Buena Park, Chicago, Illinois
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Uptown is one of Chicago, Illinois’ 77 community areas. Uptown's boundaries are Foster Avenue on the north;
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on the east; Montrose (Ravenswood to Clark), and Irving Park ( Clark Street to
Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...
) on the south; Ravenswood (Foster to Montrose), and
Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...
(Montrose to Irving Park) on the west. To the north is Edgewater, to the west is Lincoln Square, and to the south is Lake View.


History


Early years

The historical, cultural, and commercial center of Uptown is Broadway, with Uptown Square at the center. In 1900, the Northwestern Elevated Railroad constructed its terminal at Wilson and Broadway (now part of the
CTA CTA may refer to: Legislation *Children's Television Act, American legislation passed in 1990 that enforces a certain degree of educational television *Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 *Criminal Tribes Act, British legislation in India passed in 1871 wh ...
Red Line). Uptown became a summer resort town for downtown dwellers, and derived its name from the Uptown Store, which was the commercial center for the community. For a time, all northbound elevated trains from downtown ended in Uptown. Uptown became known as an entertainment destination. Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson and other early film stars produced films at the
Essanay Studios The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was an early American motion picture studio. The studio was founded in 1907 in Chicago, and later developed an additional film lot in Niles Canyon, California. Its various stars included Francis X. Bushman, ...
on Argyle Street. The Aragon Ballroom,
Riviera Theater The Riviera Theatre is a concert venue located on the north side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. About Built in 1917, it was designed by Rapp and Rapp for the Balaban & Katz theatre chain run by A. J. Balaban, his brother Barney Balaba ...
, Uptown Theatre, and Green Mill Jazz Club are all located within a half block of Lawrence and Broadway. Uptown is also home to one of Chicago's most celebrated final resting spots, Graceland Cemetery. The Uptown neighborhood boundary once extended farther to the North, to Hollywood Avenue. Beginning at the turn of the 20th century, just after the World's Columbian Exposition, the entire area had experienced a housing construction boom. In the mid-1920s, construction of large and luxurious entertainment venues resulted in many of the ornate and historic Uptown Square buildings which exist today. The craftsmanship and artistry of those Uptown Square buildings reflects the ornate pavilions of the Exposition. For over a century, Uptown has been a popular Chicago entertainment district, which played a significant role in ushering in the Gilded Age, the American
Lyceum movement The lyceum movement in the United States refers to a loose collection of adult education programs named for the classical Lyceum which flourished in the mid-19th century, particularly in the Northeast and Midwest. Some of these organizations ...
, the jazz age, the silent film era, the
swing era The swing era (also frequently referred to as the big band era) was the period (1933–1947) when big band swing music was the most popular music in the United States. Though this was its most popular period, the music had actually been aroun ...
, the big band era, the rock and roll era, has been a filming location for over 480 movies, has ties to significant
spectator sport A spectator sport is a sport that is characterized by the presence of spectators, or watchers, at its competitions. Spectator sports may be professional sports or amateur sports. They often are distinguished from participant sports, which are m ...
athletes and organizations, including the Chicago Blackhawks and three Olympic figure skaters, as well as theater, comedy clubs,
dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
performers who later became nationally famous, and even "The People's Music School," a needs-based, tuition-free music school for formal classical music training.


Postwar era

By the 1950s, the middle class was leaving Uptown for more distant suburbs, as commuter rail and elevated train lines were extended. Uptown's housing stock was aging, and old mansions were subdivided. Residential hotels which had housed wives of sailors attached to the
Great Lakes Naval Station Naval Station Great Lakes (NAVSTA Great Lakes) is the home of the United States Navy's only boot camp, located near North Chicago, in Lake County, Illinois. Important tenant commands include the Recruit Training Command, Training Support Center ...
during World War II now served low-income migrants from the
South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
and
Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...
. Uptown developed a reputation as "Hillbilly Heaven" in the 1950s and the 1960s. The
Council of the Southern Mountains The Council of the Southern Mountains (CSM) was a non-profit organization, active from 1912 to 1989, concerned with education and community development in southern Appalachia. Origins Formally organized as the Conference of Southern Mountain Wo ...
, headquartered in Berea, Kentucky, launched the Chicago Southern Center in 1963 in Uptown, with help from the Chicago philanthropist
W. Clement Stone William Clement Stone (May 4, 1902 – September 3, 2002) was an American businessman, philanthropist and New Thought self-help book author. Biography Stone was born in Chicago, Illinois on May 4, 1902. His father died in 1905 leaving his family ...
. Chicago's
anti-poverty program Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation, is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty. Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics cl ...
opened the Montrose Urban Progress Center. Students for a Democratic Society initiated a
community organizing Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other or share some common problem come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. Unlike those who promote more-consensual community bui ...
project, JOIN (Jobs or Income Now) in 1963. Large-scale
urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
projects like
Harry S. Truman College Harry S Truman College, (called Truman College and formerly called Mayfair College), is a part of City Colleges of Chicago. It offers multiple 2-year associate degrees, as well as occupational training in a number of fields. Located at 1145 W ...
eliminated much low-cost housing, and the low-income Southern white residents dispersed. New waves of Asian, Hispanic, and African-American migrants moved into the remaining neighborhoods. Latinos forced out from other near downtown and lakefront areas by urban renewal settled close to the border with Lakeview at Sheridan, near Irving Park. In 1975 Young Lords founder Jose (Cha-Cha) Jimenez joined with a broad coalition of whites, blacks and Latinos and ran unsuccessfully against Daley-sponsored Christopher Cohen but still garnered 39% of the vote. His main campaign issue was housing corruption, which was displacing Latinos and the poor from prime real estate areas of Chicago.


