South Side, Chicago
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The South Side is an area of Chicago, Illinois, U.S. It lies south of the city's
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area in the downtown. Geographically, it is the largest of the three sides of the city that radiate from downtown, with the other two being the north and west sides. Much of the South Side came from the city's annexation of townships such as
Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...
. The city's Sides have historically been divided by the Chicago River and its branches. The South Side of Chicago was originally defined as all of the city south of the main branch of the Chicago River, but it now excludes the
Loop Loop or LOOP may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live * Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets * Loop Mobile, an ...
. The South Side has a varied ethnic composition and a great variety of income levels and other
demographic Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...
measures. It has a reputation for crime, although most crime is contained within certain neighborhoods, not throughout the South Side itself, and residents range from affluent to middle class to poor. South Side neighborhoods such as
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 ...
, Back of the Yards,
Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnoc ...
, and Pullman host more blue collar and
middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...
residents, while
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, the Jackson Park Highlands District, Kenwood, Beverly,
Mount Greenwood Mount Greenwood is one of the 77 community areas in Chicago. The 74th numbered area, it is about southwest of the Loop. It is surrounded by the neighborhoods of Beverly and Morgan Park to the east, the suburb of Evergreen Park to the north, ...
, and west Morgan Park range from middle class to more affluent residents. The South Side boasts a broad array of cultural and social offerings, such as professional sports teams, landmark buildings, museums, educational institutions, medical institutions, beaches, and major parts of Chicago's parks system. The South Side has numerous bus routes and 'L' train lines via the Chicago Transit Authority, it hosts
Midway Airport Chicago Midway International Airport , typically referred to as Midway Airport, Chicago Midway, or simply Midway, is a major commercial airport on the Southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the Lo ...
, and includes several Metra rail commuter lines. There are portions of the U.S. Interstate Highway System and also national highways such as
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 ...
.


Boundaries

There is some debate as to the South Side's boundaries. Originally the sides were taken from the banks of the Chicago River. The city's address numbering system uses a grid demarcating Madison Street as the east–west axis and
State Street State Street may refer to: Streets and locations *State Street (Chicago), Illinois * State Street (Portland, Maine) *State Street (Boston), Massachusetts *State Street (Ann Arbor), Michigan * State Street (Albany), New York *State Street (Manhatta ...
as the north–south axis. Madison is in the middle of the Loop.Hayner, Don and Tom McNamee, ''Streetwise Chicago'', "Madison Street", p. 79, Loyola University Press, 1988, As a result, much of the downtown "Loop" district is south of Madison Street (and the river), but the Loop is usually excluded from any of the Sides. One definition has the South Side beginning at
Roosevelt Road Roosevelt Road (originally named 12th Street) is a major east-west street in the city of Chicago, Illinois, and its western suburbs. It is 1200 South in the city's street numbering system, but only south of Madison Street. It runs under this ...
, at the Loop's southern boundary, with the community area known as the Near South Side immediately adjacent. Another definition, taking into account that much of the Near South Side is in effect part of the commercial district extending in an unbroken line from the South Loop, locates the boundary immediately south of 18th Street or Cermak Road, where Chinatown in the Armour Square community area begins.
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 ...
and the Indiana state line provide eastern boundaries. The southern border changed over time because of Chicago's evolving city limits; the city limits are now at 138th Street (in Riverdale and Hegewisch). The South Side is larger in area than the North and West Sides combined.


Subdivisions

The exact boundaries dividing the Southwest, South, and Southeast Sides vary by source. If primarily racial lines are followed, the South Side can generally be divided into a White and Hispanic Southwest Side, a largely Black South Side and a smaller, more racially diverse Southeast Side centered on the East Side community area and including the adjacent community areas of South Chicago,
South Deering South Deering, located on Chicago's far South Side, is the largest of the 77 official community areas of that city. Primarily an industrial area, a small residential neighborhood exists in the northeast corner and Lake Calumet takes up a larg ...
and Hegewisch. The differing interpretations of the boundary between the South and Southwest Sides are due to a lack of a definite natural or artificial boundary. One source states that the boundary is Western Avenue or the railroad tracks adjacent to Western Avenue. This border extends further south to a former railroad right of way paralleling Beverly Avenue and then Interstate 57. The Southwest Side of Chicago is a subsection of the South Side comprising mainly white, black, and Hispanic neighborhoods, usually dominated by one of these races. On the Southwest Side exclusively, the northern portion has a high concentration of Hispanics, the western portion has a high concentration of whites, and the eastern portion has a high concentration of blacks. Architecturally, the Southwest Side is distinguished by the tract of Chicago's Bungalow Belt, which runs through it.
Archer Heights Archer Heights is a community area in Chicago, Illinois, one of the 77 official community areas of Chicago. Archer Avenue runs from south of Chicago's downtown area, through the southwest side of Chicago and beyond into the southwest suburb ...
, a
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
enclave along Archer Avenue, which leads toward
Midway Airport Chicago Midway International Airport , typically referred to as Midway Airport, Chicago Midway, or simply Midway, is a major commercial airport on the Southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the Lo ...
, is located on the Southwest Side of the city, as are Beverly and Morgan Park, home to a large concentration of
Irish American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...
s.


