Lincoln Park
—  Community area  —
Community Area 07 – Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park with downtown Skyline in background
Streetmap
Location within the city of Chicago
Coordinates: 41°55.2′N 87°39′W / 41.92°N 87.65°W / 41.92; -87.65Coordinates: 41°55.2′N 87°39′W / 41.92°N 87.65°W / 41.92; -87.65
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Cook
City	Chicago
Neighborhoods	List West DePaul Old Town Triangle Park West Lincoln Park RANCH Triangle Sheffield Neighbors Wrightwood Neighbors Lathrop Homes Lincoln Central Mid-North
Area
• Total	3.19 sq mi (8.26 km2)
Population (2010)
• Total	64,116
• Density	20,000/sq mi (7,800/km2)
Demographics 2010[1]
• White	82.88%
• Black	4.29%
• Hispanic	5.57%
• Asian	5.14%
• Other	2.12%
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP Codes	parts of 60614
Median income	$83,328
Source: U.S. Census, Record Information Services

Lincoln Park, is one of the 77 Community areas of Chicago, USA, situated on its north side. Named after Lincoln Park, a vast park bordering Lake Michigan. Lincoln Park is bordered by the community areas of Lakeview to the north, North Center to the northwest, Logan Square to the west, West Town to the southwest, and Near North to the south.

  History

  This is an 1880's photo of 653 W Wrightwood (now 655 W Wrightwood) in the Lincoln Park Neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Note the wooden sidewalk, dirt road and lack of buildings surrounding the edifice.

The area now known as Lincoln Park in Chicago was primarily forest with stretches of grassland and occasional quicksand until the late 1820s when the Europeans arrived.

In 1824 the United States Army built a small post near today's Clybourn Avenue and Armitage Avenue (formerly Centre Street). Indian settlements existed along Green Bay Trail, now called Clark Street (named after George Rogers Clark), at the current intersection of Halsted Street and Fullerton Avenue. Before Green Bay Trail became Clark Street, it stretched as far as Green Bay, Wisconsin, and was part of what still is Green Bay Avenue in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.^[2][3]

In 1836, land from North to Fullerton and from the lake to Halsted was relatively inexpensive, costing $150 per acre ($370 ha) / 1836 prices, not adjusted for inflation). Because the area was considered remote, a small pox hospital and the city cemetery were located in Lincoln Park until the 1860s.

In 1837, Chicago was incorporated as a city, and North Avenue (to the south of today's Lincoln Park neighborhood) was established as its northern boundary. Settlements increased along Green Bay Trail when (1) the government offered land claims and (2) Green Bay Road was widened. The area north of Chicago, including today's Lincoln Park, was eventually incorporated as Lake View Township. The city, nonetheless, owned extensive tracts of land north of North Avenue, including what is the now the park. The Township was annexed to Chicago in 1889.

In the period following the Civil War, the area around St. Josaphat's parish around Southport and Clybourn was home to Chicago's Kashubian community, who although Polish in national orientation, possess their own distinct culture and language marked by the distinct influences of their maritime way of life as well as their German neighbors.

From 1896 to 1903, the original Ferris Wheel was located at a small amusement park near Clark and Wrightwood.^[4] The site was from 2619 to 2665 N. Clark, which is now the location of a McDonald's and a high-rise residential building.^[5]

  The Biograph Theater on Lincoln avenue and (adjoining businesses) in 2008 redressed to appear as it did in 1934 for the film Public Enemies.

In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Lincoln Park was also home to the first Puerto Rican immigrants to Chicago. Jose (Cha-Cha) Jimenez transformed the local Young Lords gang into human rights activists for Latinos and the poor. They mounted sit-ins and takeovers of institutions and churches at Grant Hospital, Armitage Ave. Methodist Church, and McCormick Theological Seminary.

