The Uptown Square Historic District is a commercial historic district encompassing parts of

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and Lawrence Avenue in the Uptown neighborhood of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

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 ...

. Primarily developed between 1900 and 1930, the district was Chicago's largest commercial and entertainment hub away from downtown in the early twentieth century. The opening of Wilson station on the

Northwestern Elevated Railroad The Northwestern Elevated Railroad was the last of the privately constructed rapid transit lines to be built in Chicago. The line ran from the Loop in downtown Chicago north to Wilson Avenue in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood with a branch to Raven ...

spurred the area's development, as the transit line made Uptown's beaches an accessible tourist destination for the rest of the city. Many stores, restaurants, theaters, and clubs sprang up to cater to the area's new tourists, and it soon became a destination for young, single Chicagoans seeking entertainment. The district includes several prominent entertainment venues, including the

Balaban and Katz Balaban and Katz Theater Corporation, or B&K, was a theatre corporation which owned a chain of motion picture theaters in Chicago and surrounding areas. It was founded by Barney Balaban (later long-time President of Paramount Pictures), his six ...

-run Uptown Theatre and

Riviera Theatre The Riviera Theatre is a concert venue located on the north side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. About Built in 1917, it was designed by Rapp and Rapp for the Balaban & Katz theatre chain run by A. J. Balaban, his brother Barney Balaba ...

, the Aragon Ballroom, and the Green Mill nightclub. The district was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on November 8, 2000.

References

National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Historic districts in Chicago {{CookCountyIL-NRHP-stub