New Chinatown, Chicago
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West Argyle Street Historic District (also known as "Little Saigon", "New Chinatown", "Argyle Square", "Asia on Argyle", or "Argyle Park") is a
historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...
in northern
Uptown Uptown may refer to: Neighborhoods or regions in several cities United States * Uptown, entertainment district east of Downtown and Midtown Albuquerque, New Mexico * Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina * Uptown, area surrounding the University of C ...
, Chicago, Illinois. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 3, 2010. The community covers an area of about ; its rough boundaries are N. Glenwood Ave to the west, Winona Street to the north, Sheridan Road to the east, and Ainslie Street to the south. It was home to the Essenay Studios in the 1920s founded by
Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
, a producer of silent movies before relocating to Southern California in Hollywood. Essenay Studios now is home to St. Augustine College.


History

The area covered by the historic district originally developed in the 1880s as a suburb called ''Argyle Park''. The suburb had been named by Chicago Alderman and developer James A. Campbell for his ancestors the
Dukes of Argyll Duke of Argyll ( gd, Diùc Earraghàidheil) is a title created in the peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The earls, marquesses, and dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful ...
in Scotland. Development was centered on a station on the new Chicago & Evanston line of the
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986. The company experienced ...
that opened in May 1885. The village, along with the rest of the Lake View Township, was annexed into Chicago in 1889. In 1908 the Northwestern Elevated Railroad was extended north from Wilson Avenue, using the tracks of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, This linked the suburb into Chicago's 'L' network, and the area became popular with people of limited means who wanted to live on the
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 ...
shore. The railroad tracks were elevated onto an embankment between 1914 and 1922. Chicago restaurateur Jimmy Wong bought property in the area in the 1960s and planned its rebirth as ''New Chinatown''. He envisioned a mall with pagodas, trees and reflecting ponds to replace the empty storefronts. The
Hip Sing Association The Hip Sing Association or HSA (), formerly known as the Hip Sing Tong (), is a Chinese-American criminal organization/gang formed as a labor organization in New York City's Chinatown during the early 20th century (perhaps c. 1904). The Canton ...
, a Chinese cultural group, moved its Chicago offices to Argyle Street in 1971, and by 1974 Wong and the Hip Sing Association owned 80% of the three-block stretch on Argyle. Wong had an accident and broke both hips, leaving him unable to follow through on his plans. In 1979 Charlie Soo, founder of the Asian American Small Business Association, took up the cause, and the area developed not solely as a Chinese enclave but also including Vietnamese, Lao, Cambodian, and Japanese businesses. Soo campaigned to get the Chicago Transit Authority to give the Argyle 'L' station a $250,000 face-lift, then in 1981 he started the "Taste of Argyle," an annual food festival. He also secured funds from Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne to fix the sidewalks, and later from Mayor Harold Washington to repair building facades. Because of his tireless work in promoting the neighborhood, Soo would later be known as the unofficial "Mayor of Argyle Street." By 1986 it was estimated that Uptown had about 8,000 Chinese and Vietnamese residents. The concentration of Vietnamese restaurants, bakeries and shops; as well as Chinese, Cambodian, Laotian and Thai businesses along Argyle Street, centered on the Argyle 'L' station has led to the neighborhood being nicknamed ''New Chinatown'', ''Little Saigon'', or ''Little Vietnam''. On June 3, 2010 the area roughly bounded by Broadway to the west, Winona Street to the north, Sheridan Road to the east, and Ainslie Street to the south was entered into the National Register of Historic Places.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Chicago There are more than 350 places listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places in Chicago, Illinois, including 83 historic districts that may include numerous historic buildings, structures, objects and sites. This total is docu ...


References


External links

{{Registered Historic Places Historic districts in Chicago North Side, Chicago Neighborhoods in Chicago Asian-American culture in Chicago Ethnic enclaves in Illinois Cambodian-American culture Chinatowns in the United States Little Saigons Laotian-American culture Thai-American culture Vietnamese-American history Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Populated places established in the 1880s