21st century

Most recently, since 2000, gentrification has spread north from neighboring Lakeview and south from Edgewater. Median condo prices jumped 69.1% from 2000-2005. In 2008, a group of residents sued the City of Chicago over its designation of the Wilson Yards lot as a Tax Increment Financing ("TIF") district. In December 2009, a '' Chicago Tribune'' story reported on the problem facing eastern sections of Uptown where several
nursing homes A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...
clustered in the area house the mentally ill, including
felons A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resul ...
. Many of these residents have committed a variety of serious crimes including murder, and 11 nursing homes in the area house 318 convicted felons and 1350 mentally ill people.


Historical records

Historical images of Uptown can be found i
Explore Chicago Collections
a digital repository made available by Chicago Collections archives, libraries and other cultural institutions in the city.


Neighborhoods


Buena Park

Buena Park is a neighborhood bounded by Montrose Avenue, Irving Park Road, Graceland Cemetery and Lake Shore Drive. At the core of the neighborhood is the Hutchinson Street Historic District, a tree-lined stretch several blocks long featuring mansions that make up "one of the best collections of Prairie-style architecture in the city." It is in sharp contrast to the skyscrapers that populate the area around it. The neighborhood was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. It can be accessed from the
Sheridan Sheridan may refer to: People Surname *Sheridan (surname) *Philip Sheridan (1831–1888), U.S. Army general after whom the Sheridan tank is named *Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816), Irish playwright (''The Rivals''), poet and politician ...
stop on the CTA's Red Line. Robert A. Waller developed Buena Park starting in 1887 by subdividing his property. The site of the original Waller home now holds St. Mary of the Lake church (built in 1917). Buena Park pre-dates the remainder of Uptown by a number of years. Buena Park is also home to one of the most active neighborhood organizations in Chicago: Buena Park Neighbors. "The Delectable Ballad of the Waller Lot" by Chicago poet Eugene Field: ''Up yonder in Buena Park''
''There is a famous spot,''
''In legend and in history''
''(Known as) the Waller lot.''


Sheridan Park

Sheridan Park is a neighborhood bounded by Lawrence Avenue on the north, Clark on the west, Montrose on the south and Broadway on the east. It is mostly residential, containing six-flats, single family homes, and courtyard apartment buildings. There is a growing business district along Wilson Avenue, which bisects Sheridan Park from Broadway to Clark. Truman College, one of the
City Colleges of Chicago The City Colleges of Chicago is the public community college system of the Chicago area. Its colleges offer associate degrees, certificates, free courses for the GED, and free English as a second language (ESL) courses. The City Colleges system ...
, is also located in Sheridan Park. The neighborhood can be accessed from either the
Wilson Wilson may refer to: People * Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender * Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Ro ...
or Lawrence stop on the CTA's Red Line. In 1985, the
Sheridan Park Historic District The Sheridan Park Historic District is a residential historic district in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Developed between 1891 and 1929, the district is a collection of single-family homes, small apartment buildings, and a handful o ...
(a National Landmark District) was established to protect the unique single family and smaller multi-family architecture of the area. Some structures of Uptown Square were also added as contributing structures. In December 2007, the Chicago City Council approved the Dover Street Historic District in Sheridan Park. This designation covered the three northern blocks of Dover Street as well as four single-family homes on the west side of adjacent Beacon Street just south of Lawrence Avenue. Unlike federal Landmark District status, City landmark status prevents the demolition of properties.


