The North Lawndale Community



North Lawndale History
Source: Wikipedia

Once part of Cicero Township in 1869, the eastern section of North Lawndale to Crawford Avenue (Pulaski Road) was annexed to Chicago by an act of the state legislature. Thereafter, streets were platted and drainage ditches were installed between Western and Crawford Avenue. The name "Lawndale" was supplied by Millard and Decker, a real estate firm which subdivided the area in 1870. In 1871, after the fire, the McCormick Reaper Company (later International Harvester) occupied a new large plant in the South Lawndale neighborhood. As a result, many plant workers moved to eastern North Lawndale. The remaining area west of Crawford Avenue was annexed by a resolution of the Cook County Commissioners in 1889. Click onto    to finish reading this article. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Lawndale


North Lawndale, Chicago

What Did (or Did Not) Happen in K-Town

Written by Charles Leeks
The North Lawndale neighborhood on Chicago's Westside has a dramatic historical narrative, having been the third largest Jewish community in the world after Warsaw, Poland, and New York City, and then quickly transforming into one of the most densely populated African-American neighborhoods in the country. Golda Meir, Martin Luther King, Jr., Benny Goodman, and Diana Washington all called the community home at one point in their lives. The neighborhood was home to industrial empires like Sears, Roebuck, and Company, Western Electric, and International Harvester. It was home to the Westside Blues, and the legendary Route 66 traverses the community. And some of the most destructive rioting in the country occurred in the neighborhood following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968. The neighborhood's image and commercial centers never quite recovered from the riots, but the residential and religious building infrastructure survived. A part of the community that remained largely intact is an area commonly referred to as K-Town because all the north south streets in this section of North Lawndale began with the letter "K" (Kildare, Kostner, Kolin, Keeler). Click here to finish reading the article.


North Lawndale Overview
Power Point Presentation by Valerie F. Leonard

North Lawndale Overview