49-410: (Redirected from Near Southside ) Near South Side or Near Southside can refer to: Near South Side, Chicago Near Southside, St. Louis Near Southside, Fort Worth See also [ edit ] Near East Side (disambiguation) Near North Side (disambiguation) Near West Side (disambiguation) [REDACTED] Topics referred to by
98-511: A canal they could remove the need to portage and the French could create an empire spanning the continent. The first quantitative survey of the portage was performed in 1816 by Stephen H. Long . It was on the basis of these measurements that he was able to make a specific proposal for a canal. With several slave states recently admitted to the Union, Nathaniel Pope and Ninian Edwards saw
147-662: A plan to construct channels and canals to reverse the flow of the rivers away from Lake Michigan and divert the contaminated water downstream where it could be diluted as it flowed into the Des Plaines River and eventually the Mississippi. In 1892, the direction of part of the Chicago River was reversed by the Army Corps of Engineers with the result that the river and much of Chicago's sewage flowed into
196-561: A public housing and warehouse district , and finally to the home of a newly gentrified residential district. The Near South Side was initially noted for wagon trails winding through a lightly populated bend of Lake Michigan . It was on one of these trails that the Fort Dearborn Massacre occurred in 1812. This area was first populated by settlers working for the Illinois & Michigan Canal , who subsequently worked in
245-536: A significantly degraded shoreline (water levels can fluctuate as much as 5 feet). Today much of the canal is a long, thin linear park with canoeing and a 62.5-mile (100.6 km) hiking and biking trail (constructed on the alignment of the mule tow paths). It also includes museums and historical canal buildings. It was designated the first National Heritage Corridor by US Congress in 1984. Many towns in Northern Illinois owe their existence directly to
294-689: A sub-class and were treated very poorly by other citizens of the city. The canal was finished in 1848 at a total cost of $ 6,170,226. Chicago Mayor James Hutchinson Woodworth presided over the opening ceremony. Pumps were used to draw water to fill the canal near Chicago, which was soon supplemented by water from the Calumet Feeder Canal . The feeder was supplied by water from the Calumet River and originated in Blue Island, Il . The DuPage River provided water farther south. In 1871
343-466: Is bounded by 14th Street, South Indiana Avenue and townhouse developments. The Grant Park Extension lies east of One Museum Park and South of Roosevelt. The developers donated 1.5 acres (6,100 m ) for one park to the city and developed the other two as part of its approval process. The donated tract protects the northward view of Grant Park. Fairs and exhibitions held on the lakefront sites created demand for an exhibition hall. In 1960, construction
392-577: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Near South Side, Chicago The Near South Side is a community area of Chicago , Illinois , United States, just south of the downtown central business district, the Loop . The Near South Side's boundaries are as follows: North—Roosevelt Road (1200 S); South—26th Street; West— Chicago River between Roosevelt and 18th Street, Clark Street between 18th Street and Cermak Road, Federal between Cermak Road and
441-550: Is sometimes imprecise, there is some confusion regarding where the South Loop neighborhood (which incorporates Printer's Row ) begins and ends. Some sources do not define its northern boundary, while defining its southern boundary as Cermak Street (22nd Street) and its western boundary as Canal Street. The Prairie District Neighborhood Alliance , a not-for-profit neighborhood organization, has grown to provide support and representation to thousands of residents living in and around
490-730: The Arie Crown Theater , and it is the annual location for the Chicago Auto Show . The area includes the Prairie Avenue Historic District (with both the John J. Glessner House and the Henry B. Clarke House ) and the historic (former) R. R. Donnelley & Sons printing company building (which now houses network routers and switches for much of the city). The Glessner House, which is perhaps
539-721: The Great Chicago Fire in 1871, it was home to some of the city's finest mansions and most elite social families, and in the 1890s the railroad's Central Station opened at 12th Street. However, by the start of the 20th century, rapid transit evolved and many families moved slightly farther from the Loop business district. The railroads brought warehouses and light manufacturing. Michigan Avenue between 14th Street and 22nd Street became an auto row . The "Levee" vice district of brothels and gambling dens around Cermak Street and State Street prospered until 1912. Burnham Park and several accompanying institutions were built in
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#1732794501196588-906: The Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico . In Illinois , it ran 96 miles (154 km) from the Chicago River in Bridgeport , Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle - Peru . The canal crossed the Chicago Portage , and helped establish Chicago as the transportation hub of the United States, before the railroad era. It was opened in 1848. Its function was partially replaced by
