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Hyde Park | |
|---|---|
| Community Area 41 – Hyde Park | |
 Hyde Park inChicago | |
 The official Hyde Park community area (bold black) and the unofficial Hyde Park-Kenwood neighborhood extending into the officialKenwood community area (thin black). | |
 Location of Hyde Park inChicago | |
| Coordinates:41°48′N87°35.4′W / 41.800°N 87.5900°W /41.800; -87.5900 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| County | Cook |
| City | Chicago |
| Named after | Hyde Park, New York |
| Neighborhoods | List
|
| Area | |
• Total | 1.65 sq mi (4.27 km2) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 29,456 |
| • Density | 17,900/sq mi (6,900/km2) |
| Demographics (2020)[1] | |
| • White | 47.0% |
| • Black | 24.4% |
| • Asian | 14.2% |
| • Hispanic | 7.5% |
| • Other | 6.9% |
| Educational Attainment 2018[1] | |
| • High School Diploma or Higher | 96.77% |
| • Bachelor's Degree or Higher | 75.00% |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP codes | parts of 60615 and 60637 |
| Median household income 2020 | $52,423[1] |
| Source: U.S. Census, Record Information Services | |
Hyde Park is one of the 77community areas ofChicago in Illinois, United States. On theSouth Side of Chicago, it is located on and near the shore ofLake Michigan 7 miles (11 km) south ofthe Loop.
Hyde Park is home to theUniversity of Chicago and severalseminaries and graduate schools oftheology:Catholic Theological Union, theLutheran School of Theology at Chicago, theChicago Theological Seminary, andMcCormick Theological Seminary (in addition to, UChicago's ownDivinity School). TheGriffin Museum of Science and Industry and two of Chicago's four historic sites listed in the original 1966National Register of Historic Places—Chicago Pile-1, the world's first artificialnuclear reactor, andRobie House—are also in the neighborhood.[2] In the early 21st century, Hyde Park received national attention for its association with U.S. presidentBarack Obama, who, before running for president, was a Senior Lecturer for twelve years at theUniversity of Chicago Law School, anIllinois state senator representing the area, and U.S. senator from Illinois.[3][4] TheBarack Obama Presidential Center is currently under construction inJackson Park, on its border with Hyde Park.[5]
Hyde Park's boundaries and subdivisions have several local definitions. The community area's formal boundaries are 51st Street (signed locally as Hyde Park Boulevard) on the north,Midway Plaisance on the south,Washington Park on the west, and Lake Michigan on the east.[6] Another local definition considers a section to the north between 47th Street[7] and Hyde Park Boulevard to be in Hyde Park, although this area is, according to municipal boundaries, the southern half of theKenwood community area. As such, it is often called "South Kenwood". Hyde Park and South Kenwood are also sometimes collectively termed "Hyde Park-Kenwood" (as in the name of theepoynmous Historic District, for example). Meanwhile, the portion of Hyde Park that lies between theIllinois Central Railroad tracks and the lake is usually referred to as "East Hyde Park" and is usually also taken to include "Indian Village", the small southeastern corner of Kenwood.[8]
In 1853,Paul Cornell, a real estate speculator and cousin ofCornell University founderEzra Cornell, purchased 300 acres (1.2 km2) of land[9] between 51st and 55th streets along the shore ofLake Michigan,[10] with the idea of attracting other Chicago businessmen and their families to the area.[9] The neighborhood was named after ahamlet on theHudson River of the same name inNew York.[11] The land was located seven miles south of Downtown Chicago in a rural area that enjoyed weather tempered by the lake – cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. It was conveniently located near theIllinois Central Railroad, which had been constructed two years earlier. Cornell successfully negotiated land in exchange for a railroad station at 53rd Street. Hyde Park quickly became a suburban retreat for affluent Chicagoans who wanted to escape the noise and congestion of the rapidly growing city.
In 1857, theHyde Park House, an upscale hotel, was built on the shore of Lake Michigan near the 53rd Street railroad station.[9] For two decades, the Hyde Park House served as a focal point of Hyde Park social life. During this period, it was visited or lived in by many prominent guests, includingMary Todd Lincoln, who lived there with her children for two and a half months in the summer of 1865 (shortly after her husband was assassinated).[12] The Hyde Park House burned down in an 1879 fire. TheSisson Hotel was built on the site in 1918 and was eventually converted into a condominium building (theHampton House).
