Stony Island Avenue is a major street on
South Side of the city of
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, designated 1600 East in
Chicago's street numbering system. It runs from 56th Street south to the
Calumet River
The Calumet River is a system of heavily industrialized rivers and canals in the region between the south side of Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Gary, Indiana. Historically, the Little Calumet River and the Grand Calumet River were one, the ...
. Stony Island Avenue continues sporadically south of the Calumet in the southern suburbs, running alongside the
Bishop Ford Freeway, sometimes as a
frontage road
A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private drivew ...
. It terminates at County Line Road on the border of
Will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
and
Kankakee Counties.
Points of interest
Running roughly parallel to the
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also c ...
, Stony Island Avenue forms the western boundary of
Jackson Park, former home 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 in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...
of 1893 and current home of the
Museum of Science and Industry. Buildings of the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
line its western side, as does the national headquarters of the historically black
Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Between 59th and 60th streets the
Midway Plaisance
The Midway Plaisance, known locally as the Midway, is a public park on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is one mile long by 220 yards wide and extends along 59th and 60th streets, joining Washington Park at its west end and Jackson Park ...
runs westward to connect Jackson Park to
Washington Park a mile away. Shortly after leaving the
Hyde Park neighborhood sits
Hyde Park Career Academy
Hyde Park Academy High School (formerly known as Hyde Park High School and Hyde Park Career Academy) is a public 4–year high school located in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1863, Hyd ...
at 63rd Street. The
Barack Obama Presidential Center
The Barack Obama Presidential Center is a planned architectural project in Chicago to commemorate the presidency of Barack Obama, the List of Presidents of the United States, 44th President of the United States, president of the United States. Th ...
is slated to be built in Jackson Park across from the high school.
Stony Island becomes an extremely wide thoroughfare between 67th and 94th streets. At 71st Street there is a
Metra Electric Line Stony Island Avenue
Stony Island Avenue is a major street on South Side of the city of Chicago, designated 1600 East in Chicago's street numbering system. It runs from 56th Street south to the Calumet River. Stony Island Avenue continues sporadically south of the Ca ...
station. Just south of 71st was the famous
Moo & Oink Grocery Store that closed its doors in 2011.
[Moo & Oink Closing: http://www.suntimes.com/business/8822587-420/moo-oink-goes-up-for-auction.html] At 73rd Street is the
Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930.
A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African ...
's
Mosque Maryam. At 75th Street is Jackson Park Hospital. Stony Island meets 79th Street, and South Chicago Avenue forming a major and large intersection, with the ramps of the
Chicago Skyway
Interstate 90 (I-90) in the US state of Illinois runs roughly northwest-to-southeast through the northern part of the state. From the Wisconsin state line at South Beloit, it heads south to Rockford before heading east-southeast to the ...
overhead. Adjacent to this intersection on 79th Street is the
New Regal Theater
The Avalon Regal Theater (originally the Avalon Theater, and later the New Regal Theater) is a music hall located at 1641 East 79th Street, bordered by the Avalon Park and South Shore neighborhoods on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United ...
famous as The Avalon, a
Chicago Landmark.
At about 92nd Street, Stony Island passes to the west of the geographical feature for which it was named, a stony hill that was once an island when the glacial
Lake Chicago
Lake Chicago was a prehistoric proglacial lake that is the ancestor of what is now known as Lake Michigan, one of North America's five Great Lakes. Fed by retreating glaciers, it drained south through the Chicago Outlet River.
Origin
The c ...
covered the area thousands of years ago. Early pioneers gave this hill—located in the present day neighborhood of
Calumet Heights, Chicago (also referred to as Pill Hill for the large number of doctors who used to live in the area), at —the name Stony Island because at a distance it looked like an island set in a tractless
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 ...
sea. (See also the nearby
Blue Island
Blue Island is a city in Cook County, Illinois, located approximately south of Chicago's Loop. Blue Island is adjacent to the city of Chicago and shares its northern boundary with that city's Morgan Park neighborhood. The population was 22,558 ...
.) At the intersection with 93rd Street is the
Bronzeville Children's Museum. It is the only
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
children's museum in the
U.S.
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 ...
South of 103rd Street, Stony Island Ave. enters the
heavily industrialized region of
Lake Calumet.
At some points in the south suburbs, street signs for Stony Island Avenue are misspelled as Stoney Island Avenue.
Transportation
Stony Island Avenue is primarily served by the 28 Stony Island north of 103 Street. The 2 Hyde Park Express, 6 Jackson Park Express and 15 Jeffery Local serve the road for short segments.
The
South Chicago Branch of Metra Electric has a stop at
71 St
Expressway
Between 103rd Street and the , there is a significant gap in the road. This gap is filled by the Stony Island Avenue
expressway
Expressway may refer to:
* Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic.
* Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road.
*Expressway, the fictional s ...
, which runs for approximately between and 95th Street. At its northern end, the road reverts to at-grade status.
During the 1960s, the expressway was to have been the southern terminus of
Interstate 694
Interstate 694 (I-694) is an east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway located in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area in the US state of Minnesota. The western terminus of the route is at its junction with I-94, I-494, and US H ...
, which also would have included an upgraded
Lake Shore Drive in its routing. It was cancelled by 1979.
Exit list
See also
*
*
References
{{Streets in Chicago
Streets in Chicago