Argyle Street

More recently known as "Asia on Argyle," but also known as "Little Saigon", and "Little Vietnam", this neighborhood was mostly populated by residents of Vietnamese and
Cambodian Cambodian usually refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Cambodia ** Cambodian people (or Khmer people) ** Cambodian language (or Khmer language) ** For citizens and nationals of Cambodia, see Demographics of Cambodia ** Fo ...
nationality. However, many, if not most, were from ethnic Chinese minorities, and for that reason became refugees during the Sino-Vietnamese War of the late 1970s. Many ethnic residents continue to migrate to other neighborhoods and to the suburbs while keeping their businesses in the span of just a few city blocks. Argyle Square hosts Asian grocery stores as well as ethnic Vietnamese,
Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...
, Laotian, and Chinese restaurants. The neighborhood should not be confused with
Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
, which is in the
Armour Square Armour Square is a Chicago neighborhood on the city's South Side, as well as a larger, officially defined community area, which also includes Chinatown and the CHA Wentworth Gardens housing project. Armour Square is bordered by Bridgeport to t ...
community area on the South Side of the city. The neighborhood is served by the Argyle stop on the CTA's Red Line and CTA busses on Sheridan Rd. and Broadway.


Margate Park

Margate Park is situated in the extreme northeast corner of the Uptown community, nestled between the recently rejuvenated strip of new construction on Sheridan Road and the pleasantries of the northern reaches of Lincoln Park. It is bound by Lincoln Park and Sheridan Road to its east and west, and Foster Avenue and Lawrences Avenue to its north and south, respectively. Its tree-lined streets, historic mansions, and gilded mid-rises reflect the area's development in the bustle of Uptown's entertainment industry from the early 1900s, now undergoing a burgeoning revitalization. The diverse housing also includes ornate, imposing terra-cotta clad buildings, immortalized in the movies of early twentieth century Chicago as apartment hotels and boarding houses. Some of these 1920s, Jazz-Age hotels have since been converted to high-end condos and co-ops, adding to the tremendously diverse population of the area. The Margate Park community, as well as much of the Uptown neighborhood of which it is a part, is a popular and thriving home to many of the city's LGBT residents. On Margate Park's western edge is also one of the city's longest running gay bars, Big Chicks, owned and operated for the past 30 years. Designed in 1937 by architect Charles Kristen, its asymmetrical facade, clearly influenced by the 1933-34 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago, features dazzling decoration, with yellow vertical piers on a backdrop of cobalt blue, as well as splashes of aqua. The building itself is architecturally significant for its deco facade. Margate Park contains a Lake Shore Drive underpass near Argyle Avenue adjacent to the Margate Playground, just east of Marine Drive, which permits pedestrians and bikers easy access to the lakefront path and the Foster and Lawrence Avenue beaches. Many of the houses here were built from the 1890s to the 1920s. Although it has remained a mostly white and wealthy area throughout the 20th century, it is a fairly integrated community. In 1940 some blacks who lived as domestic workers resided in a single block of houses in close proximity to their employers. Those houses were described by Jacalyn D. Harden, author of ''Double Cross: Japanese Americans in Black and White Chicago'', as being "modest".Harden, Jacalyn D. ''Double Cross: Japanese Americans in Black and White Chicago''. University of Minnesota Press, 2003. p
42
, 9780816640430.
At 5000 North Marine Drive is
The Aquitania The Aquitania is a luxury, 82-unit cooperative apartment building in the Margate Park neighborhood of the Uptown community of Chicago, Illinois. It is officially designated on the National Register of Historic Places by The United States Departme ...
, a co-op building constructed in 1923 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2002. The Aquitania was built by Ralph C. Harris and Byron H. Jillson in the
Classical Revival style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...
. It was developed by
George K. Spoor George Kirke Spoor (December 18, 1871 – 24 November 1953) was an early film pioneer who, with Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson, founded Essanay Studios in Chicago in 1907. He was a founding partner of V-L-S-E, Incorporated, a film distri ...
, the co-founder of
Essanay Studios The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was an early American motion picture studio. The studio was founded in 1907 in Chicago, and later developed an additional film lot in Niles Canyon, California. Its various stars included Francis X. Bushman, ...
, a producer of silent movies in the first decades of the twentieth century. At this time, Chicago rivaled both New York City and Hollywood in film production, and Spoor was able to use his considerable wealth to build an apartment he felt fitting for the film stars connected with Chicago's growing entertainment industry.