In 1861, Hyde Park was incorporated into an independent township (calledHyde Park Township). Its boundaries were Pershing Road (39th Street) on the north, 138th Street on the south,State Street on the west, andLake Michigan and theIndiana state line on the east.[13] The territory of the township encompassed most of what is now theSouth Side of Chicago. Hyde Park Township remained independent of Chicago until it was annexed to the city in 1889.[14] After annexation, the definition of Hyde Park as a Chicago neighborhood was restricted to the historic core of the former township, centered on Cornell's initial development between 51st and 55th streets near the lakefront.
TheHyde Park Herald, the neighborhood's community newspaper, was established in 1882 and continues to be published weekly.
In 1891, two years after the city of Chicago annexed Hyde Park,[9] theUniversity of Chicago was established in the neighborhood through the philanthropy ofJohn D. Rockefeller and the leadership ofWilliam Rainey Harper.[10]
In 1893, Hyde Park hosted theWorld's Columbian Exposition (aworld's fair marking the 400th anniversary ofChristopher Columbus' arrival in theNew World). The World's Columbian Exposition brought fame to the neighborhood, which gave rise to an inflow of new residents and spurred new development that gradually started transforming Hyde Park into a more urban area. However, since most of the structures built for the fair were temporary, it left few direct traces in the neighborhood. The only major structure from the fair that is still standing today isCharles Atwood's Palace of Fine Arts, which has since been converted into theMuseum of Science and Industry.
In the early decades of the twentieth century, many upscale hotels were built in Hyde Park (mostly along the lakefront). Hyde Park became a resort area in Chicago.[10] Most of these hotels closed during theGreat Depression, and were eventually converted into apartment and condominium buildings (most of which are still standing today).
Historical images of Hyde Park can be found inExplore Chicago Collections, a digital repository made available byChicago Collections archives, libraries and other cultural institutions in the city.[15]
Until the middle of the twentieth century, Hyde Park remained an almost exclusivelywhite neighborhood (despite its proximity to Chicago'sBlack Belt). Hyde Parkers relied onracially restrictive covenants to keepAfrican Americans out of the neighborhood. At the time, the use of such covenants was supported by the University of Chicago.[16]
After theSupreme Court banned racially restrictive covenants in 1948, African Americans began moving into Hyde Park, and the neighborhood gradually became multiracial. In 1955, civil rights activistLeon Despres was elected alderman of Hyde Park and held the position for twenty years.[17] Despres argued passionately forracial integration andfair housing on the floor of theChicago City Council, and became known as the "liberal conscience of Chicago" for often casting the sole dissenting vote against the policies of Chicago's then-mayorRichard J. Daley.[18]
During the 1950s, Hyde Park experienced economic decline as a result of thewhite flight that followed the rapid inflow of African Americans into the neighborhood.[10] In the 1950s and 1960s, the University of Chicago, in its effort to counteract these trends, sponsored one of the largesturban renewal plans in the nation.[19][20] The plan involved the demolition and redevelopment of entire blocks of supposedly decayed buildings with the goal of creating an "interracial community of high standards."[21] After the plan was carried out, Hyde Park's average income soared by seventy percent, but its African American population fell by forty percent, since the substandard housing primarily occupied by low-income African Americans had been purchased, torn down, and replaced, with the residents not being able to afford to remain in the newly rehabilitated areas.[citation needed] The ultimate result of the renewal plan was that Hyde Park did not experience the economic depression that occurred in the surrounding areas and became a racially integrated middle-class neighborhood.[citation needed]
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The central campus of the University of Chicago—includingPritzker School of Medicine, theUniversity of Chicago Hospital, the historic Main Quadrangles, and theBooth School of Business—is bounded byWashington Park on the west, 55th Street on the north, University Ave. on the east, and 61st Street on the south, placing most of the university within Hyde Park's southwestern quadrant (with the remainder, south ofthe Midway, being inWoodlawn). The university also owns a number of additional properties throughout Hyde Park, with many concentrated along a narrow corridor along 59th Street between the central campus and theMetra tracks—including, for example, theUniversity of Chicago Laboratory Schools andInternational House. Due to the university's proximity, the blocks just east of the central campus are dominated by (privately owned) student and faculty residences.