History

With its factories, steel mills and
meat-packing The meat-packing industry (also spelled meatpacking industry or meat packing industry) handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. Poultry is generally ...
plants, the South Side saw a sustained period of immigration which began around the 1840s and continued through World War II. Irish, Italian,
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
,
Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...
and Yugoslav immigrants, in particular, settled in neighborhoods adjacent to industrial zones. The
Illinois Constitution The Constitution of the State of Illinois is the governing document of the state of Illinois. There have been four Illinois Constitutions; the fourth and current version was adopted in 1970. The current constitution is referred to as the "Constit ...
gave rise to townships that provided municipal services in 1850. Several settlements surrounding Chicago incorporated as townships to better serve their residents. Growth and prosperity overburdened many local government systems. In 1889, most of these townships determined that they would be better off as part of a larger city of Chicago. Lake View, Jefferson, Lake, Hyde Park Townships and the Austin portion of Cicero voted to be annexed by the city in the June 29, 1889 elections. After the Civil War freed millions of slaves, during Reconstruction black southerners migrated to Chicago and caused the black population to nearly quadruple from 4,000 to 15,000 between 1870 and 1890. In the 20th century, the numbers expanded with the Great Migration, as blacks left the agrarian South seeking a better future in the industrial North, including the South Side. By 1910, the black population in Chicago reached 40,000, with 78% residing in the Black Belt. Extending 30 blocks, mostly between 31st and 55th Streets, along
State Street State Street may refer to: Streets and locations *State Street (Chicago), Illinois * State Street (Portland, Maine) *State Street (Boston), Massachusetts *State Street (Ann Arbor), Michigan * State Street (Albany), New York *State Street (Manhatta ...
, but only a few blocks wide, it developed into a vibrant community dominated by black businesses, music, food and culture. As more blacks moved into the South Side, descendants of earlier immigrants, such as ethnic Irish, began to move out. Later housing pressures and civic unrest caused more whites to leave the area and the city. Older residents of means moved to newer
suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
an housing as new migrants entered the city, driving further demographic changes. The South Side was racially segregated for many decades. During the 1920s and 1930s, housing cases on the South Side such as ''
Hansberry v. Lee __NOTOC__ ''Hansberry v. Lee'', 311 U.S. 32 (1940), is a famous and commonly-used case in civil procedure classes for teaching that ''res judicata'' does not apply to an individual whose interests were not adequately represented in a prior class ac ...
'', , went to the
U. S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
. The case, which reset the limitations of
res judicata ''Res judicata'' (RJ) or ''res iudicata'', also known as claim preclusion, is the Latin term for "a matter decided" and refers to either of two concepts in both civil law and common law legal systems: a case in which there has been a final judgm ...
, successfully challenged racial restrictions in the
Washington Park Subdivision The Washington Park Subdivision is the name of the historic 3-city block by 4-city block subdivision in the northwest corner of the Woodlawn community area, on the South Side of Chicago in Illinois that stands in the place of the original W ...
by reopening them for legal argument. Blacks resided in Bronzeville (around 35th and State Streets) in an area called "the Black Belt". After World War II, blacks spread across the South Side; its center, east, and western portions. The Black Belt arose from discriminatory real estate practices by whites against blacks and other racial groups. In the early 1960s, during the tenure of then Mayor Richard J. Daley, the construction of the Dan Ryan Expressway created controversy. Many perceived the highway's location as an intentional physical barrier between white and black neighborhoods, particularly as the Dan Ryan divided Daley's own neighborhood, the traditionally Irish Bridgeport, from Bronzeville. The economic conditions that led to migration into the South Side were not sustained. Mid-century industrial restructuring in meat packing and the steel industry cost many jobs. Blacks who became educated and achieved middle-class jobs also left after the Civil Rights Movement to other parts of the city. Street gangs have been prominent in some South Side neighborhoods for over a century, beginning with those of Irish immigrants, who established the first territories in a struggle against other European and black migrants. Some other neighborhoods stayed relatively safe for a big city. By the 1960s, gangs such as the Vice Lords began to improve their public image, shifting from criminal ventures to operating social programs funded by government and private grants. However, in the 1970s gangs returned to violence and the drug trade. By 2000, traditionally all-male gangs crossed gender lines to include about 20% females.


Housing

By the 1930s, the city of Chicago boasted that over 25% of its residential structures were less than 10 years old, many of which were
bungalow 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 b ...
s. These continued to be built in the working-class South Side into the 1960s.
Studio apartment A studio apartment, also known as a studio flat ( UK), a self-contained apartment (Nigeria), efficiency apartment, bed-sitter (Kenya) or bachelor apartment, is a small apartment (rarely a condo) in which the normal functions of a number of ro ...
s, with Murphy beds and
kitchenettes A kitchenette is a small cooking area, which usually has a refrigerator and a microwave, but may have other appliances. In some motel and hotel rooms, small apartments, college dormitories, or office buildings, a kitchenette consists of a small ref ...
or
Pullman kitchen Pullman is an architectural term for a long, narrow space within a structure. It is most often used to refer to a small, two-wall kitchen ("a pullman kitchen") or, sometimes, a narrow hall. The word is derived from the narrow kitchens in the dinin ...
s, comprised a large part of the housing supply during and after the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, especially in the "Black Belt". The South Side had a history of philanthropic subsidized housing dating back to 1919. The United States Congress passed the Housing Act of 1949 to fund and improve public housing. CHA produced a plan of citywide projects, which was rejected by 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 ...
's white aldermen who opposed public housing in their wards. This led to a CHA policy of construction of family housing only in black residential areas, concentrated on the South and West Sides. Historian
Arnold R. Hirsch Arnold Richard Hirsch (March 9, 1949 – March 19, 2018) was an American historian who taught at the University of New Orleans, where he served as Ethel and Herman L. Midlo Endowed Chair for New Orleans Studies. Hirsch was born on March 9, 1949, a ...
said the CHA was "a bulwark of segregation that helped sustain Chicago's 'second ghetto'".


Gentrification

Gentrification of parts of the
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community area has bolstered the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville District. Gentrification in various parts of the South Side has displaced many black citizens. The South Side offers numerous housing cooperatives. Hyde Park has several
middle-income The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...
co-ops and other South Side regions have limited equity (subsidized, price-controlled) co-ops. These regions experienced
condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
construction and conversion in the 1970s and 1980s. In the late 20th century, the South Side had some of the poorest housing conditions in the U.S., but the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) began replacing the old high-rise public housing with mixed-income, lower-density developments, part of the city's Plan for Transformation. Many of the CHA's massive public housing projects, which lined several miles of South State Street, have been demolished. Among the largest were the Robert Taylor Homes.


