Washington Park | |
|---|---|
| Community Area 40 - Washington Park | |
 TheBud Billiken Parade and Picnic is the United States' largest African American parade. | |
 Streetmap | |
 Location within the city of Chicago | |
| Coordinates:41°47.4′N87°37.2′W / 41.7900°N 87.6200°W /41.7900; -87.6200 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| County | Cook |
| City | Chicago |
| Neighborhoods | |
| Area | |
• Total | 1.48 sq mi (3.83 km2) |
| Population (2020)[1] | |
• Total | 12,707 |
| • Density | 8,590/sq mi (3,320/km2) |
| Demographics 2020[1] | |
| • White | 1.8% |
| • Black | 91.7% |
| • Hispanic | 2.2% |
| • Asian | 0.0% |
| • Other | 4.3% |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP Codes | parts of 60609, 60615, 60621, 60637 |
| Median household income | $27,458[1] |
| Source: U.S. Census, Record Information Services | |
Washington Park is one of the 77community areas ofChicago in Illinois, United States. It is located on theSouth Side ofChicago
The community area includes the 372 acre (1.5 km2)park of the same name,[2] stretching east-west from Cottage Grove Avenue to theDan Ryan Expressway, and north-south from 51st Street to 63rd. It is home to theDuSable Museum of African American History. The park was the proposed site of the Olympic Stadium and the Olympic Aquatics Center inChicago's bid to host the2016 Summer Olympics.[3]
It and surrounding neighborhoods have gone through notable and often turbulent racial transitions.[4]
In the mid-to-late 19th century, a large number ofIrish andGerman railroad workers andmeatpackers made Washington Park home. There was a sprinkling ofAfrican American residents in the working-class district south of Garfield Boulevard/55th Street. Affluent American-bornEuropean Americans settled the wide north-south avenues that provided a direct route into theLoop 7 miles (11 km) to the north.Cable cars, theChicago 'L' and wide boulevards contributed to late 19th century prosperity. The wide avenues, especially Grand Boulevard (now named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Drive), provided popular locations for mansions and grand apartments built by many wealthy Chicagoans.[4]
The park in this community area was named for PresidentGeorge Washington in 1880.[6] In the 1920s, theUniversity of Chicago created the community area system of city subdivision with the current names that continue to be used today.[7] The community areas although not formally adopted by theUnited States Census Bureau are largely consistent withcensus tract boundaries. The Washington Park community area and its census tracts have been unchanged.[8]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | 44,016 | — | |
| 1940 | 52,736 | 19.8% | |
| 1950 | 56,856 | 7.8% | |
| 1960 | 43,690 | −23.2% | |
| 1970 | 46,024 | 5.3% | |
| 1980 | 31,935 | −30.6% | |
| 1990 | 19,425 | −39.2% | |
| 2000 | 14,146 | −27.2% | |
| 2010 | 11,717 | −17.2% | |
| 2020 | 12,707 | 8.4% | |
| [1][9] | |||
A turn-of-the-20th-century housing construction boom along with increases in the African American population of the midwest during the Great Migration resulted in the movement of lower-income and predominantly African American Chicagoans southward. Soon, the European-American inhabitants mostly left the area, in a phenomenon often termed "white flight". The transition was rapid and marked with conflicts such as theRace Riot of 1919.[4] Some whiteProtestants left to form an exclusive residential community in theSouth Shore community area. In 1906 they formed theSouth Shore Country Club, which excluded Black people andJews from membership.[10]
The area rapidly changed fromEuropean American toAfrican-American in the 1920s. By 1930, the population was only 7.8% white. By 1960, the population was 0.5% white.[11] From 1950 to 2000 the total population of the neighborhood declined from 57,000 to 14,146.[4] Thispopulation decline is partly due to initiatives of the Chicago Land Clearance Commission, who acted under the 1955 Amendment to the Blighted Areas Redevelopment Act, which allowed redevelopment authorities that acquired land by condemnation or otherwise to redevelop such lands for non-residential uses.[4][12] A good example of the Land Clearing commission activities is the Lake Meadows Park to the north of Washington Park.[13] The failure of the evolution of industry and commerce in the community, white flight and land redevelopment for non-residential use combined led to population decline.
Religion and worship are cornerstones of the South Side communities. The nearby hub ofBronzeville at 47th and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive (known as King Drive and formerly Grand Boulevard) was a cultural hub of the neighborhood that fostered a cultural identity.[14] In keeping with the racial transformation, the cultural and religious institutions, including those ofIrish Catholics,Greek Orthodoxy and the Jewish faith, converted to African American institutions.[4]
The neighborhood once contained manypublic housing complexes including about a third of the nation's largest, theRobert Taylor Homes.[4] The Taylor homes have been demolished because of the socioeconomic problems that they perpetuated. The area has minimal industry or commerce at the current time.[4] The other property on the NRHP in the area is theSchulze Baking Company Plant.
TheDuSable Museum of African American History, founded in 1961, moved to Washington Park in 1973. It is a Washington Park landmark and one of the largest African American museums in the country.[4]
Several nearby regions and institutions use Washington Park in their name. Immediately to the south,Washington Park Subdivision exists whereWashington Park Race Track once stood.[15] Onecity block to the north,Washington Park Court District is a neighborhood that has become aChicago Landmark.[16]
The Washington Park neighborhood has been the setting for works of popular literature.James T. Farrell'sStuds Lonigan trilogy is set in Washington Park.[4] InRichard Wright's novelNative Son, Bigger Thomas drives the drunken Jan Erlone and Mary Dalton around Washington Park, as the two embrace.
In addition to hosting the DuSable Museum, the park hostsFountain of Time, the world's earliest concrete finished art work.[17]
Conditions inWashington Park Subdivision is are described in a section ofBlack Metropolis bySt. Clair Drake andHorace Roscoe Cayton.[18]
The playRaisin in the Sun was inspired byLorraine Hansberry's time in the neighborhood after her father won the repeal ofracial covenants.[19] In 2010, the Hansberry house, the red brick three-flat at 6140 S. Rhodes Avenue which they bought in 1937, was up for landmark status before the Chicago City Council's Committee on Historical Landmarks Preservation.[20]
Washington Park subdivision Chicago.
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Places adjacent to Washington Park (community area), Chicago | |
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