Portage Park is located on the northwest side of the City of
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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and is one of 77 officially designated Chicago
community areas. Portage Park is bordered by the community areas of
Jefferson Park and
Forest Glen to the north,
Dunning and the suburb of
Harwood Heights to the west,
Irving Park to the east and
Belmont-Cragin
Belmont Cragin is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located on the Northwest Side of the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is designated Community Area 19, and is located NW of the Loop.
History
Beginnings
The first busines ...
to the south.
The area is notable for its
Six Corners
Six Corners is a shopping district in the Portage Park neighborhood of Chicago's Northwest Side.
History
The area's name is from the intersection of three streets—Irving Park Road, Cicero Avenue and Milwaukee Avenue. Its history as an urban c ...
outdoor shopping district, centered at the intersection of
Irving Park Road
Illinois Route 19 (abbreviated IL-19, or simply Illinois 19) is a major east–west arterial road in northeastern Illinois, United States. It runs from Illinois Route 25 (Liberty St.) in Elgin, to Lake Shore Drive (U.S. Route 41) on the nort ...
, Cicero Avenue and the diagonal
Milwaukee Avenue, the
Portage Theater
Located at Six Corners in the Portage Park neighborhood of Chicago's Northwest Side, the Portage Theater is one of the oldest movie houses in Chicago. The Portage Theater opened on December 11, 1920 as the Portage Park Theatre (the former name ...
and for its namesake -
Portage Park
Portage Park is a park in the Portage Park community area of Chicago, Illinois on the National Register of Historic Places. The park stretches from Irving Park Road on the south to Berteau Avenue between Central and Long Avenues. The largest p ...
. The name of the park was taken from the major
portage
Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...
linking the
Des Plaines
Des Plaines is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 60,675. The city is a suburb of Chicago and is located just north of O'Hare International Airport. It is situated on and is named after the ...
and
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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rivers along what is today Irving Park Road. The area was so swampy that in wet weather,
Native Americans and
trappers
Animal trapping, or simply trapping or gin, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, hunting, pest control, and wildlife management.
History
Neolithic ...
were easily able to paddle through the area in either direction without leaving their
canoe
A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle.
In British English, the term ...
s. In those days, the Des Plaines was perhaps the most significant way to the
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, and then on to the
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
(and to return).
Portage Park has the largest
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
community in the
Chicago Metropolitan Area
The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hi ...
according to the
2000 census. Portage Park is home to the
Polish American Association, the Polish
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
Millennium Center, the Polish Army Veterans Association in the beautiful building of the former Irving State bank, in addition to the multitude of Polish shops and businesses throughout the district. One of the area's parks is named
Chopin Park after
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
's most famous
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
and
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
.
History
In 1850, along with construction of the
Northwest Plank Road (present Milwaukee Avenue),
Jefferson Township was incorporated at the legendary Dickinson Tavern. Jefferson Township was part of a large swath of land annexed to the city in 1889 in advance of the
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordi ...
. Much of the area was still largely
rural
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...
in the early 20th century until the extension of
streetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
lines into the area along
Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
, Irving, and Cicero lured in immigrants from the overcrowded
tenement
A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...
s of the city's ethnic enclaves. Soon
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
n,
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
,
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
,
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
and
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
families from the
industrial areas by the
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). Though not especially long, the river is notable because it is one of the reasons for ...
such as
Polish Downtown
Polish Downtown was Chicago's oldest and most prominent Polish settlement. Polish Downtown was the political, cultural and social capital of not only Poles in Chicago but Polish Americans throughout North America as well. Centered on Polonia Tr ...
and
Goose Island were buying lots in the vicinity to build their homes. Area developers such as Szajkowski, Schorsch as well as Koester and Zander subdivided what had been farmland into subdivisions of what became part of Chicago's famous "
bungalow belt".
Demographics
Transportation
The Portage Park neighborhood is accessible via
mass transit
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
through the
Blue Line. The
Montrose station is located on Portage Park's northeastern edge in the
Kennedy Expressway
The John F. Kennedy Expressway is a nearly freeway in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Portions of the freeway carry I-190, I-90 and I-94. The freeway runs in a southeast–northwest direction between the central city neighborhood of the W ...
median and the Irving Park station is located on Portage Park's southeaster edge in the Kennedy Expressway median as well. The
Milwaukee District / North Line
The Milwaukee District North Line (MD-N) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and its northern suburbs. Although Metra does not refer to any of its lines by color, the timetable accents for the Milwaukee District North line are pal ...
has a station stop at
Mayfair
Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...