Demographics

Some
census tract A census tract, census area, census district or meshblock is a geographic region defined for the purpose of taking a census. Sometimes these coincide with the limits of cities, towns or other administrative areas and several tracts commonly exist ...
s (4904 in Roseland, 7106 in Auburn Gresham) are 99% black. The South Side covers over 50% of the city's land area alone. It has a higher ratio of single-family homes and larger sections zoned for industry than the North or West Sides. Hyde Park is home to the University of Chicago, as well as the South Side's largest Jewish population, centered on Chicago's oldest
synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
, the
Chicago Landmark Chicago Landmark is a designation by the Mayor and the City Council of Chicago for historic sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, archite ...
KAM Isaiah Israel. The Southwest Side's ethnic makeup also includes the largest concentration of Górals, (
Carpathian The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...
highlanders) outside of Europe; it is the location of the Polish Highlanders Alliance of North America. A large
Mexican-American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...
population resides in Little Village (South Lawndale) and areas south of 99th Street.


Ethnic parades

The
South Side Irish The South Side Irish is the large Irish-American community on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. After 1945, a large-scale movement to the suburbs occurred because of white flight and the steady upward social mobility of the Irish.Although the ...
Parade occurs in the Beverly neighborhood along Western Avenue each year on the Sunday before
St. Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...
. The parade, which was founded in 1979, was at one time said to be the largest Irish neighborhood St. Patrick's celebration in the world outside of Dublin, Ireland, and was—until being scaled back in 2012—actually larger than Chicago's other St. Patrick's Day parade in the Loop. The South Side parade became such an event that it was broadcast on Chicago's CBS
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. Following the 2009 parade, organizers stated the group was "not planning to stage a parade in its present form". The parade was cancelled in 2010 and 2011 before being revived with more strict security and law enforcement. The Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic, the second largest parade in the U.S. and the nation's largest black parade, runs annually on Martin Luther King Drive between 31st and 51st Streets in the Bronzeville neighborhood, through the main portion of the South Side.


Economic development

Neighborhood rehabilitation (and, in some cases, gentrification) can be seen in parts of Washington Park, Woodlawn (#42) and Bronzeville, as well as in Bridgeport and McKinley Park. Historic Pullman's redevelopment is another example of a work in progress.
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 ...
is located on the South Side and has seen a surge in growth. It has become an increasingly popular destination for both tourists and locals alike and is a cornerstone of the city's
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
community. The South Side offers many outdoor amenities, such as miles of public lakefront parks and beaches, as it borders Lake Michigan on its eastern side. Today's South Side is mostly a combination of the former Hyde Park and Lake Townships. Within these townships many had made speculative bets on future prosperity. Much of the South Side evolved from these speculative investments.
Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which wa ...
, Paul Cornell, George Pullman and various business entities developed South Chicago real estate. The
Pullman District Pullman National Historical Park is a historic district located in Chicago and was the first model, planned industrial community in the United States. The district had its origins in the manufacturing plans and organization of the Pullman Compa ...
, a former company town, Hyde Park Township, various platted communities and subdivisions were the results of such efforts. The
Union Stock Yards The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co., or The Yards, was the meatpacking district in Chicago for more than a century, starting in 1865. The district was operated by a group of railroad companies that acquired marshland and turned it into a central ...
, which were once located in the New City community area (#61), at one point employed 25,000 people and produced 82 percent of US domestic meat production. They were so synonymous with the city that for over a century they were part of the lyrics of
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 ...
's "
My Kind of Town "My Kind of Town" or "My Kind of Town (Chicago Is)" is a popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn. The song was originally part of the musical score for '' Robin and the 7 Hoods'', a 1964 musical film starring sev ...
", in the phrase: "The Union Stock Yard, Chicago is ..." The
Union Stock Yard Gate The Union Stock Yard Gate, located on Exchange Avenue at Peoria Street, was the entrance to the famous Union Stock Yards in Chicago. The gate was designed by Burnham and Root around 1875, and is the only significant structural element of the stock ...
marking the old entrance to stockyards was designated a Chicago Landmark on February 24, 1972, and a National Historic Landmark on May 29, 1981. Other South Side regions have been known for great wealth, such as Prairie Avenue. 21st century redevelopment includes One Museum Park and
One Museum Park West The Grant (formerly One Museum Park West) is the companion structure to One Museum Park in the Near South Side community area (neighborhood) in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is located at the north end of the Central Station development. Overvie ...
. The South Side accommodates much of the city's conference business with various
convention center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...
s. The current McCormick Place Convention Center is the largest convention center in the U.S. and the third largest in the world. Previously, the South Side hosted conventions at the
Chicago Coliseum Chicago Coliseum was the name applied to three large indoor arenas in Chicago, Illinois, which stood successively from the 1860s to 1982; they served as venues for sports events, large (national-class) conventions and as exhibition halls. The f ...
and the International Amphitheatre. The Ford City Mall and the surrounding shopping district includes several
big-box retailers A big-box store (also hyperstore, supercenter, superstore, or megastore) is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The te ...
.


Political figures

The South Side has been home to some of the most significant figures in the history of American politics. These include Richard J. Daley and his son,
Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh term ...
; the first black
U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
, Barack Obama and former first lady
Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...
; the first black female
U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...
, Carol Moseley Braun; and the first black presidential candidate to win a primary,
Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...
. Before them, Harold Washington, a
Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...
and the first black
Mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and r ...
, as well as groundbreaking Congressman William L. Dawson, achieved political success from the South Side.