The part of Hyde Park located east of theMetra tracks is locally called East Hyde Park. This area, the part of Hyde Park nearest to Lake Michigan, has a large number of high-rise condominiums, many of them facing the lakefront. Some of these condominiums are remnants of older hotels, like The Mayfair or Regents Park. In this respect, East Hyde Park differs markedly from the rest of Hyde Park, where the vast majority of residences are either three-story apartment buildings or single-family homes (with only a small number of high-rise condominiums).
Although the neighborhood bounded by 47th Street on the north, 51st Street (Hyde Park Boulevard) on the south, Cottage Grove Avenue on the west, and Lake Michigan on the east is officially the southern half of theKenwood community area, it is often considered part of Hyde Park due to the two areas' shared culture and history; "Hyde Park-Kenwood" is thus sometimes applied to this collective area (as in, e.g., the "Hyde Park-Kenwood Historic District"). Some differences are nonetheless apparent: unlike Hyde Park, which is dominated by three- and four-story apartment buildings and modest family homes, southern Kenwood boasts a great many luxurious mansions, built mainly at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries for wealthy Chicagoans. A number of prominent Chicagoans currently reside or own homes in this area, including former U.S. presidentBarack Obama andNation of Islam leaderLouis Farrakhan. BoxerMuhammad Ali and former Nation of Islam leaderElijah Muhammad also once resided in south Kenwood.
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | 48,017 | — | |
| 1940 | 50,550 | 5.3% | |
| 1950 | 55,206 | 9.2% | |
| 1960 | 45,577 | −17.4% | |
| 1970 | 33,531 | −26.4% | |
| 1980 | 31,198 | −7.0% | |
| 1990 | 28,630 | −8.2% | |
| 2000 | 29,920 | 4.5% | |
| 2010 | 25,681 | −14.2% | |
| 2020 | 29,456 | 14.7% | |
| [22][1] | |||
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Hyde Park is a very racially diverse neighborhood. Per2020 U.S. census data, the neighborhood's residents are 45.6% White, 26.7% Black, 14.6% Asian, and 7.2% Hispanic, while a further 5.9% identified as belonging to two or more races.[23] The neighborhood's northern and southern halves exhibit some demographic differences, however: south of 55th Street, the population is predominantly white and Asian-American, with a smaller percentage of African-Americans and Hispanics. North of 55th Street, African-Americans make up approximately half of the population, and there is a more robust Hispanic presence.[24]
Hyde Park's location in the center of the predominantlyAfrican-AmericanSouth Side, as well as the neighborhood's large population of affluent and upper-middle class Black residents, have made it an important cultural and political hub for Chicago's Black community. Many of Chicago's prominent African-American politicians live or have lived in Hyde Park, including formerChicago mayorHarold Washington, the city's first Black mayor;[25] former U.S. SenatorCarol Moseley Braun, the first Black female U.S. senator;[26] former U.S. PresidentBarack Obama;[16]Toni Preckwinkle, the currentPresident of the Cook County Board of Commissioners;[27] andKwame Raoul, the currentAttorney General of Illinois.[28]
The following Hyde Park community area properties have been added to theNational Register of Historic Places:Chicago Beach Apartments,Arthur H. Compton House, East Park Towers,Chicago Pile-1,Flamingo-on-the-Lake Apartments,Mayfair Apartments,Isadore H. Heller House,Charles Hitchcock Hall, Hotel Del Prado,Hotel Windermere East,Frank R. Lillie House,Robert A. Millikan House, Poinsettia Apartments,Promontory Apartments,Jackson Shore Apartments,Frederick C. Robie House,George Herbert Jones Laboratory,St. Thomas Church and Convent,Shoreland Hotel,German submarine U-505, andUniversity Apartments.
In addition, the NRHPHyde Park-Kenwood Historic District andJackson Park Historic Landscape District and Midway Plaisance are located, at least in part, within the Hyde Park community area.
