Cicero (originally known as Hawthorne) is a suburb of
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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and an
incorporated town
An incorporated town is a town that is a municipal corporation.
Canada
Incorporated towns are a form of local government in Canada, which is a responsibility of provincial rather than federal government.
United Kingdom
United States
An in ...
in
Cook County
Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. Per the
2020 census, the population was 85,268. making it the
11th largest municipality in Illinois. The town of Cicero is named after
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...
, a
Roman statesman and orator.
History
Originally,
Cicero Township occupied an area six times the size of its current territory. The cities of
Oak Park and
Berwyn were incorporated from portions of Cicero Township, and other portions, such as
Austin, were annexed into the city of
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
.
By 1911, an
aerodrome called the ''Cicero Flying Field'' had been established as the town's first aircraft facility of any type, located on a roughly square plot of land about 800 meters (1/2-mile) per side, on then-open ground at by the Aero Club of Illinois, founded on February 10, 1910. Famous pilots like
Hans-Joachim Buddecke,
Lincoln Beachey
Lincoln Beachey (March 3, 1887 – March 14, 1915) was a pioneer American aviator and barnstormer. He became famous and wealthy from flying exhibitions, staging aerial stunts, helping invent aerobatics, and setting aviation records.
He was k ...
,
Chance M. Vought and others flew from there at various times during the
"pioneer era" of aviation in the United States shortly before the nation's involvement in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, before the field closed in mid-April 1916.
Al Capone built his criminal empire in Chicago before moving to Cicero to escape the reach of Chicago police. The
1924 Cicero municipal elections were particularly violent due to gang-related efforts to secure a favorable election result.
On July 11–12, 1951, a
race riot erupted in Cicero when a white mob of around 4,000 attacked and burned an apartment building at 6139 W. 19th Street that housed the
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
family of Harvey Clark Jr., a
Chicago Transit Authority
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , ...
bus driver who had relocated to the all-white city. Governor
Adlai E. Stevenson was forced to call out the
Illinois National Guard. The Clarks moved away and the building had to be boarded up. The Cicero riot received worldwide condemnation.
Cicero was taken up and abandoned several times as site for a
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
march in the mid-1960s. Cicero had a
sundown town
Sundown towns, also known as sunset towns, gray towns, or sundowner towns, are all-white municipalities or neighborhoods in the United States that practice a form of racial segregation by excluding non-whites via some combination of discriminator ...
policy prohibiting African Americans from living in the city. The
American Friends Service Committee,
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
, and many affiliated organizations, including churches, were conducting marches against housing and school ''de facto'' segregation and inequality in Chicago and several suburbs, but the leaders feared too violent a response in
Chicago Lawn and Cicero. Eventually, a substantial march (met by catcalls, flying bottles and bricks) was conducted in Chicago Lawn, but only a splinter group, led by
Jesse Jackson, marched in Cicero. The marches in the Chicago suburbs helped galvanize support for the passage of the
Civil Rights Act of 1968, extending federal prohibitions against discrimination to private housing. The act also created the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Ur ...
's
Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) is an agency within the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. FHEO is responsible for administering and enforcing federal fair housing laws and establishing policies th ...
, which enforces the law.
The 1980s and 1990s saw a heavy influx of
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
(mostly
Mexican and
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
n) residents to Cicero. Once considered mainly a
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
or
Bohemian town, most of the European-style restaurants and shops on 22nd Street (now
Cermak Road) have been replaced by Spanish-titled businesses. In addition, Cicero has a small black community.
Cicero has seen a revival in its commercial sector, with many new mini-malls and large retail stores. New condominiums are also being built in the city.
Cicero has long had a reputation of government scandal. By 2002, Republican Town President
Betty Loren-Maltese was sent to
federal prison in California, for misappropriating $12 million in funds.
Geography
According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Cicero has a total area of , all land.
Cicero formerly ran from Harlem Avenue to Western Avenue and Pershing Road to North Avenue; however, much of this area was annexed by Chicago.
Landmarks
*
St. Mary of Czestochowa, a
Neo-Gothic
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
church built in the
Polish Cathedral style along with the sculpture of
Christ the King
Christ the King is a title of Jesus in Christianity referring to the idea of the Kingdom of God where the Christ is described as seated at the right hand of God.
Many Christian denominations consider the kingly office of Christ to be one of ...
by famed sculptor Professor
Czesław Dźwigaj, who also cast the monumental
bronze doors at
St. Hyacinth's Basilica in Chicago. The church's other claim to fame is as the site of
Al Capone's sister Mafalda's wedding in 1930.
*
J. Sterling Morton High School, East Campus, also known as Morton East High School, was built in 1894. The original school was destroyed by fire in 1924, and the current building was constructed. Located at 2423 S. Austin Blvd, Morton East serves residents of Cicero.