Education


Colleges and universities

The University of Chicago is one of the world's leading universities, counting 97 affiliated
Nobel laureates The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make ou ...
. At
Chicago Pile-1 Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1) was the world's first artificial nuclear reactor. On 2 December 1942, the first human-made self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was initiated in CP-1, during an experiment led by Enrico Fermi. The secret development of t ...
at the university, the first self-sustaining
nuclear chain reaction In nuclear physics, a nuclear chain reaction occurs when one single nuclear reaction causes an average of one or more subsequent nuclear reactions, thus leading to the possibility of a self-propagating series of these reactions. The specific nu ...
was achieved under the direction of
Enrico Fermi Enrico Fermi (; 29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian (later naturalized American) physicist and the creator of the world's first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1. He has been called the "architect of the nuclear age" and ...
in the 1940s. Other four-year educational institutions there are the Illinois Institute of Technology, St. Xavier University, Chicago State University,
Illinois College of Optometry The Illinois College of Optometry (ICO) is a private optometry college in Chicago, Illinois. Graduating approximately 160 optometrists a year, it is the largest optometry college in the United States and the oldest continually operating educati ...
and Shimer College. The South Side also hosts community colleges such as Olive-Harvey College, Kennedy-King College and
Richard J. Daley College Richard J. Daley College is a public, two-year community college in Chicago, one of the seven City Colleges of Chicago. The college was founded as William J. Bogan Junior College in 1960 and utilized classrooms in the evenings provided by Willi ...
.


Primary and secondary schools

Chicago Public Schools operates the public schools on the South Side, including
DuSable High School Jean Baptiste Point DuSable High School is a public four-year high school campus located in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. DuSable is owned by the Chicago Public Schools district. The school ...
, Simeon Career Academy,
John Hope College Prep High School John Hope College Preparatory High School (JHCP) (locally known simply as John Hope) was a public 4–year high school and former middle school located in the Englewood neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened i ...
and Phillips Academy High School.Wallis, Claudia.
On a Listening Tour with Melinda Gates
" '' TIME''. Tuesday May 8, 2007.
The
De La Salle Institute English: Sign of Faith , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic( De La Salle Brothers} , patron = , established = , founder = Brother Adjutor of Mary, FSC , status = Open ...
, located in the
Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...
community area across the street from
Chicago Police Department The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behind t ...
headquarters, has taught five Chicago Mayors: Richard J. Daley,
Michael A. Bilandic Michael Anthony Bilandic (February 13, 1923January 15, 2002) was an American Democratic politician and attorney who served as the 49th mayor of Chicago from 1976 to 1979, after the death of his predecessor, Richard J. Daley. Bilandic practice ...
,
Martin H. Kennelly Martin Henry Kennelly (August 11, 1887 – November 29, 1961) was an American politician and businessman. He served as the 47th Mayor of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois from April 15, 1947 until April 20, 1955. Kennelly was a member of the Democra ...
, Frank J. Corr and
Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh term ...
. Three of these mayors hail from the South Side's
Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnoc ...
community area, which also produced two other Chicago Mayors.
University of Chicago Lab School The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools (also known as Lab or Lab Schools and abbreviated as UCLS though the high school is nicknamed U-High) is a private, co-educational day Pre-K and K-12 school in Chicago, Illinois. It is affiliated with ...
, affiliated with the University of Chicago, is a private school located there.


Landmarks

The South Side is home to many official landmarks and other notable buildings and structures. It hosts three of the four Chicago Registered Historic Places from the original October 15, 1966 National Register of Historic Places list (
Chicago Pile-1 Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1) was the world's first artificial nuclear reactor. On 2 December 1942, the first human-made self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was initiated in CP-1, during an experiment led by Enrico Fermi. The secret development of t ...
, Robie House and Lorado Taft Midway Studios). One Museum Park, which is along
Roosevelt Road Roosevelt Road (originally named 12th Street) is a major east-west street in the city of Chicago, Illinois, and its western suburbs. It is 1200 South in the city's street numbering system, but only south of Madison Street. It runs under this ...
, is the tallest building on the South Side.
One Museum Park West The Grant (formerly One Museum Park West) is the companion structure to One Museum Park in the Near South Side community area (neighborhood) in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is located at the north end of the Central Station development. Overvie ...
, which is next door to One Museum Park, is another of Chicago's tallest.
1700 East 56th Street 1700 East 56th Street, also known as 1700 Building, is a 38-story luxury apartment building overlooking Lake Michigan and adjacent to Jackson Park and the Museum of Science and Industry in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago in Cook County, ...
in Hyde Park is the tallest building south of 13th Street. This neighborhood hosts several other highrises. Many landmark buildings are found in the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville District, including
Powhatan Apartments The Powhatan or Powhatan Apartments is a 22-story luxury apartment building overlooking Lake Michigan and adjacent to Burnham Park in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The building was designed by architects Robert De Golyer and ...
, Robie House and John J. Glessner House. The South Side has many of Chicago's premier places of worship such as Eighth Church of Christ, Scientist,
First Church of Deliverance First Church of Deliverance is a landmark Spiritual church located at 4315 South Wabash Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. First Church of Deliverance was founded by Reverend Clarence H. Cobbs on May 8, 1929. The church began wi ...
and
K.A.M. Isaiah Israel Temple KAM Isaiah Israel is a Reform synagogue located at 1100 E. Hyde Park Boulevard in the historic Kenwood neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois. It is the oldest Jewish congregation in Chicago, with its oldest core founded in 1847 as Kehilath Anshe ...
. The South Side has several landmark districts including two in Barack Obama's Kenwood community area:
Kenwood District The Kenwood District is a historic district in the officially designated Kenwood community area of Chicago, Illinois bounded by E. 47th and E. 51st Streets, S. Blackstone and S. Drexel Avenues. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on June 2 ...
,
North Kenwood District The North Kenwood District is a historic district within the Kenwood, Chicago, Kenwood Community areas of Chicago, community area of South Side, Chicago, Illinois. Description It includes the 4500-block of South Berkeley, as well as surroundin ...
and (partially)
Hyde Park-Kenwood Historic District Hyde or Hydes may refer to: People *Hyde (surname) *Hyde (musician), Japanese musician from the bands L'Arc-en-Ciel and VAMPS American statutes *Hyde Amendment, an amendment that places well-defined limitations on Medicare spending on aborti ...
. The South Side hosts the Museum of Science and Industry, located in the Palace of Fine Arts, one of the few remaining buildings from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, which was hosted in South Side. The South Side is the residence of other prominent black leaders such as
Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...
and Louis Farrakhan. It is also where
U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
Bobby Rush (a former
Black Panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...
leader) serves. The South Side has been a place of political controversy. Although the locations of some of these notable controversies have not become official landmarks, they remain important parts of Chicago history. The
Chicago Race Riot of 1919 The Chicago race riot of 1919 was a violent racial conflict between white Americans and black Americans that began on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, on July 27 and ended on August 3, 1919. During the riot, 38 people died (23 black and ...
was the worst of the approximately 25 riots during the Red Summer of 1919 and required 6,000 National Guard troops. As mentioned above, segregation has been a political theme of controversy for some time on the South Side as exhibited by
Hansberry v. Lee __NOTOC__ ''Hansberry v. Lee'', 311 U.S. 32 (1940), is a famous and commonly-used case in civil procedure classes for teaching that ''res judicata'' does not apply to an individual whose interests were not adequately represented in a prior class ac ...
, . President Obama announced in 2015 that 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 44th president of the United States. The center will include a museum and library and is headed by the nonprofi ...
would be built adjacent the University of Chicago campus. Both Washington Park and Jackson Park were considered and it was announced in July 2016 that it would be built in Jackson Park.Katherine Skiba
Obama Foundation makes it official: Presidential library will go up in Jackson Park
''Chicago Tribune'' (June 29, 2016).