In 1968 a violent confrontation between demonstrators and police took place in Lincoln Park and the streets of Chicago during the week of the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

I pointed out that it was in the best interests of the City to have us in Lincoln Park ten miles away from the Convention hall. I said we had no intention of marching on the Convention hall, that I didn't particularly think that politics in America could be changed by marches and rallies, that what we were presenting was an alternative life style, and we hoped that people of Chicago would come up, and mingle in Lincoln Park and see what we were about.

—Abbie Hoffman, from the Chicago 7 trial^[6]

Today, a very small number of Puerto Ricans reside in Lincoln Park.^[7] The neighborhood population is primarily made up of young urban professionals, recent college graduates, and young families.

  Famous Residents

Lincoln Park was home to a number of important historic figures including:

• Roger Brown, an important Chicago Imagist painter lived at 1926 N. Halsted. The house is now site to the Art Institute of Chicago's Roger Brown study center.^[8]
• Mother Francis Xavier Cabrini, the first American saint lived at 2520 N. Lakeview.^[9] This address was part of the Columbus Hospital site which is now a high-rise condominium development.^[10] The National Shrine of Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini, the former chapel of Columbus Hospital, is currently being restored and is scheduled to reopen in October 2012.^[11]
• Henry Darger, the outsider artist lived at 851 W. Webster^[12] and worked as a janitor at Children's Memorial Hospital.
• Henry Gerber, the founder of the first homosexual rights organization in the US lived at 1710 N. Crilly Court.^[9]
• Bruce Graham, the famous Skidmore, Owings and Merrill architect lived in a house designed by himself in 1969.^[13]
• Richard Hunt, the famous sculptor, has his studio at 1017 W. Lill Street.^[14]
• László Moholy-Nagy, the Bauhaus and IIT designer lived at 2622 N. Lakeview.^[9]
• Walter Netsch, the famous Skidmore, Owings and Merrill architect, and his wife Dawn Clark Netsch, an important Illinois Democratic Party/civic leader, lived at 1700 N. Hudson Street. The house was designed by Walter Netsch in 1974.^[15]
• Albert Parsons and Lucy Parsons, the prominent union organizers and socialist leaders lived at 1908 N. Mohawk.^[9]

A large number of significant business and civic leaders currently live in Lincoln Park including Penny Pritzker, Fred Eychaner,and Joe Mansueto.

  Community area

Lincoln Park's boundaries are precisely defined in the city's list of official community areas. It is bordered on the north by Diversey Parkway, on the west by the Chicago River, on the south by North Avenue, and on the east by Lake Michigan.^[16]

It encompasses a number of neighborhoods, including Lincoln Central, Mid-North, Old Town Triangle, Park West, RANCH Triangle, Sheffield, West DePaul (including half of the Julia C. Lathrop Homes) and Wrightwood Neighbors. The area also includes most of the Clybourn Corridor retail district, which continues into the Near North Side.

Lincoln Park is home to Lincoln Park High School, Francis W. Parker School, and DePaul University. Many students who attend these schools now live in this neighborhood. Lincoln Park is also home to four architecturally significant churches: St. Vincent de Paul Parish, St. Clement Church, St. Josaphat's (one of the many so-called 'Polish Cathedrals' in Chicago), and St. Michael's Church in the Old Town Triangle area of Lincoln Park. Visible from throughout the neighborhood, these monumental edifices tower over the neighborhood, lending the area much of its charm. The neighborhood also houses Children's Memorial Hospital (recently moved to Streeterville) and the currently closed Lincoln Park Hospital, which is slated for redevelopment to condominiums, medical offices, retail and commercial to be renamed Webster Square.

The neighborhood contains large number of upscale national retailers, boutiques, bookstores, restaurants and coffee shops. An Apple Store opened in October, 2010, as well as a Lacoste store across the street. There are also many bars and clubs in the area, especially along Lincoln Avenue between Wrightwood and Webster.