637-636: The John G. Shedd Aquarium were constructed on this newly reclaimed land at this time. Later, Merrill C. Meigs Field Airport was built. Northerly Island connects to the rest of the Museum Campus through a narrow isthmus along Solidarity Drive dominated by Neoclassical sculptures of Kościuszko , Havliček and Nicolaus Copernicus . The newly developed Central Station area includes three park areas. Mark Twain Park lies between South Indiana Avenue and Lake Shore Drive at 15th Place. Daniel Webster Park
686-724: The Prairie District Neighborhood Alliance , a non-profit organization was formed to provide representation for thousands of South Loop residents, including the Prairie District, Central Station and Museum Park, Motor Row, the South Michigan Ave Corridor, as well as other areas of the Near South Side. Lake Shore Drive was reconstructed in 1996 so that it no longer cut through the Museum Campus . Previously,
735-537: The Shedd Aquarium , and the Adler Planetarium ; and Northerly Island . The area is currently undergoing a major residential and mixed-use redevelopment. The Near South Side is one of the most dynamic of Chicago's communities. It has undergone a metamorphosis from a Native American homeland to a blue collar settlement, to an elite socialite residential district, to a center for vice, to a slum, to
784-642: The Stevenson Expressway just south of 25th Street, and Clark Street again between the Stevenson and 26th Street; and East— Lake Michigan . Along Lake Shore Drive , the Near South Side includes some of Chicago's best-known structures: Soldier Field , home of the NFL 's Chicago Bears ; McCormick Place , Chicago's primary convention center; the Museum Campus , which contains the Field Museum ,
833-520: The 140-foot (43 m) height difference between Lake Michigan and the Illinois River. From 1848 to 1852 the canal was a popular passenger route, but passenger service ended in 1853 with the opening of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad that ran parallel to the canal. The canal had its peak shipping year in 1882 and remained in use until 1933. Experiencing a remarkable recovery from
882-486: The 1910s and 1920s. World War I and post World War I Great Migration settlers moved in and created the low-rent "Black Belt". Urban renewal and public housing projects later replaced some of the slums. In the 1940s, some of the city's slums were on the Near South Side. The Century of Progress International Exposition was the name of the World's Fair held on the Near South Side lakefront from 1933 to 1934 to celebrate
931-401: The 1960s, when middle-class housing developments were built in the community area. In 1977, George Halas surrendered 51 acres (210,000 m ) of railyards for redevelopment as Dearborn Park apartments, townhouses and accompanying tree-lined walkways. In 1988, the second phase of Dearborn Park construction began between State St. and Clark St., south of Roosevelt Rd. A housing boom emerged in
980-507: The 1990s and continues to the present day with the construction of many new condominium and apartment towers. Construction of the Central Station development commenced in 1990. This was a mixed-use development on 72 acres (290,000 m ) of former rail yards and air rights east of Indiana Avenue between Roosevelt Road and 18th Street. Simultaneously, loft conversion spread to the warehouses and light manufacturing structures along
1029-627: The Illinois and Michigan Canal cemented cultural and trade ties to the Northeast rather than the South . Before the canal, agriculture in the region was limited to subsistence farming . The canal made agriculture in northern Illinois profitable by opening connections to eastern markets. The first known Europeans to travel the area , Father Marquette and Louis Joliet , went through the Chicago Portage on their return trip. Joliet remarked that with
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#17327945011961078-428: The Near South Side include Drake School, National Teacher Academy, and South Loop School. Phillips Academy High School is the zoned high school of the Near South Side. Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 The Encyclopedia of Chicago . The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9 Illinois %26 Michigan Canal The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected
1127-661: The South Loop and Near South Side of Chicago, including the Prairie Avenue District, Central Station and Museum Park, Motor Row and the South Michigan Avenue corridor, but the organization does not exclude those that are part of the broader South Loop and Near South Side community. The Greater South Loop Association represents residents living between Congress to the North, the Chicago River to
1176-614: The South Loop). Some primary sources cite Printer's Row and the South Loop as part of the Near South Side community area . This transit-related area is the northern portion of the community area. Saying it is south of the former places it in the Near South Side, while saying it is part of the latter places it in the Loop. The Official City of Chicago Loop Map supports the latter. Residents are zoned to schools in Chicago Public Schools . K-8 schools serving sections of
1225-550: The best known historic structure in this district, is now a museum. William Wallace Kimball 's home was the long time headquarters of the United States Soccer Federation . Formerly, several important residences were located in this region. Additionally, the Fort Dearborn Massacre sculpture was on the property of the George Pullman residence as a tribute to the massacre, which occurred in