Transportation

The South Side is served by
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 ...
as well as roads and highways. Midway International Airport is located on the South Side. Among the highways through the South Side are I-94 (which goes by the names Dan Ryan Expressway,
Bishop Ford Freeway A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
and
Kingery Expressway The Robert Kingery Expressway, formerly called the Tri-State Highway, is a three-mile-long (5 km), eight-lane freeway in northeastern Illinois. It carries Interstate 80 (I-80) and I-94 from the Illinois–Indiana border at the Borman Expressway ...
on the South Side),
I-90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...
(which goes by the names Dan Ryan Expressway and
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 ...
on the South Side), I-57, I-55,
U.S. 12 U.S. Route 12 (US 12) is an east–west United States highway, running from Aberdeen, Washington, to Detroit, Michigan, for almost . The highway has mostly been superseded by Interstate 90 (I-90) and I-94, but unlike most U.S. routes that ...
,
U.S. 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...
and U.S. 41. Several Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus and train lines and Metra train lines link the South Side to rest of the city. The South Side is served by the Red, Green and Orange lines 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 ...
and the Rock Island District, Metra Electric and South Shore Metra lines and a few stops on the SouthWest Service Metra line. Standard local metropolitan bus service and CTA express service bus routes provide service to the Loop.


Arts

Chicago's African American community, concentrated on the South Side, experienced an artistic movement from the 1930s until the 1960s. The movement was concentrated in and around the
Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...
community area. Prominent writers and artists included
Gwendolyn Brooks Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000) was an American poet, author, and teacher. Her work often dealt with the personal celebrations and struggles of ordinary people in her community. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetr ...
,
Margaret Burroughs Margaret Taylor-Burroughs (November 1, 1915 – November 21, 2010), also known as Margaret Taylor Goss, Margaret Taylor Goss Burroughs or Margaret T G Burroughs, was an American visual artist, writer, poet, educator, and arts organizer. She co-fo ...
, Elizabeth Catlett,
Eldzier Cortor Eldzier Cortor (January 10, 1916 – November 26, 2015) was an African-American artist and printmaker. His work typically features elongated nude figures in intimate settings, influenced by both traditional African art and European surrealism ...
, Gordon Parks, and Richard Wright. Other Chicago Black Renaissance artists included
Willard Motley Willard Francis Motley (July 14, 1909 – March 4, 1965) was an American writer. Motley published a column in the African-American oriented ''Chicago Defender'' newspaper under the pen-name Bud Billiken. He also worked as a freelance writer, and ...
, William Attaway, Frank Marshall Davis, and
Margaret Walker Margaret Walker (Margaret Abigail Walker Alexander by marriage; July 7, 1915 – November 30, 1998) was an American poet and writer. She was part of the African-American literary movement in Chicago, known as the Chicago Black Renaissance. H ...
.
St. Clair Drake John Gibbs St. Clair Drake (January 2, 1911 – June 15, 1990)Calloway, Earl (June 28, 1990). "Memorial services held for Dr. Drake, noted author and Roosevelt professor." ''Chicago Defender'', p. 10. was an African-American sociologist and anthr ...
and Horace R. Cayton represented the new wave of intellectual expression in literature by depicting the culture of the urban ghetto rather than the culture of blacks in the South in the
monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...
''Black Metropolis''. In 1961, Burroughs founded the DuSable Museum of African American History. By the late 1960s the South Side had a robost art movement led by
Jim Nutt James T. Nutt (born November 28, 1938) is an American artist who was a founding member of the Chicago surrealist art movement known as the Chicago Imagists, or the Hairy Who. Though his work is inspired by the same pop culture that inspired P ...
, Gladys Nilsson,
Karl Wirsum Karl Wirsum (1939May 6, 2021) was an American artist. He was a member of the Chicago artistic group The Hairy Who, and helped set the foundation for Chicago's art scene in the 1970s. Although he was primarily a painter, he also worked with prin ...
and others, who became known as the Chicago Imagists. Music in Chicago flourished, with musicians bringing
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
and gospel influences up from the South and creating a Chicago sound in blues and jazz that the city is still renowned for. The South Side was known for its R&B acts and the city as a while had successful rock acts. Many major and independent record companies had a presence in Chicago. In 1948,
Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
was introduced by Aristocrat Records (later
Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...
). Muddy Waters and
Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...
quickly followed with Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Little Walter, Jimmy Rogers, and Howlin' Wolf.
Vee-Jay Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The label was founded in Gary, Indiana in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...
, the largest black-owned label before
Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...
, was among the post-World War II companies that formed "Record Row" on Cottage Grove between 47th and 50th Streets. In the 1960s, it was located along South Michigan Avenue. Rhythm and blues continued to thrive after Record Row became the hub of gospelized rhythm and blues, known as soul. Chicago continues as a prominent musical city. Many other artists have left their mark on Chicago's South Side. These include writers Upton Sinclair and James Farrell,
Archibald Motley, Jr. Archibald John Motley, Jr. (October 7, 1891 – January 16, 1981), was an American visual artist. He studied painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago during the 1910s, graduating in 1918. Motley is most famous for his colorful chroni ...