*
Chodl Auditorium, located inside Morton East High School, was built in 1924 (completed 1927) to replace the 1,200-seat auditorium which was destroyed by fire. The auditorium was originally a dual-purpose room, serving as a gymnasium for students, and was originally built for this purpose. In 1967 the school stopped using the auditorium as a gymnasium. Chodl Auditorium is among the largest non-commercial
proscenium theatres in the Chicago Metropolitan Area and is listed with the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.
*
Hawthorne Works
The Hawthorne Works was a large factory complex of the Western Electric Company in Cicero, Illinois. Named after the original name of the town, Hawthorne, it opened in 1905 and operated until 1983. At its peak of operations, Hawthorne employed 4 ...
Tower, one of the original towers of the enormous
Western Electric manufacturing plant that once stood east of Cicero Avenue, is still located behind the Hawthorne Works Shopping Center near the corner of Cermak Road (22nd Street) and Cicero Avenue.
*
Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame.
Racetracks
On the south side of Cicero, there were two racetracks.
Hawthorne Race Course, located in Cicero and
Stickney, is a
horse racing track still in operation. Just north of it was
Chicago Motor Speedway at Sportsman's Park, which was formerly Sportsman's Park Racetrack (for horse racing) for many years. This Sportsman's Park facility is now closed, acquired by the Town of Cicero, and has since been demolished. Facilities of the
Wirtz Beverage Group have been built on the west half and a
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
built on the east half.
Climate
Demographics
As of the
2020 census there were 85,268 people, 22,698 households, and 17,508 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 25,836 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 19.22%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 3.72%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 4.26%
Native American, 0.59%
Asian, 0.04%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 46.86% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 25.30% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
or
Latino of any race were 89.00% of the population.
There were 22,698 households, out of which 83.62% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.83% were married couples living together, 19.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.87% were non-families. 18.99% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.63% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.06 and the average family size was 3.55.
The town's age distribution consisted of 28.0% under the age of 18, 12.3% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45 to 64, and 8.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $53,726, and the median income for a family was $56,632. Males had a median income of $33,835 versus $26,101 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the town was $20,040. About 11.4% of families and 13.8% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 18.3% of those under age 18 and 15.3% of those age 65 or over.
''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''
As of 2011, 52.5% of occupied housing units were owned properties, and 47.5% were rentals. There were 4,667 vacant housing units. The average age of home properties was greater than 66 years.
Cicero is a factory town. As of 1999, about a quarter of the city contained one of the greatest industrial concentrations in the world. There were more than 150 factories in , producing communications and electronic equipment, sugar, printing presses, steel castings, tool and die makers' supplies, forging and rubber goods.
Government
Most of Cicero is in
Illinois's 4th congressional district; the area south of the railroad at approximately 33rd Street is in the
3rd district.
The
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...
operates the Cicero Post Office at 2440 South Laramie Avenue.
Education
Cicero is served by
Cicero Elementary School District 99 and comprises 16 schools, making it one of the largest public school districts outside of Chicago. Elementary students attend the following schools, depending on residency: Burnham (K-6), Cicero East (4-6), Cicero West (PK-4), Columbus East (4-6), Columbus West (PK-4), Drexel (K-6), Early Childhood Center (PK), Goodwin (PK-6), Liberty (K-3), Lincoln (PK-6), Roosevelt (5-6), Sherlock (PK-6), Warren Park (PK-6), Wilson (K-6), and Unity Junior High (7-8), which is separated into East/West sections. East side being held for eighth graders & seventh graders on the West side. Unity is the second largest middle school in the country. High school students entering their freshman year attend the Freshman Center and then continue high school at
Morton East of the
J. Sterling Morton High School District 201
J. Sterling Morton High School District 201 is a school district headquartered in Cicero, Illinois, United States. The district serves the town of Cicero, the city of Berwyn and the villages of Lyons, Stickney, and Forest View. A small sectio ...
. The McKinley Educational Center serves as an alternative school for 5th-8th graders and the Morton Alternative School serves as an alternative school for 9th-12th graders
The
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago operates two PK-8 schools in Cicero:
* Our Lady of Charity School
* St. Frances of Rome School
From 1927 until 1972, Cicero was the home of
Timothy Christian School.
Cicero is also home to
Morton College.
