Hazel Crest is a village in

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the List of counties in Illinois, most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the List of the most populous counties in the United States, second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, C ...

, United States. The population was 13,382 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

History

Hazel Crest was first settled in 1870 in a farming community known as South Harvey. An enterprising newspaper editor named William McClintock moved here from

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

in 1890, buying from farmer Fred Puhrman, McClintock named the town South Harvey, and the town would receive its modern name in 1895, after a referendum. McClintock built a depot for a local

milk train Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Milk contains many nutrie ...

and subsequently opened transportation opportunities to Chicago and beyond. The depot also served as the area's first real estate office, public meeting place, Sunday school, day school, and post office. In 1900, the name was changed to Hazel Crest to reflect the large numbers of

hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus '' Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according to ...

bushes that grew on a rise of land just south of town. At the time, the southern border was 175th Street and the western edge of the village was Kedzie Avenue. Hazel Crest was incorporated in 1912. Many of the families of the early residents still live in the village. Later on, the city would see the construction of a Community Church in 1894, then a 1984 adaptation of an elementary school building which has now become the Martin J. Kauchak Municipal Center, named for President Kauchak who served the village for twenty years (1973–1993).

Geography

Hazel Crest is located at . The village is primarily located in Bremen Township, while the portion of the village south of 183rd Street is located in Rich Township and the portion east of I-80/94 is in Thornton Township. The village is located near

in an area known as the

Chicago Southland The Chicago Southland is a region comprising the south and southwest suburbs of the City of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. Home to roughly 2.5 million residents, this region has been known as the Southland by the local populace and regio ...

and is approximately south of the

Chicago Loop The Loop is Chicago's central business district and one of the city's 77 municipally recognized Community areas in Chicago, community areas. Located at the center of downtown Chicago on the shores of Lake Michigan, it is the second-largest busi ...

. The village is bordered by

Markham Markham may refer to: Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * Markham's grass mouse (''Abrothrix olivaceus markhami''), a rodent subspecies found on Wellington Island and the ne ...

to the north, Harvey to the northeast, East Hazel Crest to the east, Homewood to the southeast,

Flossmoor Flossmoor () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,704 at the 2020 census. Flossmoor is approximately south of the Chicago Loop. It is closely tied to neighboring Homewood, sharing a high school and park dis ...

to the south and Country Club Hills to the west. According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Hazel Crest has a total area of , of which (or 99.39%) is land and (or 0.61%) is water. The village lies on the

Tinley Moraine The Tinley Moraine is a moraine around the Lake Michigan basin in North America. It was formed during the Wisconsin Glaciation and is younger than the higher and wider terminal moraine called the Valparaiso Moraine, which is located farther from t ...

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 13,382 people, 5,011 households, and 3,327 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 5,307 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 86.25%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 6.45%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.26% Native American, 0.40% Asian, 0.03%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 3.01% from other races, and 3.59% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 5.54% of the population. There were 5,011 households, out of which 36.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.46% were married couples living together, 29.38% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.61% were non-families. 32.11% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.24% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.49 and the average family size was 2.77. The village's age distribution consisted of 30.3% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 25.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 78.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.0 males. The median income for a household in the village was $55,010, and the median income for a family was $65,477. Males had a median income of $36,922 versus $37,535 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $29,372. About 17.0% of families and 15.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 21.7% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Village board

* Village President / Local Liquor Commissioner Vernard L. Alsberry Jr. (elected 2013) * Clerk Isaac R. Wiseman (elected 2017) * Trustee Sandra Slayton (elected 2015) * Trustee Sandra Alexander (elected 2023) * Trustee Carmilla Malone (elected 2023) * Trustee Kevin Moore Sr. (elected 2009) * Trustee Marlon D. Rias (elected 2017) * Trustee Java Rogers (elected 2017) * Village Manager Dante Sawyer The village holds elections every odd-numbered year with all officials being elected at-large. Terms for the village board are staggered, with the village president, village clerk and three trustees elected one year and the remaining three trustees elected two years following.

Federal

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

*Congresswoman

Robin Kelly Robin Lynne Kelly (born April 30, 1956) is an American politician from Illinois who has served as the U.S. representative from since 2013. A Democrat, Kelly served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007. She then served as c ...