via painting,
Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...
and Lorado Taft via sculpture and Thomas Dorsey and Mahalia Jackson via
gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...
. The South Side has many art museums and galleries such as the DuSable Museum of African American History, National Museum of Mexican Art,
National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum The National Veterans Art Museum, formerly the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum, located at 4041 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago's six corners neighborhood, is dedicated to displaying and studying art produced by veterans from the Vietnam War ...
, and the
David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art is an art museum located on the campus of the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. The permanent collection has over 15,000 objects. Admission is free and open to the general public. The Smart Muse ...
(known as the Smart Museum). In addition, cultural centers such as the
South Shore Cultural Center The South Shore Cultural Center, in Chicago, Illinois, is a cultural facility located at 71st Street and South Shore Drive, in the city's South Shore neighborhood. It encompasses the grounds of the former South Shore Country Club. The South Shor ...
, South Side Community Art Center,
Harold Washington Cultural Center Harold Washington Cultural Center is a performance facility located in the historic Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago's South Side. It was named after Chicago's first African-American Mayor Harold Washington and opened in August 2004, ten ye ...
and
Hyde Park Art Center The Hyde Park Art Center (HPAC) is a visual arts organization and the oldest Alternative exhibition spaces, alternative exhibition space in the city of Chicago. Since 2006, HPAC has been located just north of Hyde Park Boulevard, at 5020 S.Cornell ...
bring art and culture to the public while fostering opportunities for artists. The
Bronzeville Children's Museum Bronzeville Children's Museum is a museum in the Calumet Heights community area of the South Side of Chicago. It is the first and only African American children's museum in the United States. Founded in 1998, the museum moved to its current l ...
is the only African American
Children's museum Children's museums are institutions that provide exhibits and programs to stimulate informal learning experiences for children. In contrast with traditional museums that typically have a hands-off policy regarding exhibits, children's museums feat ...
in the U.S.


Parks

The Chicago Park District boasts of parkland, 552
parks A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...
, 33 beaches, nine museums, two world-class conservatories, 16 historic lagoons and ten bird/wildlife gardens. Many of these are on the South Side, including several large parks that are part of the legacy of Paul Cornell's service on the South Parks Commission. He was also the father of Hyde Park. Chicago Park District parks serving the South Side include Burnham Park, Jackson Park, Washington Park, Midway Plaisance, and
Harold Washington Park Harold Washington Park is a small (10 acre) park in the Chicago Park District located in the Hyde Park community area on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, US. In 1992, it was named for Harold Washington (1922–1987), the first African-Amer ...
. Away from the Hyde Park area, large parks include the McKinley Park, Marquette Park, the
Calumet Park Calumet Park is a 198-acre (79-hectare) park in Chicago, Illinois. It provides access to Lake Michigan from the East Side neighborhood on the city's Southeast Side. The park contains approximately 0.9 miles (1.5 km) of lake frontage from ...
, and the
Douglass Park Douglass Park is a part of the Chicago Park District on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois. Established in 1869 and initially named South Park,Graf, John, ''Chicago's Parks'' Arcadia Publishing, 2000, p. 11., . its are in the North Lawndale ...
. The parks of Chicago foster and host tremendous amounts of athletic activities. The South Side has the only Illinois state park within the city of Chicago:
William W. Powers State Recreation Area William W. Powers State Recreation Area is an Illinois state park administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources on in the Hegewisch community area of the City of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The area include ...
. Other opportunities for more "natural" recreation are provided by the Cook County Forest Preserve's Dan Ryan Woods and the Beaubien Woods on the far south side, along the Little Calumet River Various events cause the closure of parts of
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 ...
. Although the Chicago Marathon causes many roads to be closed in its route that goes as far north as Wrigleyville and to Bronzeville on the South Side, it does not cause closures to the drive. However, on the South Side, the Chicago Half Marathon necessitates closures and the entire drive is closed for Bike The Drive. Beginning in 1905, the
White City Amusement Park White City is the common name of dozens of amusement parks in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Inspired by the White City and Midway Plaisance sections of the World's Columbian Exhibition of 1893, the parks started gaining in p ...
, located on 63rd Street provided a recreational area to the citizens of the area. Until the early 1920s, a
dirigible An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...
service ran from the park, which was also where Goodyear Blimps were first produced, to Grant Park. This service was discontinued after the
Wingfoot Air Express Crash The ''Wingfoot Air Express'' was a non-rigid airship (i.e. blimp) that crashed into the Illinois Trust and Savings Building in Chicago on Monday July 21, 1919. The Type FD dirigible, owned by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, was transport ...
. A fire destroyed much of the park in the late 1920s and more was torn down in the 1930s. The park filed for bankruptcy in 1933 and 1943. Despite attempts to resurrect the park in 1936 and 1939, by 1946 all the remaining equipment was auctioned off.