Landmarks


Uptown Entertainment District

Historically a very popular tourist destination, the Uptown Entertainment District is home to various music venues, nightclubs, restaurants and shops. The Uptown Entertainment District is now experiencing a revival, with new restaurants and shops opening every year. Uptown Square, at the center of the Uptown Entertainment District, was designated as a National Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. Uptown is also a stop for Chicago Gangster tours, with many locations tied to infamous gangsters such as John Dillinger,
Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...
, Machine Gun Jack McGurn,
Roger Touhy Roger Touhy (September 18, 1898 – December 16, 1959) was an Irish American mob boss and prohibition-era bootlegger from Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. He is best remembered for having been framed for the 1933 faked kidnapping of gan ...
("Terrible Touhy") and others.


Aragon Ballroom

The Aragon Ballroom is still a very popular music venue. During the 1920s and 1930s, most of the nation's well-known jazz groups played the Aragon. Live radio broadcasts from the Aragon helped promote the Aragon's entertainers throughout the Midwest and beyond. Hotels quickly sprang up in the Uptown area, and it became a mecca for young adults who visited Chicago to dance to the Big Bands of the 1940s and 1950s.
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
, Tommy Dorsey,
Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Arm ...
,
Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...
,
Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...
, Lawrence Welk, Guy Lombardo,
Wayne King Harold Wayne King (February 16, 1901 – July 16, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter, and bandleader with a long association with both NBC and CBS. He was referred to as "the Waltz King" because much of his most popular music involved wa ...
and other famous bandleaders often played there. In decades to follow, a very diverse selection of "big name" groups have performed, including The Rolling Stones, U2, The Smiths, The Doors,
Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...
,
Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a powe ...
,
Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...
, The B-52s, Capital Cities,
The Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talkin ...
/David Burn, B.B. King,
Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...
,
Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
, Tommy Bolin,
Morrisey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...
, Queens of the Stone Age, The Clash, Tangerine Dream, deadmau5, Tiësto, Nirvana, The Ramones and many others. The Aragon Ballroom is located at the intersection of Lawrence and Winthrop Avenues, just adjacent to the Lawrence Red Line 'L' stop.


Riviera Theater

The
Riviera Theater The Riviera Theatre is a concert venue located on the north side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. About Built in 1917, it was designed by Rapp and Rapp for the Balaban & Katz theatre chain run by A. J. Balaban, his brother Barney Balaba ...
, also a popular music venue, was once a Jazz Age
movie palace A movie palace (or picture palace in the United Kingdom) is any of the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 192 ...
which featured live jazz performances with the movies. In the 1980s, the seats were removed on the main floor and it was converted to a concert venue.


Uptown Theatre

The Uptown Theatre is a large, ornate
movie palace A movie palace (or picture palace in the United Kingdom) is any of the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 192 ...
with almost 4,500 seats. The largest in Chicago, this architectural gem is on several Landmark Registers. The Uptown Theatre was designed by famous
movie palace A movie palace (or picture palace in the United Kingdom) is any of the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 192 ...
architects, Rapp and Rapp, who also designed the Chicago Theatre in the Chicago Loop. It was managed by the Balaban and Katz Company. The Uptown Theatre as of 2018 will begin renovation, after numerous attempts, by ''Friends of the Uptown Theatre'' and other local groups to restore and reopen the theater with $75 million renaissance plan. Progress was stymied for years by various legal issues, including disputes by multiple mortgage holders and city liens. However, on August 18, 2008, the Uptown Theatre was sold to Jam Productions Ltd, a Chicago-based music promoter who has committed to bringing a spectacular entertainment venue comparable to the Chicago Theatre in the Loop's Theatre District downtown. In November 2019, the Chicago Tribune reported that the start of the renovation was still stalled due to slow private fundraising needed for the project. Development plans, within blocks, call for renovation of the former AON Insurance building to luxury mixed use retail and apartments already in progress, new high-rise apartment/retail building at Broadway and Winona Street, new parking structure on Lawrence at the Redline, and plans for a new high-rise luxury hotel. A 2006 documentary, Uptown: Portrait of a Palace, shows the interior of the theatre. It is also featured on the cover of the book ''The Chicago Movie Palaces of Balaban and Katz'' by David Balaban.