D-Chicago,

Illinois's 2nd congressional district Illinois's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Illinois. It stretches south from Chicago's Kenwood community area through portions of the city's South Side and southern suburbs, extending into several m ...

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

*Senator

Dick Durbin Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Dem ...

D-Illinois (elected 1997) *Senator

Tammy Duckworth Ladda Tammy Duckworth (born March 12, 1968) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard Lieutenant colonel (United States), lieutenant colonel serving since 2017 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States ...

D-Illinois (elected 2017)

State legislature

Illinois State Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under th ...

* State Senator

Napoleon Harris Napoleon Bill Harris III (born February 25, 1979) is an American politician and former professional football player who has been a member of the Illinois Senate representing the 15th district since 2013. The 15th district stretches from Blue Is ...

D-

Flossmoor, Illinois Flossmoor () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,704 at the 2020 census. Flossmoor is approximately south of the Chicago Loop. It is closely tied to neighboring Homewood, Illinois, Homewood, sharing a high ...

, 15th Legislative District (covers portions of the village east of I-80/94) * State Senator

Michael Hastings Michael or Mike Hastings may refer to: *Michael Hastings (playwright) (1938–2011), British playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and poet *Michael Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun Michael Edward Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun (born Mic ...

D-

Tinley Park, Illinois Tinley Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 55,971 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a suburb in the Chicago metropolitan ar ...

, 19th Legislative District

Illinois State House of Representatives Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash and Ohio rivers to its south. Of the fifty U.S. states, Illinois has the fifth-lar ...

*State Representative Will Davis D- East Hazel Crest, 30th Representative District (covers portions of the village east of I-80/94) *State Representative Debbie Meyers-Martin D-Hazel Crest, 38th Representative District

County board

Transportation

Several modes of transportation serve the village of Hazel Crest. To the east, in Hazel Crest proper, are portions of the

Canadian National The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue an ...

Illinois Central The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, the Great Lak ...

intermodal facility. Along the train tracks is the

Metra Electric Line The Metra Electric District is an electrified commuter rail line owned and operated by Metra which connects Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Station), in downtown Chicago, with the city's southern suburbs. As of 2018, it is the fif ...

. The Hazel Crest station moves commuters either north to downtown

Millennium Station Millennium Station, (previously known as Randolph Street Terminal and occasionally referred to as Randolph Street station or Randolph/South Water Street station) is a commuter rail terminal located in the Chicago Loop, Loop area of Chicago, do ...

or south to University Park, the last stop on the line. Hazel Crest is the locale where

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

merges with the

Tri-State Tollway The Tri-State Tollway is a controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll road in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Originally U.S. Route 41 Toll, it follows: *Interstate 94 in Illinois, Interstate 94 from I-41/US 41 in N ...

(

Interstate 294 Interstate 294 (I-294) is a tolled auxiliary Interstate Highway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Forming the southern portion of the Tri-State Tollway in Illinois, I-294 runs from South Holland at I-80/ I-94 and Illino ...

). The village also has an extensive array of state highways. The intersection of 175th Street and Kedzie Avenue is located at the center of the village. 167th Street intersects with Kedzie Avenue on the north side of the village, and Kedzie Avenue also intersects at 183rd Street to the south; all are divided four-lane highways except for 167th Street before intersecting at Park Avenue. Major arteries * 167th Street * 175th Street * 183rd Street * Kedzie Avenue * Pulaski Road (Crawford Avenue) * Wood Street *

Dixie Highway Dixie Highway was a United States auto trail first planned in 1914 to connect the Midwest with the South. It was part of a system and was expanded from an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final system is better understood as a network o ...

* Governors Highway

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 ...

bus routes * Route 750 – Country Club Hills Provides rush hour feeder service from Country Club Hills to the Flossmoor Metra Station. * Route 356 – Harvey-Homewood-Tinley Park Provides daily service connecting Harvey, Markham, Homewood, Hazel Crest, Country Club Hills and Tinley Park via Park, 159th, Wood, Dixie and 183rd Street between the Harvey Transportation Center and the Tinley Park Mental Health Center. * Route 359 – Robbins/South Kedzie Avenue North–south route which operates from Homewood Metra Station to 95th/Dan Ryan (CTA) Station. Also serves the Blue Island Metra/Electric Station, Metro South Medical Center, Markham Courthouse, South Suburban Hospital, Lydia Health Care Center, Waterford Estates and Grenoble Square Shopping Center. Between CTA Red Line 95th St. & 124th/Halsted, buses serve posted stops only. * Route 460 – Hazel Crest Feeder – ROUTE ELIMINATED as of February 8, 2010. * Route 354 – Harvey-Oak Forest Loop Clockwise and counter-clockwise loop service from the Harvey Transportation Center on 147th St, Cicero, 167th St, Dixie and 154th St through Harvey, Dixmoor, Posen, Midlothian, Oak Forest, Country Club Hills, Hazel Crest and Markham. Route provides direct service to South Suburban College's University and College Center in Oak Forest and also serves Pace South Division. In addition, through