Sports

The South Side hosts three major professional athletic teams: Major League Baseball's Chicago White Sox play at
Guaranteed Rate Field Guaranteed Rate Field is a baseball stadium located on the South Side, Chicago, South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It serves as the home stadium of the Chicago White Sox, one of the city's two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, and i ...
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 ...
neighborhood, while the National Football League's
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
and Chicago Fire FC of
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
play at Soldier Field, adjacent to the Museum Campus on the Near South Side. Nine other teams—five now defunct, two playing in other media markets, and two now playing in another part of Chicago—have called the South Side home. When the National League baseball team now known as the
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
was founded in 1870, their first playing field was Dexter Park in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. From 1874 to 1877 they played at
23rd Street Grounds 23rd Street Grounds, also known as State Street Grounds and 23rd Street Park, and sometimes spelled out as Twenty-third Street Grounds, was a ballpark in Chicago, in what is now the Chinatown district. In this ballpark, the Chicago White Stocking ...
in what is now
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 ...
, and from 1891 to 1893 they played some of their games at South Side Park, which was located in the same place that
Comiskey Park Comiskey Park was a baseball park in Chicago, Illinois, located in the Armour Square neighborhood on the near-southwest side of the city. The stadium served as the home of the Chicago White Sox of the American League from 1910 through 1990. Buil ...
was built for the Chicago White Sox in 1910. South Side Park was also home to the
Chicago Pirates The Chicago Pirates was a baseball team in the Players' League for a single season in 1890. The team played its home games at South Side Park (II). Its powerful National League rivals were the Chicago White Stockings which later became the Cubs. ...
of the short-lived
Player's League John Player & Sons, most often known simply as Player's, was a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer based in Nottingham, England. In 1901, the company merged with other companies to form The Imperial Tobacco Company to face competition from US ma ...
in 1890. Another baseball field, also known as South Side Park, stood nearby in 1884 and was home to the
Chicago Unions The Chicago Unions were a professional, black baseball team that played in the late 19th century, prior to the formation of the Negro leagues. Founding Organized as the Unions in 1887, the club was led by Abe Jones (1887–1889) and by W.S. ...
of the equally short-lived Union League. The defunct
Chicago American Giants The Chicago American Giants were a Chicago-based Negro league baseball team. From 1910 until the mid-1930s, the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball. Owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 by player-manager Andrew "Rube" Fo ...
baseball club of the Negro leagues played at
Schorling's Park South Side Park was the name used for three different baseball parks that formerly stood in Chicago, Illinois, at different times, and whose sites were all just a few blocks away from each other. South Side Park I (1884) The first South Side ...
from 1911 to 1940, and then at
Comiskey Park Comiskey Park was a baseball park in Chicago, Illinois, located in the Armour Square neighborhood on the near-southwest side of the city. The stadium served as the home of the Chicago White Sox of the American League from 1910 through 1990. Buil ...
until 1952. In football, the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League originally played at Normal Park but eventually moved to Comiskey Park in the late 1920s. The Cardinals left Chicago for St. Louis in 1960 and in 1988 for Phoenix, where they became the
Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...
. In hockey, the Chicago Cougars of the WHA played in the International Amphitheatre, located next to the
Union Stock Yards The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co., or The Yards, was the meatpacking district in Chicago for more than a century, starting in 1865. The district was operated by a group of railroad companies that acquired marshland and turned it into a central ...
, from 1972 until their demise in 1975. Two
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 ...
teams also briefly played on the South Side. The Chicago Packers played at the Amphitheatre in their inaugural season of . The following season, they changed their name to the Zephyrs and played at the
Chicago Coliseum Chicago Coliseum was the name applied to three large indoor arenas in Chicago, Illinois, which stood successively from the 1860s to 1982; they served as venues for sports events, large (national-class) conventions and as exhibition halls. The f ...
on the Near South Side. The team moved to
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...
after that season and now plays in Washington, D.C. as the Washington Wizards. Chicago's current NBA team, the
Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine *Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...
, played at the Amphitheatre during their first season before moving away from the South Side to Chicago Stadium and eventually to United Center. The Chicago Sky of the WNBA moved to
Wintrust Arena Wintrust Arena at McCormick Square, previously referred to as DePaul Arena or McCormick Place Events Center, is a 10,387-seat sports venue in the Near South Side community area of Chicago that opened in 2017. It is the current home court for ...
, which opened in 2017 at McCormick Place on the Near South Side, in 2018. The venue is also home to both the men's and
women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...
basketball teams of DePaul University, with the men exclusively using Wintrust Arena and the women splitting home games between that venue and DePaul's North Side campus. The defunct Chicago Sting soccer club played at Soldier Field and Comiskey Park from 1974 to 1984. In NCAA Division I sports, the
Chicago State Cougars The Chicago State Cougars are the varsity athletic teams representing Chicago State University of Chicago, Illinois in intercollegiate athletics. The university currently sponsors 15 varsity teams. The Cougars compete in NCAA Division I as an ind ...
represent the South Side, competing in the Western Athletic Conference. As noted above, DePaul began playing its home men's basketball games on the South Side in 2017, though most of its other sports (including part of the women's basketball home schedule) remain on or near its main North Side campus.


2016 Olympic bid

The South Side played a prominent role in Chicago's bid for the
2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
. The Olympic Village was planned in the
Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...
(#35) community area across Lake Shore Drive from Burnham Park. In addition, the Olympic Stadium was expected to be located in the Chicago Park District's Washington Park located in the Washington Park (#40) community area. Many Olympic events were planned for these community areas as well as other parts of the South Side.