1274-586: The canal instead of into Lake Michigan . The complete reversal of the river's flow was accomplished when the Sanitary and Ship Canal was opened in 1900. It was replaced in 1933 by the Illinois Waterway , which remains in use. The actual origin site of the Illinois and Michigan Canal has been converted into a nature park that integrates history, ecology and art to communicate the Canal's importance in
1323-461: The canal was deepened to speed up the current and to improve sewage disposal. The canal was eventually 60 feet (18 m) wide and 6 feet (1.8 m) deep, with towpaths constructed along each edge to permit mules to be harnessed to tow barges along the canal. Towns were planned out along the path of the canal spaced at intervals corresponding to the length that the mules could haul the barges. It had seventeen locks and four aqueducts to cover
1372-452: The canal, was given the authorization to hire contractors to survey a route for the canal to follow. Construction on the canal began in 1836, although it was stopped for several years due to an Illinois state financial crisis related to the Panic of 1837 . The Canal Commission had a grant of 284,000 acres (115,000 ha) of federal land which it sold at $ 1.25 per acre ($ 310/km ) to finance
1421-495: The city's centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation over the century since Chicago's founding. More than 40 million people visited the fair, which symbolized for many hope for Chicago and the nation, then in the midst of the Great Depression . West of Lake Shore Drive , much of the Near South Side, in the middle of the twentieth century, consisted largely of railroad tracks and interchanges until
1470-533: The community area and are all listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Raymond M. Hilliard Center Historic District , Motor Row District , and Prairie Avenue District are districts largely within the community area that are also listed on the NRHP. Beginning in the mid-1990s, factories started being replaced with or converted to loft condominiums. The redevelopment continued through
1519-469: The construction. Still, money had to be borrowed from Eastern United States and British investors to finish the canal. Most of the canal work was done by Irish immigrants who previously worked on the Erie Canal . The work was considered dangerous and many workers died, although no official records exist to indicate how many. The Irish immigrants who toiled to build the canal were often derided as
Near South Side - Misplaced Pages Continue
1568-410: The devastating Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Chicago rebuilt rapidly along the shores of the Chicago River. The river was especially important to the development of the city since all wastes from houses, farms, the stockyards, and other industries could be dumped into the river and carried out into Lake Michigan. The lake, however, was also the source of drinking water. During a tremendous storm in 1885,
1617-558: The development of Chicago. In 2003 the Chicago Park District, in cooperation with the I & M Canal Association, hired Conservation Design Forum to develop plans to convert the brownfield site into a landscape that provided for passive recreational uses in a landscape setting with native plant species. Interpretive panels built into a wall along a bike trail were designed by local high school art students. The plans also called on landscape stabilization techniques to repair
1666-597: The early 2000s decade. South Loop residential development has expanded to the Dearborn Park neighborhood (between State and Clark Streets South of Roosevelt Road). The new Central Station neighborhood is the site of major mixed use development that includes One Museum Park , One Museum Park West , numerous residential condominiums and luxury townhomes. This development is built on 72 acres (290,000 m ) of former rail yards and air space rights east of Indiana Avenue between Roosevelt Road and 18th Street that include
1715-673: The few named east–west cross streets. Numbering continues southward in Chicago into the upper hundreds at a pace of 8 blocks per mile. The Near South Side community area has supported the Democratic Party in the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections. In the 2020 presidential election the 4th Ward, which includes the Printer's Row subsection of the community area, cast 26,003 votes for Joe Biden and 1,799 votes for Donald Trump (92.24% to 6.38%). The 3rd Ward, which comprises
1764-604: The former canal, near the Heritage Corridor transit line, has been preserved as part of the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor . In the 19th century, canals were an important mode of transportation. The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Mississippi Basin to the Great Lakes Basin . The potential canal route influenced Illinois's north border. The Erie Canal and
1813-428: The former location of the Central Station terminal . Also, a wave of loft conversions in Printer's Row that has spread to major North-South Avenues such as Michigan, Wabash, and Indiana is making them residential streets again in this neighborhood after a century of other uses. The planned development has expanded from 69 to 80 acres (320,000 m ) and includes properties between Michigan and Indiana Avenues. In 2006,
