West Ridge is one of 77 Chicago community areas. It is a middle-class neighborhood located on the far North Side of the City of Chicago. It is located in the 50th ward and the 40th ward. Also historically called North Town, and frequently referred to as West Rogers Park, it is bordered on the north by Howard Street, on the east by Ridge Boulevard, Western Avenue, and Ravenswood Avenue, the south by Bryn Mawr Avenue and Peterson Avenue, and on the west by Kedzie Avenue and the North Shore

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

of the Chicago River. At one time joined with neighboring Rogers Park, it seceded to become its own village in 1890 over a conflict concerning park districts (known as the

Cabbage War Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.&nbs ...

). West Ridge was annexed to Chicago on April 4, 1893, along with Rogers Park. Today West Ridge is one of Chicago's better off communities, filled with multi-ethnic culture lining Devon Avenue, historic mansions lining Ridge and Lunt Avenues, cultural institutions such as St. Scholastica Academy and one of the highest per capita incomes on the North Side of Chicago. It is home to the Midwest's largest

Hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...

community, as well as other Jewish,

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 ...

, German-American, Indian, Pakistani,

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...

Assyrian Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...

, Russian, Korean and Rohingya immigrant communities.

Neighborhoods and sub-areas

Golden Ghetto

The Golden Ghetto is bounded on the north by Warren Park and Pratt Avenue and on the south by Peterson Avenue. It acquired its name from the thriving Jewish community there from about 1930 to the mid-1970s. The Jewish community peaked at over 47,000 in the 1960s.The rise, fall and rise again of a historically Jewish Chicago neighborhood
Retrieved April 29, 2020 That community began to drift into the suburbs in the 1960s, and the neighborhood began to be home to South Asians and Russian Jews from about that time. The heyday of the area is the topic of

Adam Langer Adam Langer (born 1967) is an American author best known for his novel '' Crossing California'', which was published in 2004. Biography Langer grew up in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, where he attended Daniel Boone Elementary Sc ...

's ''Crossing California'', told from the perspective of the second-generation residents during their middle school and teenage years. There has been a recent resurgence in Jewish residents, up from a nadir of 20,000 to around 25,000 in the late 2010s, due to increased Orthodox residents.

Rogers Park Manor Bungalow Historic District

The Rogers Park Manor Bungalow Historic District is a residential historic district in the West Ridge neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The district includes 329 buildings, 247 of which are Chicago bungalows built in the 1920s. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 15, 2005.

Talman West Ridge Bungalow Historic District

The Talman West Ridge Bungalow Historic District is a residential historic district in the West Ridge neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. 181 of the district's 272 buildings are either brick Chicago bungalows or older stucco bungalows built from 1919 to 1930.

Schools

Public schools

Chicago Public Schools operates public schools. * Clinton Elementary School * Jamieson Elementary School * Daniel Boone Elementary School * Stephen Decatur Classical School * George Armstrong Elementary School * Philip Rogers Elementary School * Stone Scholastic Academy * West Ridge Elementary School *

Stephen Tyng Mather High School Stephen Tyng Mather High School (commonly known as simply Mather) is a State school, public 4–year high school located in the West Ridge, Chicago, West Ridge neighborhood on the north side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1959, Mat ...

Private schools

* ABC Academy * Bais Yaakov High School * Bethesda Evangelical Lutheran School * Bnos Rabbeinu High School * Cheder Lubavitch Girls Elementary / High School * Hanna Sacks Bais Yaakov High School * Joan Dachs Bais Yaakov / Tiferes Tzvi Elementary School * Keshet High School * Lubavitch Mesivta of Chicago *

Native American Educational Services College Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entertai ...

* Victor C. Neumann School * Sofer Nathan's Vocational College * St. Hilary Elementary School * St. Margaret Mary School * St. Philips Evangelical Lutheran School * Tzemach Tzedek Elementary School (Opened 2002) * Yeshivas Brisk / Brisk Rabbinical College * Yeshiva Migdal Torah School * Yeshiva Ohr Boruch-Veitzener Cheder

Politics

West Ridge 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 three presidential elections, In the

2016 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kirib ...

, West Ridge cast 16,712 votes for Hillary Clinton and cast 4,772 votes for Donald Trump. In the

2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: E ...