Lincoln Park is one of the wealthiest and most expensive communities in which to live. While the average single family house is priced around 1 million dollars, many homes in the area sell for more than 10 million dollars. In 2007, Forbes magazine named the area between Armitage Avenue, Willow Street, Burling Street, and Orchard Street as the most expensive block in Chicago.^[17]

  Lincoln Park (Chicago Park District)

  Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool in Lincoln Park is a National Historic Landmark listing.

Lincoln Park, for which the neighborhood was named, now stretches miles past the neighborhood of Lincoln Park. The park lies along the lakefront from Ohio Street Beach in the Streeterville neighborhood, northward to Ardmore Avenue in Edgewater. The section of Lincoln Park adjacent to the Lincoln Park neighborhood contains the Lincoln Park Zoo, Lincoln Park Conservatory, an outdoor theatre, a rowing canal, the Chicago History Museum, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool, the North Pond Nature Sanctuary, North Avenue Beach, playing fields, a very prominent statue of General Grant, as well as, a famous statue of Abraham Lincoln (and many other statues).^[18]

  Transportation

  Train stopped at the Fullerton (CTA) station.

The Lincoln Park neighborhood is accessible via mass transit, including the CTA's Red, Brown and Purple lines at the Fullerton station, the Purple and Brown lines at the Armitage and Diversey stations, as well as CTA bus service.

Via car, Lincoln Park can be reached by using Lake Shore Drive or the Kennedy Expressway.

  Education

  Lincoln Park High School

Lincoln Park residents are served by Chicago Public Schools, which includes neighborhood and city-wide options for students.

Lincoln Park High School serves as the sole neighborhood secondary education institution and is ranked one of Chicago's best public high schools. Nationally, Lincoln Park High School is ranked as the 90th best high school in the country by U.S. News & World Report.^[19]

Additionally, two zoned elementary schools (grades K-8), Abraham Lincoln Elementary School^[20] and Oscar Mayer Elementary School^[21] are found in the neighborhood. LaSalle Language Academy and the Newberry Science Academy, both magnet schools, serve the neighborhood.

  Private schools

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago operates the Saint Clement School,^[22] a K-8 school, in the Lincoln Park area.

Saint James Lutheran School, a K-8 school, is located at 2101 N. Fremont St.

Francis W. Parker School, a K-12 school, is in the area.

Global Citizenship Experience High School,^[23] a 9–12 school, is in the area.

  Public libraries

Chicago Public Library operates the Lincoln Park Branch at 1150 West Fullerton Avenue.^[24]

  Restaurants

Lincoln Park has numerous restaurants; some of the best known and respected include Alinea, Charlie Trotter's, and North Pond Cafe. The Lettuce Entertain You restaurant chain started at R.J. Grunts at 2056 N. Lincoln Park West, which is also home to the one of the first salad bars.^[25]

  Music

Lincoln Park currently has a number of music venues including the Park West, Lincoln Hall, Neo nightclub, Kingston Mines and B.L.U.E.S.

Jelly Roll Morton recorded early jazz work in 1926 at the Webster Hotel ballroom (now Webster House) at 2150 N. Lincoln Park West.^[26]

  Photos

• 

  Francis W. Parker School

• 

  A Statue of William Shakespeare in the Lincoln Park Conservatory's Grandmother's Garden, Chicago

• 

  Downtown from Lincoln Park at dusk

• 

  The 2003 Chicago balcony collapse was a disaster that occurred on June 29, 2003 in Lincoln Park, resulting in the deadliest porch collapse in United States history.

• 

  Abraham Lincoln Monument after restoration in 1989 by the Lincoln Park Conservancy.

  References

  External links

Chicago portal

• Official City of Chicago Lincoln Park Community Map
• Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce
• Francis Parker Neighbors

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lincoln Park, Chicago

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	North Center, Chicago	Lakeview, Chicago
	Logan Square, Chicago		Lake Michigan
		Lincoln Park, Chicago
	West Town, Chicago	Near North Side, Chicago