Devon Avenue is a major east-west street in the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hin ...

. It begins at Chicago's

Sheridan Road Sheridan Road is a major north-south street that leads from Diversey Parkway in Chicago, Illinois, north to the Illinois-Wisconsin border and beyond to Racine. Throughout most of its run, it is the easternmost north-south through street, closest ...

, which borders

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 it runs west until merging with Higgins Road near

O'Hare International Airport Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Loop busines ...

. Devon continues on the opposite side of the airport and runs intermittently through Chicago's northwestern suburbs. In the northwest suburbs west of O'Hare Airport, Devon Avenue is the boundary between Cook and DuPage counties. The street is located at 6400 N in Chicago's address system.

History

Devon Avenue was originally known as Church Road, but it was renamed in the 1880s by Edgewater developer

John Lewis Cochran John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

after

Devon station Devon station is a commuter rail station located in the western suburbs of Philadelphia at 98 North Devon Boulevard and Lancaster Avenue in Devon, Pennsylvania, United States. It is served by most Paoli/Thorndale Line trains. Devon station was ...

on the Main Line north of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. The street has been settled by many Asian immigrant groups, which is perhaps most evident between Kedzie and Ridge Avenues in West Ridge, Chicago. Here, one will encounter concentrations of

Jewish Americans American Jews or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, nationality, or religion. Today the Jewish community in the United States consists primarily of Ashkenazi Jews, who descend from diaspora Je ...

Assyrian Americans Assyrian Americans ( syr, ܣܘܼܖ̈ܵܝܹܐ ܐܲܡܪ̈ܝܼܟܵܝܹܐ) refers to individuals of ethnic Assyrian ancestry born in or residing within the United States of America. Assyrians are an indigenous Middle-Eastern ethnic group native ...

Russian American Russian Americans ( rus, русские американцы, r=russkiye amerikantsy, p= ˈruskʲɪje ɐmʲɪrʲɪˈkant͡sɨ) are Americans of full or partial Russian ancestry. The term can apply to recent Russian immigrants to the United Stat ...

Indian American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

Pakistani American Pakistani Americans ( ur, ) are Americans who originate from Pakistan. The term may also refer to people who also hold a dual Pakistani and U.S. citizenship. Educational attainment level and household income are much higher in the Pakistani-Am ...

s, Bangladeshi Americans, and

Pashtun Americans Pashtun Americans ( ps, د امريکا پښتانه) are Americans who are of ethnic Pashtun origin, hailing from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Demographics In the United States, the Pashtuns are a sub-community within the wider Pakistani Americ ...

. Portions of Devon in this area have been renamed in honor of

Golda Meir Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and '' kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to ...

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...

, and

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengali politi ...

.http://www.rediff.com/us/2000/aug/07us1.htm
Retrieved 28 August 2006. The organization " Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe" (better known as "F.R.E.E. of Chicago") is headquartered in the Orthodox-Jewish section of Devon. As a result, most Soviet/ CIS immigrants of Jewish ancestry settled around this area upon arrival in Chicago. After acclimation, these residents would tend to move to the north suburbs (especially Skokie and Buffalo Grove). Because the vast majority of the Jewish diaspora residing in the former Soviet Union have emigrated since its collapse, the vibrancy of this particular area of Devon is not as apparent as it was in the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s (which were periods of mass emigration). Nevertheless, a significant proportion of these immigrants, especially the elderly, have remained on Devon. Devon's

Desi DESI may refer to * Desorption electrospray ionization * Drug Efficacy Study Implementation Drug Efficacy Study Implementation (DESI) was a program begun by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the 1960s after the requirement (in the Kefauve ...

corridor is one of the best-known and largest communities of its kind in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

. It exists mainly on Devon between Ravenswood Ave. and California Ave. South Asian shops, restaurants and grocery stores including the first location of Patel Brothers, that opened in 1974, abound along this strip, and it has become a popular tourist destination. Vivek Mukherjee of Rediff.com writes, "There are similar desi markets in New Jersey, at the famous Oak Tree Road or in the Bay Area, but nothing like Devon Street. ..Devon Street's sidewalks are even speckled with the paan stains". Other points of interest along Devon Avenue include

Superdawg Superdawg is a drive-in hot dog stand with carhop service. It is located in the Norwood Park neighborhood of Chicago, at the intersection of Milwaukee, Devon, and Nagle Avenues. Superdawg has the distinction of being one of the few original drive ...

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic universities in the United States. Its namesake is Saint Ignat ...

DePaul University DePaul University is a private, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1998, it became the largest Ca ...

's O'Hare Campus, Bryn Mawr Country Club, Hanna Sacks Bais Yaakov High School, Edgebrook Golf Course,

Thillens Stadium The Stadium at Devon & Kedzie is a two-field baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois. It has 2,400 seatsLarry Mayer"Thillens Stadium: A Field Of Memories Is Still Going Strong,"''Chicago Tribune'', August 31, 1991. and an average of 17,000 Chicago ...

, Novelty Par Mini Golf Course, parts of the

Forest Preserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

and Misericordia/Heart of Mercy, serving children with developmental disabilities.

Transportation

Devon Avenue is served by the 155 Devon between

and

Kedzie Avenue Kedzie Avenue is a major north–south street in Chicago, Illinois. Both Kedzie streets in Chicago and suburban Evanston are named after John H. Kedzie, an early Chicago real-estate developer. Kedzie Avenue extends more than from the southern ...

. The 36 Broadway, 88 Higgins and 151 Sheridan serve the street for shorter segments.

Notes

External links

A Walk Down Devon Avenue
{{chicago Asian-American culture in Chicago Bangladeshi-American culture Ethnic enclaves in Illinois Indian-American culture in Illinois Jews and Judaism in Chicago Little Indias Little Pakistans Neighborhoods in Chicago Orthodox Jewish communities Pakistani-American culture South Asian American culture Streets in Chicago