Summit is a city 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 11,161 at the 2020 census.
The name Summit, in use since 1836, refers to the highest point on the
Chicago Portage between the northeast-flowing Chicago River and the southwest-flowing Des Plaines River located just north of the city.
Argo is a subdivision annexed by Summit in 1911 when it was new. Named for the nearby cornstarch and baking powder manufacturing plant, it developed separately from the older part of the city. The name "Argo" is still widely used but is not part of the name of the city itself.
Geography
According to the 2010 census, Summit has a total area of , of which (or 93.93%) is land and (or 6.07%) is water.
Most of Summit is in the
floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
of the
Des Plaines River
The Des Plaines River ( ) is a river that flows southward for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed May 13, 2011 through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois''American H ...
.
History
The area around Summit has been hunted and traveled through for 12,000 years but only continuously occupied since 900CE. When Europeans first arrived the area was inhabited or used by the
Meskwaki
The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, th ...
,
Illini,
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
,
Sauk, and
Chippewa-Ottawa-Potawatomi tribes.
In 1673 the
Marquette-
Joliet expedition arrived at the portage north of the city and went on to the location of Chicago. At that time the importance of a portage was noted. A local trading network developed from that time until the Native Americans were removed beginning in 1816.
Surveyed in 1821, in 1830 land was for sale by the
Illinois and Michigan Canal Commission. There may have been a tavern at "Summit Ford" in 1832, by 1835 there was a sub-divided settlement with a tavern, blacksmith shop, and stagecoach stop. "Summit Corners" was where westbound Archer Ave. turned south and Lyons-Summit Rd. (now approximately Lawndale Ave.) went west. Chicago politician
"Long John" Wentworth bought much of the surrounding area and used it for farming.
Between 1836 and 1848 the Illinois and Michigan Canal was built through the subdivision. Most of the canal workers were Irish laborers and many were able to buy property with their canal script pay.
In 1850 gravel and clay pits were opened in the area for local use. After 1865 limestone quarries north of the canal provided jobs into the 1920s, when they were closed, often used as garbage dumps, then covered over. Today's Hanover Park is a filled gravel and clay pit.
In 1856 the
Joliet and Chicago Railroad (
Chicago and Alton Railroad in 1862) built a line along the south bank of the canal. Today this is Metra's
Heritage Corridor
The Heritage Corridor (HC) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and its southwestern suburbs, terminating in Joliet, Illinois. While Metra does not refer to its lines by colors, the Heritage Corridor appears on Metra timetables as ...
commuter line.
In 1890 Summit was incorporated as a city. When John Wentworth, and his political influence, died in 1888 his heirs and the settlement residents feared being annexed by Chicago. The settlement was re-platted much as it is today, with Center St. going north from Archer Ave. and Lincoln St./Lawndale Ave. going northwest from Center St. over the canal. This area was changed with the construction of Interstate 55, which effectively replaced Lawndale Ave. with the Illinois Route 171 ramp. A housing complex was at the site of the 1836 settlement.
Between 1892 and 1900 the
Chicago Sanitary Canal was built. It was just north of the Illinois and Michigan Canal but was much larger. In 1899 a large center-pier swing steel bridge was built for Lawndale Ave., the only crossing for miles in either direction until the 1920s. In 1900 the Chicago Sanitary Canal opened and replaced the Illinois and Michigan Canal, which was abandoned. In Summit the old canal was filled in 1974.
In 1901 the
Chicago and Joliet Electric Railway Interurban
The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...
was operating a double-track line down Archer Ave. To the east it connected with Chicago streetcars at Cicero Ave. (then the city limits), to the southwest it went past Argo and on to Joliet. A branch went north on Lawndale Ave to Ogden Ave. in
Lyons
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
. In 1933 the rail-cars were replaced with buses.
In 1907 Corn Products Corp. (now
Ingredion) began construction of the world's largest corn-processing plant south of Summit (
Bedford Park today) in 1907. At the same time two properties, north and south of 63rd St., were sub-divided as a "
company town
A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...
" type neighborhood called "Argo" after the factory. In 1911 Summit annexed Argo but its separation by the
Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad tracks at 59th St., dependence on the factory, and separate business district along 63rd St. with Chicago streetcar (later bus) service made it develop as a separate community. The name "Argo" is still in widespread use in both the public and private sectors.