, West Ridge cast 14,446 votes for Barack Obama and cast 5,345 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 ...

. It had been represented in the Chicago City Council by Alderman Bernard Stone from 1973 until May 2011. On April 5, 2011, Alderman

Debra Silverstein Debra Silverstein is the Alderman of the 50th Ward of the City of Chicago, Illinois. She defeated 38-year incumbent Bernard Stone in the 2011 runoff election, a race in which she was endorsed by Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel. As of 2019–2020, sh ...

defeated Stone in a runoff election and now represents the 50th Ward, which encompasses West Ridge.

Religion

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago operates Catholic churches. On July 1, 2020, St. Henry, St. Margaret Mary, and St. Timothy churches will merge.

Historical population

Source:

Bus routes

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 ...

: *11 Lincoln *49B North Western *82 Kimball-Homan *84 Peterson *93 California/Dodge (Monday–Saturday only) *96 Lunt (Weekdays only) *97 Skokie *155 Devon *206 Evanston Circulator (Weekday rush hours only)

Pace Pace or paces may refer to: Business *Pace (transit), a bus operator in the suburbs of Chicago, US * Pace Airlines, an American charter airline *Pace Foods, a maker of a popular brand of salsa sold in North America, owned by Campbell Soup Compan ...

: *215 Crawford-Howard *290 Touhy

Notable people

* Sidney Blumenthal (born 1948), journalist, political operative, and Senior Advisor to President Bill Clinton. He resided at West Birchwood Avenue in West Rogers Park as a child. *

Howard W. Carroll Howard W. "Howie" Carroll (July 28, 1942 – October 1, 2021) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician who served in the Illinois General Assembly. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Carroll received his bachelor's degree in business administrati ...

(1942–2021), member of the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state, State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adop ...

from 1973 to 1999. He resided at 6014 North Francisco Avenue during his political career. *

Philip H. Corboy Philip Harnett Corboy (August 12, 1924 – June 12, 2012) was an American trial lawyer who was involved in personal injury, wrongful death and medical malpractice cases across the United States for more than half a century. He founded the Philip ...

(1924–2012), trial lawyer. He was a childhood resident of West Rogers Park, living at 2836 West Lunt Street. *

Leo Lerner Leo A. Lerner (1907–1965) was an American newspaper editor and publisher, who founded Lerner Newspapers in Chicago, Illinois, at one time the largest chain of weekly newspapers in the world. He was a staunch advocate of community journalism, fo ...

(1907–1965), newspaper publisher. According to the

1940 United States Census The United States census of 1940, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 132,164,569, an increase of 7.3 percent over the 1930 population of 122,775,046 people. The census date of record wa ...

, he resided at 2120 West Lunt Avenue. *

Louis A. Lerner Louis Abraham Lerner (June 12, 1935 – November 14, 1984) was an American businessman, publisher, political activist and ambassador. He received a B.A. in 1960 from Roosevelt University. In 1956–57, he studied Scandinavian affairs in Denmark ...

(1935–1984),

United States Ambassador to Norway The United States Ambassador to Norway (formally the Ambassador of the United States to the Kingdom of Norway) is the official representative of the President and the Government of the United States of America to the King and Government of Norw ...

during the

Carter administration Jimmy Carter's tenure as the 39th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 1977, and ended on January 20, 1981. A Democrat from Georgia, Carter took office after defeating incumbent Republican President ...

. According to the

, he resided at 2120 West Lunt Avenue. *

John H. Leims Captain John Harold Leims (June 8, 1921 – June 28, 1985) was a Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor as a second lieutenant on Iwo Jima for his heroic actions on March 7, 1945. Early years John Harold Leims was born in Chicago, Illinois, on ...

(1921–1985),

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the United States Marine Corps and recipient of the Medal of Honor. He resided in West Ridge at 5837 North Talman Avenue.

References

External links

Official City of Chicago West Ridge Community Map

Chicago Park District: Indian Boundary Park

Lakeside Community Development Corporation

Photographs of Devon Avenue by Jordan Bettis

Rogers Park West Ridge Historical Society
{{Chicago Community areas of Chicago Former municipalities in Illinois Former populated places in Illinois North Side, Chicago Jews and Judaism in Chicago