, just west of the Kennedy Expressway.
Neighborhood
The neighborhood of Portage Park is a primarily residential area. The area's building stock is composed primarily of
bungalows
A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas.
The first house in England that was classified as a bu ...
and two-flats. There are two large
business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
s in Portage Park; one,
Six Corners
Six Corners is a shopping district in the Portage Park neighborhood of Chicago's Northwest Side.
History
The area's name is from the intersection of three streets—Irving Park Road, Cicero Avenue and Milwaukee Avenue. Its history as an urban c ...
, at the intersection of Irving, Cicero, and Milwaukee, and another at Belmont and Central extending south into
Belmont-Cragin
Belmont Cragin is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located on the Northwest Side of the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is designated Community Area 19, and is located NW of the Loop.
History
Beginnings
The first busines ...
.
![Portagetheater](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Portagetheater.jpg)
The area was home to a number of
movie palaces
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 ...
, among which were the
Portage
Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...
,
Patio
A patio (, from es, patio ; "courtyard", "forecourt", "yard", "little garden") is an outdoor space generally used for dining or recreation that adjoins a structure and is typically paved. In Australia the term is expanded to include roofed str ...
, and Belpark theaters. While the Belpark is now closed, the
Portage Theater
Located at Six Corners in the Portage Park neighborhood of Chicago's Northwest Side, the Portage Theater is one of the oldest movie houses in Chicago. The Portage Theater opened on December 11, 1920 as the Portage Park Theatre (the former name ...
has been renovated with public TIF funds and is now home to a
performing arts center
Performing arts center/centre (see spelling differences), often abbreviated as PAC, is used to refer to:
* A multi-use performance space that is intended for use by various types of the performing arts, including dance, music and theatre.
:The ...
showing
arthouse
An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily ...
and
silent films
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, whe ...
. The
Patio
A patio (, from es, patio ; "courtyard", "forecourt", "yard", "little garden") is an outdoor space generally used for dining or recreation that adjoins a structure and is typically paved. In Australia the term is expanded to include roofed str ...
was privately restored and now hosts musical and theater acts.
Portage Park is also home to a cluster of architecturally significant
churches, and is one of the few neighborhoods on the city's
North Side highlighted in Marilyn Chiat's ''The Spiritual Traveler: Chicago and Illinois''. The
spire
A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...
s and
steeples
In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religi ...
of these monumental edifices such as
St. Ladislaus,
St. John of Rila the Wonderworker, St. Bartholomew, St. Ferdinand, and Our Lady of Victory tower over the neighborhood, giving the area much of its charm.
Portage Park (Chicago Park District)
Portage Park
Portage Park is a park in the Portage Park community area of Chicago, Illinois on the National Register of Historic Places. The park stretches from Irving Park Road on the south to Berteau Avenue between Central and Long Avenues. The largest p ...
served as the focus that brought together the different communities in the area and created the neighborhood.
The field house at Portage Park was designed by
Clarence Hatzfeld, whose firm Hatzfeld and Knox would later design many of the
Prairie
Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...
and
Craftsman-style
American Craftsman is an American domestic architectural style, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, which included interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts, beginning in the last years of the 19th century. Its ...
bungalows
A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas.
The first house in England that was classified as a bu ...
just east in the
Villa District
The Villa District, also known as Villa Historic District, ( pl, Polskie Wille) is a historic district in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is located on Chicago's Northwest Side within the community area of Irving Park. Its borders are al ...
in
Irving Park near historic
St. Wenceslaus.
The park originally had a dirt bottom pond that blended into a concrete bottom pool. The hill to the east of the pool that exists now, was the dirt that was removed when the pool was first created when the park was first established. The pond portion of the pool extended to the western edge of this 'hill'. The earliest building in the park is the gymnasium, followed by the field house. The staircase to the field house was a circular affair, supported by several cement posts under the platform that was created by a large landing at the second floor.
