (also known as East Hyde Park Boulevard) on the north, 59th street on the south, and the Lake Michigan shoreline on the east. The area between 47th Street and 51st Street is sometimes considered a part of Hyde Park, but it is actually the southern half of the Kenwood neighborhood.

The neighborhood is connected to the rest of the city by both Chicago Transit Authority and Metra transportation services. CTA services include the number 2 (Hyde Park Express), 4 (Cottage Grove), X4, 6 (Jackson Park Express), 15 (Jeffery Local), 28 (Stony Island), X28, 55 (Garfield), X55, and 173 (University of Chicago/Lakeview Express) buses. These allow transfers to Red and Green Line trains to the Loop or provide direct express service to downtown. Metra's Electric District line, located on the former Illinois Central, has several stops in Hyde Park and provides service to downtown by way of the Millennium Station. South Shore Line trains stop at the 55th-56th-57th Street Station and provide service to Indiana. Hyde Park is also one of over 20 neighborhoods containing an I-GO Car.

Layout

Robie House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

The even numbered streets in Hyde Park (e.g., 52nd, 54th, etc.) are almost exclusively residential. 51st, 53rd, 55th, and 57th streets contain the largest number of businesses.

53rd Street, Hyde Park's oldest shopping district, is lined with many inexpensive restaurants, frequently offering take-out, and small businesses between Woodlawn to the west and Lake Park to the east. 53rd also features a recently-constructed Border's Bookstore. A small-business-oriented shopping center, Harper Court, extends north of 53rd Street along Harper Ave. It includes a wide variety of shops, from Dr. Wax (a record store), Hyde Park Pets, and the Dixie Kitchen and Bait Shop, a popular restaurant serving southern/Cajun food. A Farmers' Market is held on Harper Court in the summers.

Promontory Point extends out into Lake Michigan at 55th street. Promontory Point extends far enough east into the lake that it provides spectacular views of both the Downtown Skyline to the north and the South Chicago and Northwest Indiana skyline to the south. It is a popular place to watch summertime fireworks displays from Navy Pier to the north, especially for Independence Day. "The Point", as it is affectionately known, sits on Chicago Park District land and like most of Chicago's lakefront park land, it is popular with hikers, bikers, joggers, runners, sunbathers, picnickers, and adventurous swimmers. Many residents of Hyde Park and fans of the point show their pride by putting bumper stickers on their cars, bikes, skateboards, etc. that simply read "Save the Point." These indicate opposition to the concrete seawall proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers for The Point and the neighboring 57th St. Members of the "Save the Point" campaign prefer a limestone seawall, as currently exists.

The south east corner of Hyde Park contains the northern end of Jackson Park upon which sits the Museum of Science and Industry, a remnant of the Columbian Exposition. The Midway, running from Stony Island Avenue to Cottage Grove Ave connects Jackson Park to Washington Park.

Between the lake and the Metra tracks on 55th street is a series of Asian restaurants - Thai, Japanese, Korean, and Middle Eastern. To the west of the Metra line between 54th and 55th streets a shopping center features the venerable Hyde Park Co-Op grocery store (with a US Post Office in the basement and annual health fairs, second-hand book sales, and plant and flower sales) and also includes a Walgreen's, an Ace Hardware, an Office Depot, a Potbelly Sandwich Works, a bakery and outdoor cafe (Bonjour), and an upscale French restaurant, "La Petite Folie." Across from the Co-Op plaza on 55th Street lies a dry cleaner, a computer store (Windy City Computer), a sandwich shop (Jimmy John's), and a small bank.

57th Street is noted for independent bookstores, including the South Side branch of Powell's, an antiquarian bookshop (O'Gara and Wilson's), and the general-readership branch of the Seminary Co-op Bookstore, known as "57th Street Books." 57th Street also offers the Medici Restaurant and Bakery, Edwardo's Pizza, and the ancient Salonica Grill, along with small groceries, hairstylists, and drycleaners.

Very few retailers operate west of Woodlawn. The neighborhood south of 57th Street and west of Woodlawn is dominated by the University of Chicago. North of 53rd Street the neighborhood is mainly residential.

The recently re-opened Hyde Park Art Center, located on Cornell Ave. just north of 51st Street/E. Hyde Park Blvd., is Chicago's oldest alternative exhibition space, with an on-site school and studio and an extensive outreach program.

Image gallery

Shops and restaurants on E 53rd Street	The Metra's station on E 53rd and S Lake Park Ave.	The courtyard of the Hyde Park Shopping Center	Akiba-Schechter Jewish Day School
E 55th St. and S. Everett Ave.	S South Shore Dr. and E 56th St.	Banks of Promontory Point	Museum of Science and Industry
The dollar store on E 55th St. and S Cornell Ave.

See also

• University of Chicago
• Chicago Children's Choir
• Hyde Park Art Center
• Akiba-Schechter Jewish Day School
• Seminary Co-op

External links

• Official City of Chicago Hyde Park Neighborhood Map
• South East Chicago Commission
• The Hyde Park Herald
• Graduate student chronicles Hyde Park's colorful past
• Hyde Park Historical Society
• Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference
• “At Home in Hyde Park” - Office of Community Affairs, Univ. of Chicago
• Akiba-Schechter Jewish Day School
• Hyde Park Art, Culture, Crime and Religion
• Chicago Life: A User's Guide for Students
• The Hyde Park Art Center
• The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago
• The DuSable Museum of African American History
• The Renaissance Society - Official Website
• Hyde Park Crime Watch
• Seminary Co-op

Notes

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