Pace (transit) Pace is the suburban bus and regional paratransit division of the Regional Transportation Authority (Illinois), Regional Transportation Authority serving the Chicago metropolitan area. It was created in 1983 by the RTA Act, which established the ...

, Hazel Crest offers Dial-A-Ride services, provided primarily to elderly and disabled residents for low fares.

Population and employment

The

Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) (est. 2005) is a metropolitan planning organization (MPO) responsible for comprehensive regional transportation planning in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties in nor ...

(CMAP), projects that by 2030, Hazel Crest will have 15,786 residents and 3,570 jobs compared to the 2000 U.S. Census estimate of 14,816 and 2,933 respectively. Major employers in the village include: * Mi-Jack * Advocate South Suburban Hospital * Graycor Construction * Giercyzk Real Estate * Waterford Estates Retirement Two of the companies listed above are located within the Palmer Lake Corporate Business Park at 175th Street and Governors Highway.

Education

Hazel Crest is served by three school districts: Prairie-Hills School District 144, Hazel Crest School District 152.5, and Flossmoor School District 161. Three high school districts serve the village: * Bremen Community High School District 228 * Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School District 233 * Thornton Township High Schools District 205 Elementary schools School District 144 operates Mae Jemison Elementary School, Highlands Elementary School, and Chateaux Elementary School in Hazel Crest and six others in surrounding suburbs. School District 152.5 operates Woodland Elementary School and Warren Palm School in Hazel Crest. The district also has schools in neighboring suburbs. School District 161 operates five elementary schools outside that serve the village, primarily neighborhoods south of 183rd Street. Middle Schools School District 144 operates Prairie-Hills Junior High School (which serves most of the village), located in

. School District 152.5 operates Robert Frost Middle School (which serves those east of California Ave.), also in Markham. School District 161 operates Parker Junior High School (which serves those south of 183rd St.), located in

. There are no middle schools in Hazel Crest. High schools There are no high schools in Hazel Crest. High School District 205 operates three high schools:

Thornton Township High School Thornton Township High School, often simply referred to as Thornton is a State school, public high school founded in 1899, located in Harvey, Illinois, Harvey, one of the Chicago Southland, South Suburbs of the city of Chicago, Illinois, USA. The ...

Thornwood High School Thornwood High School is a public high school located in South Holland, Illinois, United States. It was built as part of Thornton Township High School District 205. It opened in 1971 to accommodate overcrowding at other District 205 schools, Tho ...

(which village residents east of California Avenue attend), and

Thornridge High School Thornridge High School is a public four-year high school located in Dolton, Illinois, a suburb about 20 miles south of Chicago. The school is part of Thornton Township High School District 205. Thornridge High School first opened to the public ...

. High School District 228 operates four high schools: Hillcrest High School, a combination of the names (Country Club Hills and Hazel Crest) in neighboring Country Club Hills (where the majority of Hazel Crest high school students attend), Bremen High School in

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

Oak Forest High School Oak Forest High School is a public high school located in Oak Forest, Illinois. It is part of Bremen Community High School District 228 which also includes Tinley Park High School, Hillcrest High School and Bremen High School. It serves most ...

Oak Forest An oak forest is a plant community with a tree canopy dominated by oaks (''Quercus spp.''). In terms of canopy closure, oak forests contain the most closed canopy, compared to oak savannas and oak woodlands. Setting Oak forests are categoriz ...

, and

Tinley Park High School Tinley Park High School, TPHS or simply Tinley is a public high school located in Tinley Park, Illinois, approximately 30 miles southwest of Chicago. It is part of Bremen Community High School District 228 which also includes Oak Forest High Scho ...