References in popular culture

The South Side's gritty reputation often makes its way into popular culture. * The opening lines of Jim Croce's song "
Bad, Bad Leroy Brown "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" is an uptempo, strophic story song written by American folk rock singer Jim Croce. Released as part of his 1973 album '' Life and Times'', the song was a No. 1 hit for him, spending two weeks at the top of the ''Billboard ...
" state that the South Side is "the baddest part of town". * Richard Wright's novel ''
Native Son ''Native Son'' (1940) is a novel written by the American author Richard Wright. It tells the story of 20-year-old Bigger Thomas, a black youth living in utter poverty in a poor area on Chicago's South Side in the 1930s. While not apologizing ...
'' () takes place on the South Side and focuses on the plight of African Americans in the ghetto, including the housing practices that created such slums. * Upton Sinclair's novel '' The Jungle'' () was a revelation about the
Union Stock Yards The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co., or The Yards, was the meatpacking district in Chicago for more than a century, starting in 1865. The district was operated by a group of railroad companies that acquired marshland and turned it into a central ...
at the turn of the 20th century. * '' A Raisin in the Sun'' () is a story of Lorraine Hansberry's youth growing up in the Woodlawn community area. * '' Barbershop'' and parts of '' The Blues Brothers'' take place on the South Side.
David Auburn David Auburn (born 30 November 1969) is an American playwright, screenwriter and theatre director. He is best known for his 2000 play '' Proof'', which won the 2001 Tony Award for Best Play and Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He also wrote the screen ...
's play ''
Proof Proof most often refers to: * Proof (truth), argument or sufficient evidence for the truth of a proposition * Alcohol proof, a measure of an alcoholic drink's strength Proof may also refer to: Mathematics and formal logic * Formal proof, a con ...
'' takes place exclusively in the
Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...
neighborhood; the
film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...
expands the setting. * '' The Spook Who Sat by the Door'' is a novel and film dealing with the integration of the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
. The majority of the story takes place on the South Side of Chicago where the sole graduating black cadet is from. * ''
The Boondocks Boondocks are remote, usually brushy areas. Boondocks may also refer to: * The Boondocks (band), an Estonian rock band * ''The Boondocks'' (comic strip), a comic strip by Aaron McGruder ** ''The Boondocks'' (2005 TV series), the television ser ...
'', a comic strip and animated series, stars the Freeman family, who have recently moved from the South Side of Chicago to an affluent suburb. * James T. Farrell's novels, collectively called the '' Studs Lonigan Trilogy'', are set in an Irish neighborhood on the South Side. * Iceberg Slim, the author of ''Pimp'', was raised on the South Side of Chicago, which is the setting of most of his stories. He sold over six million books, which were translated, further disseminating his depiction of life of the South Side. * Chicago's South Side is the setting for the
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
series '' Shameless'' and the Chicago Fire, Chicago Med and
Chicago PD The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behin ...
TV series produced by Dick Wolf. * The South Side is seen in Netflix's '' Sense8'' series, in the scenes of Will. * Kanye West was raised in Chicago's South Side and frequently mentions it in his music. His lyrical references are heard in the song " All Falls Down" where he can be heard saying "South Side, South Side, we gon' set this party off right". Other examples include '' All Day (Kanye West song)'' ("South, South, South Side") and ''
Feedback (Kanye West song) "Feedback" is a song by American hip-hop artist Kanye West from his seventh studio album ''The Life of Pablo'' (2016). It includes a sample of "Talagh" by Googoosh and West raps about his career experiences. The song charted on both the US ''Bill ...
'' (You borrow our motto, I'm a Chicago south sider). * In the film '' Mean Girls'', which takes place in Evanston, Illinois, Mr. Duvall responds to a school-wide fight with, "Oh hell no, I did not leave the South Side for this!" * The TV series '' South Side (TV series)'' was co-created and written by
Bashir Salahuddin Bashir Salahuddin (born July 6, 1976) is an American actor, writer, and comedian. Early life and education Salahuddin was born and raised in the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. His father is originally from Panama and had moved to Chicago with ...
, who was born and raised on the South Side. *
Chief Keef Keith Farrelle Cozart (born August 15, 1995), better known by his stage name Chief Keef, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. His music first became popular during his teen years in the early 2010s among high school s ...
was raised on the South Side of Chicago, in the
Parkway Garden Homes Parkway Gardens Apartment Homes is a privately-owned low-income apartment complex located on the border of Woodlawn and Washington Park. Chicago’s Woodlawn and Washington Park community areas are located on the South Side of Chicago, Illino ...
. He references the South Side in his music, such as the song "South Side". He references the South Side in the song "Almighty Gnar", with
Lil Gnar Caleb Samuel Shepard (born February 24, 1996), known professionally as Lil Gnar, is an American singer and rapper based in Atlanta. Career Lil Gnar started gaining traction after he released the singles "Ride Wit Da Fye" with an accompanying ...
.


See also


Notes


References and further reading

* Bachin, Robin F. ''Building the South Side: Urban space and civic culture in Chicago, 1890-1919'' (U of Chicago Press, 2020). * Pacyga, Dominic A. ''Polish immigrants and industrial Chicago: Workers on the south side, 1880-1922'' (University of Chicago Press, 2003). * * Rotella, Carlo. ''The World Is Always Coming to an End: Pulling Together and Apart in a Chicago Neighborhood'' (2020
excerpt
** Borrelli, Christopher. "A writer comes home to ever-changing South Shore to find the middle class disappearing

** Rodkin, Dennis. "Why does South Shore resist gentrification? Carlo Rotella is a Boston-based author of a new book that explores race, class and history in the lakefront Chicago neighborhood where he grew up.
''Crain's Chicago Business'' June 26, 2019
* Small, Mario Luis. "Is there such a thing as ‘The Ghetto’? The perils of assuming that the South Side of Chicago represents poor black neighborhoods." ''City'' 11.3 (2007): 413–421.


External links

* {{Chicago Geography of Chicago Neighborhoods in Chicago