The
WPA
WPA may refer to:
Computing
*Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard
*Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing
* Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada
* Windows Performance An ...
was very involved in the creation of the long gone Rock House at the south end of the Park. This Rock House had a small pond area that had goldfish and flower basins. Until the polio epidemic, the water was kept at a substantial depth to support the fish over winter. The flower planters to the north and east of the main entrance off Central at Irving Park Road will give an idea of just what the Rock House looked like. There were seats throughout the half circle structure of flagstone. Except for the overhead wooden canopy, every where you looked there was white flagstone - walls, seats, floor, support pillars. The
Chicago Park District
The Chicago Park District is one of the oldest and the largest park districts in the United States. As of 2016, there are over 600 parks included in the Chicago Park District as well as 27 beaches, several boat harbors, two botanic conservatories ...
has WPA photos of the structure. The park predates all of the buildings that surround it.
The swimming events of the
Pan-American Games
The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...
were held here in 1959 in the second pool constructed in the park, as were the US swimming trials for the
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
.
Other parks
The neighborhood of Portage Park has a number of other greenspaces aside from the neighborhood's namesake park:
*Chopin Park
*Dickinson Park
*Dunham Park
*Grace Zwiefka-Thuis Playlot Park
*Lucy Gonzales-Parsons Playlot Park
*Wilson Park
Education
Portage Park residents are served by
Chicago Public Schools
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.
...
, which includes neighborhood and citywide options for students. There are also a number of private parochial schools run by
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
and
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
congregations in the area.
Public Elementary Schools
* Peter A. Reinberg Elementary
* Chicago Academy Elementary
* William P. Gray Elementary
* Portage Park Elementary School
* Prussing Elementary School
* Smyser Elementary School
Public High Schools
*
Edwin G. Foreman High School
* Carl Schurz High School
*Rickover Naval Academy School
Private Elementary Schools
* St. John's Lutheran School
* Midwestern Christian Academy
* Our Lady of Victory School (Closed 2016)
* Pope Francis Global Academy
* St. Bartholomew School
* St. Ladislaus (Closed 2015)
* St. Robert Bellarmine
Private High Schools
* St. Patrick High School
*Luther North College Prep (Closed after the 2016–17 school year)
Politics
Portage Park has supported the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
in the past two presidential elections by large margins. In the
2016 presidential election, Portage Park cast 15,884 votes for
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
and cast 5,344 votes for
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
(71.11% to 23.93%). In the
2012 presidential election, Portage Park cast
14,028 votes for
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
and cast 4,989 votes for
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...
(72.34% to 25.73%).
Public libraries
Chicago Public Library
The Chicago Public Library (CPL) is the public library system that serves the City of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. It consists of 81 locations, including a central library, two regional libraries, and branches distributed throughout the ...
operates three branches located in the Portage Park community area: Portage-Cragin, Austin-Irving and Jefferson Park.
Culture
* The
Patio Theater, built in 1927, is a single-screen
atmospheric
An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...
style
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 ...
screening repertory and independent films.
* There are preliminary plans to erect a statue of pianist
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...
in
Chopin Park for the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth in addition to a 1:1-scale replica of
Wacław Szymanowski
Wacław Szymanowski (23 August 185922 July 1930) was a Polish sculptor and painter. He is best known for his statue of composer Frédéric Chopin in Warsaw's Royal Baths Park (Łazienki Park).
Life
Szymanowski was born in Warsaw and was the so ...
's ''
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
'' found in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
's
Royal Baths
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a c ...
br>
along Chicago's lakefront
*Portage Park is the childhood home of
Francis Cardinal George
Francis Eugene George (January 16, 1937 – April 17, 2015) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the eighth Archbishop of Chicago in Illinois (1997–2014) and previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Yakima and ...
,
O.M.I.
The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, ...
, the late Cardinal Archbishop Emeritus of Chicago (1937-2015; served 1997–2014; cardinal, 1998; president of the U.S. bishops, 2007–2010; formerly, Bishop of Yakima, WA, and Archbishop of Portland, OR). He grew up in a working class area of the neighborhood in a small red-brick house. There is a street, near Byron Street, named for him.
References
External links
Official City of Chicago Portage Park Community MapPDF file on Portage Park Bungalows from the Historic Chicago Bungalow Association* Chicago Landmarks
*
* Chicago Park District
*
Chopin Park*
Dunham Park*
Portage Park*
Wilson Park
{{Chicago
Community areas of Chicago
North Side, Chicago
Polish-American culture in Chicago
Polish communities in the United States