Between 1910 and 1920 the population of Summit more than tripled, from 949 to 4,019, and increased again to 6,548 in 1930. The nature of the city changed from rural to industrial, largely because of the Corn Products plant. Farms in the old section were sub-divided and the new Argo area was annexed into the city. In addition to Corn Products other industries went up west of Archer Rd. and the large rail yard south of the city created a large number of jobs.
The city was overwhelmed with the increase and public services were not able to keep up. Water supply was a major problem, and schools were severely over-crowded. Between 1910 and 1930 three elementary, one high, and two Catholic schools were opened.
Demographics
As of the
2020 census there were 11,161 people, 3,269 households, and 2,536 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 3,789 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 26.83%
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 ...
, 7.88%
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 ...
, 2.48%
Native American, 2.02%
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 ...
, 37.32% from
other races, and 23.44% 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 72.75% of the population.
There were 3,269 households, out of which 48.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.03% were married couples living together, 22.15% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.42% were non-families. 20.71% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.37% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.92 and the average family size was 3.41.
The city's age distribution consisted of 30.3% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 28% from 25 to 44, 20% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $46,972, and the median income for a family was $53,000. Males had a median income of $33,532 versus $26,804 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 city was $20,911. About 15.9% of families and 17.2% 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 26.2% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.
Public education
Elementary and middle school students attend
Cook County School District 104 schools, and then move on to
Argo Community High School District 217.
Business and industry
Ingredion operates a corn milling and processing plant at 65th Street and Archer Avenue, in an area known as Argo. This facility is one of the largest of its kind in the world.
ACH Food Companies operates a manufacturing and processing plant here for Mazola corn oil, Karo corn syrup and Argo Baking Powder and Corn Starch.
The
Institute for Food Safety and Health (formerly the National Center for Food Safety and Technology) is in
Bedford Park, adjacent to the Ingredion facility. It is affiliated with the
Illinois Institute of Technology
The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...
and the
Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...
's
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
Frito-Lay
Frito-Lay, Inc. (; ) is an American food company that manufactures, markets, and sells snack foods. It began in the early 1930s as two companies, Fritos, the Frito Company and Lay's, H.W. Lay & Company, that merged in 1961. Frito-Lay itself merg ...
has a zone office in Summit. Summit has also been the home of the ''
Desplaines Valley News'' newspaper since 1913.
Transportation
Summit's multimodal transportation network encompasses the following:
*The
Stevenson Expressway (
Interstate 55
Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The ...
) runs through the northwest side of the city.
*The
Tri-State Tollway (
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 ...
) is to the southwest.
*
Chicago Midway International Airport is approximately three miles to the east.
*Argo Crossing Rail Junction -
Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad/
CSX
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...
and
Canadian National Railway
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 a ...
/
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...
– is located along the southwest boundary of the city.
*
Summit (Amtrak station) and
Metra
Metra is the primary commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 243 train station, stati ...
Heritage Corridor
The Heritage Corridor (HC) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and its southwestern suburbs, terminating in Joliet, Illinois. While Metra does not refer to its lines by colors, the Heritage Corridor appears on Metra timetables as ...
*
Chicago Transit Authority
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of public transport, mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago "L" and List of Chicago Transit Authority bus routes, CTA bu ...
and
Pace buses
*
Illinois and Michigan Canal
The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. In Illinois, it ran from the Chicago River in Bridgeport, Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru. The canal crossed the Chicago ...
Notable people
*
John Garklāvs, archbishop of the Orthodox Church in America, keeper of the Tchvin Icon of the Mother of Our God.
*
Fred Hampton,
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...
*
Ted Kluszewski, first baseman, member of the
Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame
*
Clayton Lambert, pitcher for the Reds
*
Sheldon Mallory, outfielder for the
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...
*
Emmett Till
Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941 – August 28, 1955) was an African American youth, who was 14 years old when he was abducted and Lynching in the United States, lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of offending a white woman, ...
, lived in Argo with his mother until he was nine, when they moved to Detroit.
*
"Long John" Wentworth, former mayor of Chicago, retired to a farm on land part of which later became part of Summit
References
External links
Village of summit official website
{{authority control
Villages in Cook County, Illinois
Chicago metropolitan area
Populated places established in 1890
1890 establishments in Illinois
Majority-minority cities and towns in Cook County, Illinois
Villages in Illinois