Infrastructure
Transportation
Cicero is served by two major railroad lines, the
BNSF Railway and the
Belt Line Railroad. Public Transportation is provided by
Metra BNSF Railway Line between
Aurora
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
and Chicago's
Union Station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
with a stop at the
Cicero station near
Cicero Avenue
Cicero Avenue, also known as Skokie Boulevard in Skokie and Wilmette, is a major north-south street in Chicago and its suburbs in Cook and Will Counties. It carries Illinois Route 50 from its south end to Skokie, and U.S. Route 41 from Skok ...
and 26th Street. Currently, this station is undergoing a much needed reconstruction and expansion by Metra. Also, the
CTA Pink Line provides daily service from the terminal to the
Loop. Its station is also located in Cicero. Multiple
Pace and CTA bus routes cover portions of Cicero.
Fire department
Cicero is served by the Cicero Fire Department (CFD), with a staff of 68 professional firefighters and 24 paramedics. The CFD operates out of three fire stations.
Notable people
*
Felix Biestek (1912–1994), American priest and professor
*
Al Capone (born 1899), Nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman and the co-founder and boss of the Chicago Outfit.
*
JoBe Cerny (born 1947), an actor from Cicero, is the voice of the
Pillsbury Doughboy
Poppin' Fresh, more widely known as the Pillsbury Doughboy, is an advertising mascot for the Pillsbury Company, appearing in many of their commercials. Many commercials from 1965 until 2005 (together with some for GEICO between 2009 and 2017) en ...
.
*
John Edward Robinson
John Edward Robinson (born December 27, 1943), also known as the Slavemaster, is an American serial killer, Confidence trick, con man, embezzlement, embezzler, kidnapping, kidnapper, and forger who was found guilty in 2003 for three murders comm ...
(born 1943), American serial killer
*
Joe Mantegna
Joseph Anthony Mantegna (, ; born November 13, 1947) is an American actor.
Mantegna began his career on stage in 1969 in the Chicago production of the musical ''Hair''. He earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Joseph Jeff ...
(born 1947) Tony award winning actor, also writer and director
[Wikapedia]
In popular culture
*In the show “Chicago PD” Cicero is the hometown of the main character Sargent Hank Voight.
*In the HBO series ''
Boardwalk Empire'', Cicero is the home of Al Capone. Many of the episode plots are based in Cicero.
*Cicero is mentioned as the hometown of
Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman and his brother
Chuck McGill
Charles Lindbergh "Chuck" McGill Jr. is a fictional character who appears in the crime drama television series ''Better Call Saul'', a spin-off prequel of ''Breaking Bad''. He is portrayed by Michael McKean and was created by Vince Gilligan and ...
in ''
Better Call Saul
''Better Call Saul'' is an American crime and legal drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'', and serves as a ...
''.
*In the musical
''Chicago'' Velma Kelly mentions Cicero in the number "
Cell Block Tango" as the location of the hotel where she murdered her husband Charlie and sister Veronica.
*In
Walker Percy's novel ''
Love in the Ruins'', the schismatic American Catholic church establishes Cicero, Illinois as its "new Rome."
*In
Bertolt Brecht's ''
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui'', Cicero is annexed by Chicago, as a
satirical allegory for the
Nazi annexation of Austria.
*In ''
Guys and Dolls
''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...
'', the Chicago-area gangster "Big Julie" claims to be from "East Cicero, Illinois" (and pronounces the final "s" on Illinois).
*In the 1948 film noir ''
Sorry, Wrong Number'', the story takes place in New York City but in flash-backs recounted by several characters we learn that the story actually begins in Chicago and Cicero. The female character Leona Cotterel (Barbara Stanwyck) is the rich, spoiled daughter of the owner of a pharmaceutical company located in Cicero. She lives with her father in a Chicago mansion. A few years later, after she marries, the story moves to Bayonne, New Jersey, and ends in Manhattan and Staten Island.
*Al Bundy from the show Married with Children mentions that he gets his hair cut in Cicero.
*In Guns Under the Counter, on
The Fiery Furnaces
The Fiery Furnaces are an American indie rock band, formed in 2000 in Brooklyn, New York.. - ''In 2000 they moved Brooklyn... and began playing as the Fiery Furnaces late in the year''. - Allmusic The band's primary members are Matthew and Eleanor ...
' album
Rehearsing My Choir
''Rehearsing My Choir'' is the fourth full-length album by The Fiery Furnaces and was released in 2005. It is a concept album featuring Olga Sarantos, grandmother of the band's Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger, narrating stories relating to her l ...
, Cicero is mentioned in the line "In Cicero, Never stand at a window".
References
External links
*
''This American Life'' episode about Cicero released 3/16/01
Extensive historical coverage of gang activity and racial issues in Cicero
{{authority control
1867 establishments in Illinois
Chicago metropolitan area
Populated places established in 1867
Towns in Cook County, Illinois
Towns in Illinois
Sundown towns in Illinois
Majority-minority cities and towns in Cook County, Illinois