Promontory Point is an artificialpeninsula that extends intoLake Michigan at 55th Street, providing views of the Downtown Chicago skyline to the north. Promontory Point is a common location for picnicking, sunbathing, and swimming. It made news as the location of the wedding reception betweenGeorge Lucas andMellody Hobson in June 2013.[29]
The southeastern corner of Hyde Park contains the northern end ofJackson Park. Jackson Park consists of lagoons surrounding an island in the middle (called the Wooded Island), on which a smallJapanese garden is located. It is home to a large population of beavers and over two dozen species of birds. TheMidway Plaisance, a wide boulevard that runs from Stony Island Avenue to Cottage Grove Avenue between 59th and 60th streets, connects Jackson Park toWashington Park (located to the west of Hyde Park).
Jackson Park has been selected by theObama Foundation as the site of the futureObama Presidential Center.[30]
The shopping areas on 53rd, 55th, and 57th streets host most of the retail businesses in Hyde Park.
53rd Street is Hyde Park's oldest shopping district, lined with many small businesses and restaurants offering various dining options.Harper Court, a small-business-oriented shopping center, extends north of 53rd Street along Harper Avenue. Afarmers' market is held there in the summer.
The segment of 55th Street between theMetra line and the lake offers a series of ethnic restaurants serving Thai, Japanese, and Korean cuisine. To the west of the Metra line between 54th and 55th streets lies the Hyde Park Shopping Center.
Among the best-known establishments on East 55th Street isWoodlawn Tap (“Jimmy’s”), a neighborhood bar operating continuously since 1948.[31]
57th Street is noted for itsindependent bookstores. 57th Street also offers restaurants along with small grocery stores, hair stylists, and dry cleaners. On the first weekend in June, the venerable57th Street Art Fair takes up 57th Street between Kimbark and Kenwood avenues.
The Hyde Park community area has supported theDemocratic Party in the past two presidential elections by overwhelming margins. In the2016 presidential election, Hyde Park cast 10,479 votes forHillary Clinton and 442 votes forDonald Trump (91.9% to 3.9%).[32] In the2012 presidential election, Hyde Park cast 9,991 votes forBarack Obama and cast 651 votes forMitt Romney (91.4% to 6.0%).[33]
By car, Hyde Park is easily accessed fromLake Shore Drive, which runs along the neighborhood's easternmost edge. TheDan Ryan Expressway andChicago Skyway also lie within a short driving distance.
In terms of public transit, Hyde Park is served by elevenChicago Transit Authority bus lines;Metra, Chicago'scommuter rail system; and theSouth Shore Line, aninterurban passenger rail service that runs between Chicago andSouth Bend,Indiana. The latter two use the formerIllinois Central Railroad's embankment in East Hyde Park, nearLake Michigan.
TheMetra Electric—which has three stations in the neighborhood (51st/53rd St./Hyde Park,55th-56th-57th St., and59th St./University of Chicago)—and the CTA's #6 Jackson Park Express bus provide express service tothe Loop from early morning to late night. The #2 Hyde Park Express and #28 Stony Island busses provide similar service during rush hours. Off-peak, however, the #2 does not run, while the #28 does so only to points south. CTA's #10 Museum of Science and Industry route also provides express service to downtown, but only betweenMemorial andLabor Days and from one stop atthe museum itself.
CTA's #15 Jeffrey Local bus runs diagonally through Hyde Park, connecting the neighborhood to points south and to CTA's rapid transit system, the"L", at theRed andGreen Lines'47th and51st St. stations, respectively. The #55 Garfield bus runs east–west through the neighborhood, also connecting it to the Red and Green Lines at their respectiveGarfieldstations, and, ultimately, to Chicago'sMidway Airport. The #4 Cottage Grove and #X4 Cottage Grove Express bus routes run north–south along Hyde Park's westernmost edge.
CTA also operates three bus routes in collaboration with the University of Chicago: #171 University of Chicago/Hyde Park, #172 University of Chicago/Kenwood, and #192University of Chicago Hospitals Express. The #171 and #172 are local circulator routes that run on a reduced schedule during the summer, while the #192 runs during rush hours only to and from major rail stations in the Loop.
South Shore Line trains stops only at 55th-56th-57th St. They only board passengers southbound and discharge passengers northbound due to anon-compete agreement with Metra.
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Places adjacent to Hyde Park, Chicago | |
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