Green Mill Cocktail Lounge

The Green Mill Cocktail Lounge is located at 4802 N. Broadway in Chicago, on the site of a much bigger Green Mill Gardens complex, which was an outdoor music gardens fashioned after The Moulin Rouge Gardens in Paris. It was a sunken gardens area, surrounded by a wall and featured nightly entertainment during the summer months. It also featured a dining room which was later converted to the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge during construction of the Uptown Theatre on the former site of the outdoor music gardens. The club was once owned by "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn, a right-hand man of
Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...
, who was a regular patron at The Green Mill. The 1957 movie ''
The Joker Is Wild ''The Joker Is Wild'' is a 1957 American Musical film, musical drama film directed by Charles Vidor, starring Frank Sinatra, Mitzi Gaynor, Jeanne Crain, and Eddie Albert, and released by Paramount Pictures. The film is about Joe E. Lewis, the po ...
'' is based on the life of a regular performer at the Green Mill,
Joe E. Lewis Joe E. Lewis (born Joseph Klewan; January 12, 1902 – June 4, 1971) was an American comedian, actor and singer.Obituary ''Variety'', June 9, 1971, page 54. Early life Lewis was born was born into a family of Russian immigrants on Januar ...
. Starring
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
, the movie is the story about how Lewis tried to leave his gig at the Green Mill and was attacked and left for dead in his apartment. Lewis survived and continued his successful career in California. The Green Mill still hosts top jazz performers.
Patricia Barber Patricia Barber (born November 8, 1955) is an American songwriter, composer, singer, and pianist. Biography Barber's father Floyd was a jazz saxophonist who played with Bud Freeman and Glenn Miller. She played saxophone and piano from a young a ...
, internationally acclaimed jazz performer, plays there most Monday nights, as she has for the past 15 + years. In 2008, Kurt Elling was a regularly featured performer with his current band. The Green Mill also hosts a weekly Poetry Slam. Poet Marc Smith is credited for developing the Poetry Slam, and still hosts the weekly events at the Green Mill.


Baton Show Lounge and Double Door

In late 2018, it was announced that two established Chicago entertainment venues were moving to Uptown. The Baton Show Lounge which opened in 1969, has hosted many celebrities, and presents
drag Drag or The Drag may refer to: Places * Drag, Norway, a village in Tysfjord municipality, Nordland, Norway * ''Drág'', the Hungarian name for Dragu Commune in Sălaj County, Romania * Drag (Austin, Texas), the portion of Guadalupe Street adj ...
performance. The popular indie music venue
Double Door Double Door, a concert hall and nightclub, was located in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The venue was first opened on June 12, 1994, and was co-owned by Andrew Barrett, Sean Mulroney and Joe Shanahan. On Ju ...
(established, 1994) plans to reopen the Wilson Avenue Theater. The Wilson first presented vaudeville in 1910, although its classical architecture caused it to be used as a bank for most of the 20th and into the 21st century.


Former venues


=The Rainbo

= The Rainbo, at 4812 N. Clark Street, was purchased in 2002 and torn down to make way for a new condo and townhouse development. At one point, however, it was a very popular outdoor music garden, fashioned after the Moulin Rouge Gardens in Paris, which is the original namesake for what was then called "Moulin Rouge Gardens." Investors bought the Moulin Rouge Gardens property and spent one-million dollars to expand the facility. Opened in 1921, Mann's Million Dollar Rainbo Room, named after Fred Mann's wartime service in the U.S. Army's 42nd Infantry or "Rainbow" Division, was said to be the largest nightclub in America, featuring some of the biggest names in Vaudeville and musical entertainment. Larry Fine was performing there the night he was asked to join The Three Stooges. The Rainbo Room had a revolving stage to allow for continuous entertainment. There was table seating for 2,000 patrons and space on the dance floor for an additional 1,500. Until 1927, WMAQ radio shared the 670 kilohertz frequency with station WQJ, which was owned by the Rainbo and Calumet Baking Powder Company; it broadcast music of the Rainbo's performers as a form of promotion. In 1927, during prohibition, it was converted to a major casino and sports venue, called the Rainbo Fronton. In 1934, during the Chicago World's Fair ( Century of Progress), it became French Casino. The French Casino is where John Dillinger spent his birthday, June 22, 1934, a month before he was shot. In 1939, it became Mike Todd's Theater Cafe, which was a popular dinner theater. Tommy Sutton, the Theater Cafe's choreographer, went on to work with
Cab Calloway Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, conductor and dancer. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocalist ...
,
Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...
and Nat King Cole, among others. It was also a venue for Championship Wrestling where, in 1955, the first women's tag team wrestling match was held. In 1957, The Theater Cafe was converted to an ice skating rink, called Rainbo Arena, which was a practice rink for the Chicago Blackhawks including the year they won the 1961
Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
. The Rainbo Arena was also a training rink for several Olympic figure skaters, and during much of the 1960s was the only indoor hockey rink in the Chicago area open to the public. Several hockey leagues were headquartered at Rainbo, and particularly on weekends, hockey-playing groups would rent the ice at all hours of the day and night. The south end of the building housed a pro bowling alley in the 1960s which was converted in 1968 into the original Electric Theatre/Kinetic Playground music venue. In the 1970s and thereafter, Rainbo was a popular late night roller rink until it was torn down for a new housing development called Rainbo Village. When the building was being demolished in 2003, an assortment of human bones and tennis shoes were discovered in what had been the building's basement. How the bones and shoes ended up there has remained unresolved.