1862-479: The lumber district. Proximity to the railroads attracted light manufacturing and shops. In 1853, the community was absorbed by the extension of the city limits to 31st Street; in the same period, the Illinois Central Railroad was built into Chicago. In 1859, a South State Street horse-drawn streetcar line, linking the area to downtown, attracted wealthy families to the area. By the time of
1911-472: The major north-south Avenues of Michigan, Indiana, and Wabash, which returned them to residential properties 100 years after the flight of the elite Chicago socialites. Among the prominent buildings are One Museum Park and One Museum Park West along a redeveloped Prairie Avenue . Landfill use created Burnham Park and Northerly Island in the 1920s and 1930s along Lake Michigan . The Field Museum of Natural History , Soldier Field , Adler Planetarium and
1960-482: The majority of the remainder of the Near South Side, cast 25,182 votes for Joe Biden and 2,559 votes for Donald Trump (89.53% to 9.10%). In the 2016 presidential election , the Near South Side cast 9,761 votes for Hillary Clinton and cast 1,425 votes for Donald Trump (83.43% to 12.18%). In the 2012 presidential election , the Near South Side cast 9,252 votes for Barack Obama and cast 2,253 votes for Mitt Romney (79.33% to 19.32%). Because neighborhood line drawing
2009-431: The neighborhood immediately south of "the Loop", yet "the Loop" has multiple meanings. The Loop is a community area bounded by the Chicago River , Lake Michigan and Roosevelt Road. However, the term is also used to refer to the specific area bounded by the circular portion of the Chicago "L" , which goes as far south as Van Buren Street or Congress Avenue (and this is described as the northern border of Printer's Row and
Near South Side - Misplaced Pages Continue
2058-704: The neighborhood. Many of the Prairie Avenue families worship at the historic Second Presbyterian Church on South Michigan Avenue in the heart of the district. Adler Planetarium , R.R. Donnelley and Sons Co. Calumet Plant , Henry B. Clarke House , Coca-Cola Company Building (on Wabash), Field Museum of Natural History , John J. Glessner House , William W. Kimball House , Maxwell-Briscoe Automobile Company Showroom , Quinn Chapel AME Church , Harriet F. Rees House , Reid House , St. Luke's Hospital Complex , Second Presbyterian Church , Shedd Aquarium , Soldier Field , and Wheeler-Kohn House are all located in
2107-624: The northbound lanes ran east of Soldier Field. After reconstruction, both northbound and southbound lanes ran west of Soldier Field. Its northern boundary ( Roosevelt Road ) marks the end of consecutively named east–west streets. East–west streets north of Roosevelt Road have street names, except between State Street and Michigan Avenue . There are two block-long 8th and 11th Streets and a four-block 9th Street. Most streets south of Roosevelt simply use street numbers. Streets in this neighborhood from 13th to 26th are mostly numbered. Cullerton Street (20th Street) and Cermak Road (22nd Street) are two of
2156-421: The opportunity to make Illinois a state. They proposed moving the border northward from the southern tip of Lake Michigan to allow the canal to be within a single state. They believed that the canal would firmly align Illinois with the free states and so Congress granted them statehood even though Illinois did not meet the population requirements. In 1824, Samuel D. Lockwood , one of the first commissioners of
2205-487: The rainfall washed refuse from the river, especially from the highly polluted Bubbly Creek , far out into the lake (the city water intakes are located 2 miles (3.2 km) offshore). Although no epidemics occurred , the Chicago Sanitary District (now The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District ) was created by the Illinois legislature in 1889 in response to this close call. This new agency devised
2254-432: The same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Near_South_Side&oldid=385045721 " Category : Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
2303-472: The west and the Stevenson Expressway (approximately 25th Street) to the south. South Loop Neighbors serves residents only as far south as "approximately" 15th Street and as far west as the river. Fodor's has its own definition of the South Loop as the area bounded by Cermak, Michigan Avenue , the Chicago River , and Congress Parkway- Eisenhower Expressway . The South Loop is described as
2352-431: The wider and deeper Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in 1900, and it ceased transportation operations with the completion of the Illinois Waterway in 1933. Illinois and Michigan Canal Locks and Towpath , a collection of eight engineering structures and segments of the canal between Lockport and LaSalle-Peru, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964. Portions of the canal have been filled in. Much of
2401-431: Was begun on McCormick Place , a huge exposition and convention complex at 23rd Street and Lake Shore Drive named for newspaper magnate Robert R. McCormick . The original building burned in 1967, and was rebuilt and reopened in 1971 at the behest of mayor Richard J. Daley . Large expansions were added in 1986, 1997 and 2007. The current redevelopment includes greatly expanded hotel accommodation. McCormick Place also houses
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