Tinley Park Tinley Park is a village in Cook and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 55,971 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb in the Chicago metropolitan area. History 19th century Modern settlement of the area now known as Ti ...

. High School District 233 operates one high school,

Homewood-Flossmoor High School Homewood-Flossmoor High School (H-F) is a comprehensive public high school in Flossmoor, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The school serves an area of nearly , drawing students from Homewood, Flossmoor, and parts of Chicago Heights, Glenwoo ...

, which serves students residing in the village south of 175th Street. Community colleges Hazel Crest sits in two community college districts, South Suburban College in

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

and Prairie State College in

Chicago Heights Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 27,480 at the 2020 census. A south suburb of Chicago, it is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. Its nicknames include "The Crossroads of the Nation" and ...

. Residents living north of 183rd Street reside in South Suburban Community College District 510, and those living south of 183rd Street reside in Prairie State Community College District 515.

Housing

There are a number of subdivisions in Hazel Crest, most of which were constructed between the 1950s and 1980s. The largest within the village are Hazel Crest Proper, the oldest portion and original section of the village; Chateaux/Versailles, located just northwest of 183rd Street and Kedzie Avenue; Pottawatomie Hills/Twin Creeks, located just northeast of 175th Street and Kedzie Avenue; Highlands, located just northwest of 175th Street and Kedzie Avenue; Dynasty Lakes/Village West, just southwest of 183rd Street and Kedzie Avenue; and Pacesetter/Stonebridge/Carriage Hills, located southeast of 175th Street and Kedzie Avenue. There are numerous condominiums in Hazel Crest; English Valley, Stonebridge, Gingko, Ironwood, and Water's Edge Condominiums range from $100,000 to $250,000 in pricing. Hazel Crest has a multitude of dwellings in the form of single-family homes, apartments, townhomes and condominiums. Housing prices range anywhere from $30,000 to $450,000.

Hospital

Hazel Crest is home to the not-for-profit Advocate South Suburban Hospital, one of numerous hospitals owned and operated by Advocate Health Care, the state's largest hospital system. Advocate South Suburban Hospital is a 284-bed, acute care facility with nearly 400 doctors on staff. More than 1,000 newborn babies are delivered at its maternity center, which is a state-designated Level II+ perinatal hospital and provides 24-hour care for high-risk babies. The hospital was once located at 171st Street and Dixie Highway in the original section of the village and opened in 1946 as Hazel Crest General Hospital with 16 beds. In 1971, the hospital opened at its current location at 17800 Kedzie Avenue, north of the village's Chateaux/Versailles neighborhood. The hospital merged with Advocate Health Care in 1996 and became Advocate South Suburban Hospital. In 2005, the hospital underwent a $20 million expansion project. In addition, the hospital broke ground on construction of its new, multimillion-dollar cardiac catheterization laboratory and is renovating its current laboratory with new state-of-the-art equipment.

Library

Hazel Crest is part of the Grande Prairie Public Library District, which also includes the neighboring city of Country Club Hills. Grande Prairie Public Library is located at 3479 W. 183rd in Hazel Crest. The library is a member of the

Metropolitan Library System The Metropolitan Library System (MLS) was an association of academic, public, school, and special libraries in Chicago and its suburbs in Cook, DuPage and Will counties. On July 1, 2011, Metropolitan Library System merged with Alliance Library ...

. Residents of Hazel Crest and Country Club Hills are eligible for a free library card and numerous programs held by the library. In 2009, the library celebrated its 35th anniversary. The Library District is governed by a seven-member Board of Trustees, elected at-large between Country Club Hills and Hazel Crest.

Parks and recreation

Parks in the village are operated by the Hazel Crest Park District, which is coterminous with the village boundaries but maintains separate governance and a five-member Board of Commissioners elected at-large during consolidated elections. The Park District operates more than of parks and provides recreational programming for the district's residents. The Park District celebrated its 50-year anniversary in 2007.

References

External links

Village of Hazel Crest official website

* ttp://www.chicagosouthland.com Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce
Chicago Southland Convention & Visitor's Bureau
{{authority control Villages in Cook County, Illinois Chicago metropolitan area Populated places established in 1870 1870 establishments in Illinois Majority-minority cities and towns in Cook County, Illinois Villages in Illinois