Northside or North Side is a neighborhood in western
East Chicago, Indiana. Together with
Southside and
Roxana, it makes up "East Chicago proper," as distinct from
Indiana Harbor. The population is 72%
Hispanic and 21%
African American.
The neighborhood has one of the highest rates of
owner-occupied home
Owner-occupancy or home-ownership is a form of housing tenure in which a person, called the owner-occupier, owner-occupant, or home owner, owns the home in which they live. The home can be a house, such as a single-family house, an apartment, con ...
s in the city.
Notable landmarks in Northside include the East Chicago City Hall and
Central High School.
Northside is bounded on the north by Columbus Drive (
United States Route 12) and on the south by the commercial corridor along Chicago Avenue (
Indiana State Road 312
State Road 312 in the U.S. state of Indiana is an east–west state highway in the northwestern part of the state.
Route description
SR 312 heads east from White Oak Avenue next to the Bishop Noll Institute and enters a mostly commercial ...
).
To the east, the residential area is bounded by Indianapolis Boulevard; beyond that lies the industrial district along the
Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal. To the west, Northside adjoins
North Hammond
North Hammond is a neighborhood in western Hammond, Indiana, north of the Grand Calumet River and south of Wolf Lake. It is bounded to the south by Central Hammond, to the west by the Chicago neighborhood of Hegewisch, to the north by Robertsd ...
. To the north, it is bounded by the
Lake George branch of the Canal; beyond that lies a vast industrial district that includes the
Whiting Refinery and the
East Chicago Confined Disposal Facility.
Prior to the 20th century, Northside was a wooded
dune and swale Ridge and swale, or in dunal areas dune and swale, is a landform consisting of regular, parallel ridges alternating with marshy depressions. Ridge-and-swale landscapes are most commonly formed by the gradual movement of a beach, for example as a r ...
area, which saw little settlement during the first years of East Chicago's existence.
The neighborhood's first settler was reputedly an agent for the
East Chicago Company named John Brennell. In the early twentieth century, Northside became the preferred destination for wealthier, native-born Americans, in contrast to the poorer immigrant residents in other parts of East Chicago.
In 1910, 75% of the neighborhood's
heads of household were born in the United States, while the remainder largely hailed from England or Wales.
The neighborhood was chosen by local elites because it "stood far enough from industry to escape the worst of the noise and pollution," but was still within walking distance of the commercial and industrial centers.
The pattern was reinforced by restricted housing developments that promised to sell to "Americans only".
The neighborhood attempted to preserve its exclusive status in 1944 by opposing construction of the
Sinclair Oil tank farm at the neighborhood's north end, on the south bank of the Ship Canal. Although successful in the local government, the refinery opponents were ultimately defeated in the state courts.
Works cited
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References
{{East Chicago, Indiana
East Chicago, Indiana