=Arcadia Ballroom

= The Arcadia Ballroom, at 4444 N. Broadway was one of the first Dance Halls in Chicago. Promoter
Paddy Harmon Paddy may refer to: People *Paddy (given name), a list of people with the given name or nickname *An ethnic slur for an Irishman Birds *Paddy (pigeon), a Second World War carrier pigeon *Snowy sheathbill or paddy, a bird species *Black-faced sh ...
, who later developed
Dreamland Ballroom The Jewell Building is a city landmark in North Omaha, Nebraska. Built in 1923, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Located at 2221 North 24th Street, the building was home to the Dreamland Ballroom for more than 40 years, a ...
and the Chicago Stadium, found that black jazz bands were popular with the Arcadia Ballroom late night crowds. It was one of the few places on the north side of Chicago which would book black jazz bands in the 1920s and 1930s, the other being the Green Mill Jazz Club. The building was destroyed in a fire in the 1950s.


=5100 Club

= The 5100 Club, at 5100 N. Broadway, was a nightclub that hosted comedy performances before the advent of television. One regular headliner was Danny Thomas, who was discovered there by the head of the William Morris Agency. Danny would later go on to star in movies and in " Make Room For Daddy", one of the longest running sitcoms in American Television history.


Khan Building

On the intersection of N Sheridan Ave and W Foster Ave lied the building of Khan & Associates. It was really famous for having Muslim tenants and also having a mosque and evening school in the building. People from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Middle East used to thrive over there. They also used to host Iftar 29 (or 30 days) of Ramadan with Taraweeh as well. The building kids were usually the most upfront to celebrate 4th of July with a high spirit. Unfortunately the building was sold from Khan & Associates to Maynard, A company owned by CLK management based in New York, and the tenants were forced to empty their apartments as a part of renovation planned by CLK. Gentrification is not something new for the people of Uptown and the people of Khan Building were just the recent ones to face it. The new management converted the mosque into a fitness center. The rents almost doubled making it impossible for families to live their, and because of that almost every family moved. The thing is these big companies do not care about the families and their sentiments and emotional values, instead they care about money. Once upon a time, Elders and kids would come out and gather after the Friday prayer and talk, but now if anything is happening at 2:00 PM Friday it's probably 4 people in an elevator going to the same floor and not even knowing each others names.


Argyle Street Asian restaurants and shops

Argyle Street, from Sheridan to Broadway and spilling onto Broadway, features Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Laotian, French Vietnamese and Cambodian ethnic restaurants and bakeries. There are also many Asian groceries, shops and trading companies that sell unique Asian merchandise. This area is locally called by many different names, including New Chinatown, North Chinatown, Little Chinatown, Little Saigon, New Saigon, Little Cambodia, Vietnamese Town, Little Vietnam, or by many in the Asian community simply as "Argyle". The surrounding neighborhood, which has attracted Asian immigrants and refugees for the past several decades, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the West Argyle Street Historic District. It is easily reached by the Argyle stop on the Red Line 'L.' One block east of the Argyle 'L' stop, at the corner of Argyle and Winthrop is The Roots of Argyle mural, a community-produced painting depicting 100 years of immigration and daily life on Argyle Street.


Graceland Cemetery

In southwestern Uptown is historic Graceland Cemetery. Visitors here can find the elaborate tombs of Chicago's famed dead. Because some of Chicago's famous architects designed memorials and are buried here, the Chicago Architecture Foundation offers several walking tours of the cemetery during the spring, summer, and fall.


Amenities


Parks, beaches and boating

Chicago's
Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, ...
straddles Uptown—providing soccer and athletic fields, a segment of the Chicago lakefront bicycle/running path, Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary ("The Magic Hedge"), a sledding hill, Puptown Dog Park, Wilson Skatepark and Waveland (Marovitz) Golf Course to the south. Also in the Uptown portion of Lincoln Park is
Montrose Beach The beaches in Chicago are an extensive network of waterfront recreational areas operated by the Chicago Park District. The Chicago metropolitan waterfront includes parts of the Lake Michigan shores as well as parts of the banks of the Chi ...
, which includes a dog beach at its northern edge, and Montrose Harbor, a marina for local and transient boaters and home to the Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club. One park, which is an inland part of lakefront Lincoln Park, is located just west of Lake Shore Drive, called Clarendon Park, and the Margate Field House in North Lincoln Park both feature athletic fields, children's playgrounds and indoor sports facilities. Chase Park, located on the west side of Clark Street at Leland Avenue, has indoor and outdoor athletic facilities, as well as an outdoor pool and tennis courts.


Hospitals

*
Chicago Lakeshore Hospital Chicago Lakeshore Hospital was a private behavioral health and addiction treatment center located in the north side of the city of Chicago, Illinois. In 2011 the hospital was cited for poor staffing, lax oversight, and numerous reports of sexual ...
*
Methodist Hospital of Chicago Thorek Memorial Hospital Andersonville, formerly Methodist Hospital of Chicago, is a nonprofit hospital located in the adjacent/overlapping Ravenswood/ Andersonville neighborhoods of Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , ...
* Thorek Memorial Hospital * Louis A. Weiss Memorial Hospital


Schools

Chicago Public Schools operates district public schools:Uptown
(map). City of Chicago. Retrieved on December 24, 2016.
K-8 schools K8 or K-8 may refer to: * K-8 (Kansas highway), two highways in Kansas, one in northern Kansas, one in southern Kansas * K-8 school, a type of school that includes kindergarten and grades one through eight * AMD K8, the internal designation for the ...
serving sections of Uptown: * Brennemann Elementary School * Goudy Elementary School * McCutcheon Elementary School * McPherson Elementary School * Ravenswood Elementary School * Stockton Elementary School * Courtenay Language Arts Center Most residents are zoned to Senn High School while those west of Ashland are zoned to
Amundsen High School Roald Amundsen High School is a public 4–year high school located between the Ravenswood, Andersonville and Lincoln Square neighborhoods in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1929, Amundsen is a part of Chicago Public Schools district ...
. CPS magnet schools: *
Walt Disney Magnet School Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest school district in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles. ...
High schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
: *
Uplift Community High School Uplift Community High School (commonly known as simply Uplift) is a public four–year high school located in the Uptown neighborhood on the north side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Established in 2005, Uplift is a part of the Chicago Publ ...
Private schools: * Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School (closed 2004) * St. Mary of the Lake Elementary School * St. Thomas of Canterbury Elementary School The previous campus of the
Lycée Français de Chicago The Lycee Français de Chicago is a private, French international school located in Lincoln Square, Chicago, Illinois. It offers a dual French and English curriculum. The Lycée is founded on the French National Curriculum as defined by the Fren ...
was located in Uptown Chicago. Colleges and universities: *
Harry S Truman College Harry S Truman College, (called Truman College and formerly called Mayfair College), is a part of City Colleges of Chicago. It offers multiple 2-year associate degrees, as well as occupational training in a number of fields. Located at 1145 W ...
* St. Augustine College *
American Islamic College American Islamic College (AIC) is a private Islamic university in Chicago, Illinois. It accepts students from all backgrounds and claims to prepare students for "leadership and policy making roles in American society; and for management and staff ...


Cultural

*Th
Haitian American Museum of Chicago
*The
American Indian Center The American Indian Center (AIC) of Chicago is the oldest urban American Indian center in the United States. It provides social services, youth and senior programs, cultural learning, and meeting opportunities for Native American peoples. For m ...
was located for decades in Uptown and moved to nearby Albany Park in 2017


Politics and government


United States Congress

Most of Uptown is located in Illinois's 9th congressional district, and some of the westernmost part of the community area is located in the 5th congressional district.


Chicago City Council

Uptown is divided into multiple wards, which are the districts from which aldermen in the
Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is gaveled into session regularly, usually mont ...
are drawn. Most of the community area lies in the 46th and 48th wards, with small portions of the neighborhood's west side located in the 47th and 40th wards.


Transportation

Uptown is served by the
Argyle station Argyle is a metro station, station on the Chicago Transit Authority's Chicago 'L', 'L' system. It is situated between the Berwyn (CTA station), Berwyn and Lawrence (CTA station), Lawrence stations on the Red Line (Chicago Transit Authority), Red ...
, Lawrence station, and Wilson station, on the Chicago Transit Authority's Red Line, which provides 24-hour service between Rogers Park and Roseland. Just to the west of the neighborhood is Ravenswood station on Metra's Union Pacific / North Line, which provides commuter rail service between
Kenosha station Kenosha is a railroad station in Kenosha, Wisconsin, served by Metra's Union Pacific North Line. It is the northern terminus of the line, which runs south to the Ogilvie Transportation Center in Chicago. Kenosha is the only Metra station outside ...
and Ogilvie Transportation Center. The Chicago Transit Authority's #92 Foster, #81 Lawrence, #78 Montrose, #80 Irving Park, #22 Clark, #36 Broadway, #146 Inner Drive Express & #151 Sheridan bus lines serve the neighborhood. For cyclists, the neighborhood is best traversed by Broadway (North/South) and Lawrence Avenue (East/West), both of which have bicycle lanes on all or some of the road. For motorists,
Lake Shore Drive Lake Shore Drive (officially Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable Lake Shore Drive, and called DuSable Lake Shore Drive, The Outer Drive, The Drive, or LSD) is a multilevel expressway that runs alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan, and adjacent to ...
has exit ramps at Foster Avenue, Lawrence Avenue, Wilson Avenue, Montrose Avenue, and Irving Park Road.


Notable people

* Eric Gunnar Gibson (1919–1944), soldier in the United States Army and recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions in World War II. He was a childhood resident of Uptown and lived at 4040 North Broadway. *
Harold Ernest Goettler Harold Ernest Goettler (July 21, 1890 – October 6, 1918) was a U.S. Army Air Service aviator killed in action on October 6, 1918 while locating the Lost Battalion of the 77th Division during World War I. He died of wounds resulting from Germa ...
(1890–1918), aviator in the United States Army Air Service awarded the Medal of Honor for valor during the search for the Lost Battalion. He was raised at 4630 North Dover Street. *
Talen Horton-Tucker Talen Jalee Horton-Tucker (; born November 25, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Horton-Tucker played college basketball for the Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball ...
(born 2000),
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
player. *
William C. Marland William Casey Marland (March 26, 1918 – November 26, 1965), a Democrat, was the 24th Governor of West Virginia from 1953 to 1957. He is best known for his early attempts to tax companies that depleted the state's natural resources, especial ...
(1918–1965), politician and 24th Governor of West Virginia. After his time as Governor, he lived at a YMCA at 1725 West Wilson Avenue from 1961 to 1965 while working as a taxi cab driver and recovering from alcoholism. * George R. R. Martin (born 1948), novelist and short story writer best known for ''
A Song of Ice and Fire ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a series of epic fantasy novels by the American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. He began the first volume of the series, ''A Game of Thrones'', in 1991, and it was published in 1996. Martin, who init ...
''. He lived in Uptown while performing alternative service work as a VISTA volunteer attached to the Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation.D'Mmassa, Don "Martin, George" pages 388-390 from ''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writers'' edited by David Pringle, Detroit: St. James Press, 19978 p. 388. * Ayanna Pressley (born 1974), member of the United States House of Representatives from
Massachusetts's 7th congressional district Massachusetts's 7th congressional district is a congressional district located in eastern Massachusetts, including roughly three-fourths of the city of Boston and a few of its northern and southern suburbs. The seat is currently held by Democrat ...
since 2019. Pressley was a childhood resident of Uptown, moving to attend college at Boston University. *
Iva Toguri D'Aquino Iva Ikuko Toguri D'Aquino ( ja, 戸栗郁子 アイバ; July 4, 1916 – September 26, 2006) was a Japanese-American disc jockey and radio personality who participated in English-language radio broadcasts transmitted by Radio Tokyo to Allied t ...
(1916–2006), English-language radio broadcaster who transmitted Radio Tokyo's propaganda to
Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
soldiers in the
South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
during World War II on ''The Zero Hour'' radio show. Toguri lived in a three-flat in Uptown after the War.


Notes


References

* * * *


External links


Official City of Chicago Uptown Community Map

Lakeside Community Development Corporation

Business Partners- The Chamber for Uptown

Uptown Chicago Commission

Buena Park Neighbors

Magnolia Malden Neighbors

Compass Rose Cultural Crossroads
Collection of articles, some of which relate to Uptown history
Uptown History Blog
Blog with images from Uptown's past.
Uptown Update
News and Commentary from the 46th Ward of Chicago
SeeClickFix
Report non-emergency issues in the Uptown neighborhood {{Chicago Appalachian culture in Illinois Community areas of Chicago North Side, Chicago Beaches of Cook County, Illinois