Evergreen Park, Illinois
| Evergreen Park, Illinois | |
|---|---|
| Village | |
 |
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| Motto: "Your future is here" | |
 Location in Cook County and the state of Illinois. |
|
.svg) Location of Illinois in the United States |
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| Coordinates: 41°43′12″N 87°42′9″W / 41.72000°N 87.70250°WCoordinates: 41°43′12″N 87°42′9″W / 41.72000°N 87.70250°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| County | Cook |
| Township | Worth |
| Incorporated | 1893 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Jim Sexton |
| Area | |
| • Total | 3.16 sq mi (8.2 km2) |
| • Land | 3.16 sq mi (8.2 km2) |
| • Water | 0.00 sq mi (0.0 km2) 0% |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 19,852 |
| • Density | 6,282.3/sq mi (2,425.6/km2) |
| Down 4.65% from 2000 | |
| Standard of living (2007–11) | |
| • Per capita income | $28,499 |
| • Median home value | $219,500 |
| ZIP code(s) | 60805 |
| Area code(s) | 708 |
| Geocode | 17-24634 |
| GNIS ID | 2398846 |
| Website | evergreenpark-ill |
Evergreen Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. In 2010, the population of Evergreen Park was 19,852, according to that year's census.
As early as 1828, a German farming family had settled in the area of what is now Evergreen Park. In the succeeding decades, other German immigrants arrived. Kedzie Avenue and 95th Street crisscrossed the farmland and provided access to markets.
The first railroad (now the Grand Trunk Railroad) came through the area in 1873. In 1875, the community built its first school just west of 95th and Kedzie. The school and the stores that began to cluster around this intersection defined the community's main business area. Nearby, a real-estate developer, with a vision of the Arc de Triomphe area of Paris, laid out a star-shaped park with eight streets radiating from it. The evergreen trees planted in the park inspired the village's name.
In 1888 St. Mary's Cemetery opened, and mourners traveled by train from Chicago. Restaurants and taverns were created to provide meals for cemetery visitors. Within five years, the village had become a recreation center that attracted hundreds of Chicagoans to its picnic groves, beer gardens, and dance halls. While dependent on Chicagoans, Evergreen Park incorporated in 1893 to eliminate the threat of annexation to the city of Chicago. The first of the village's 13 churches was established in 1893.
The Village of Evergreen Park was incorporated on December 20, 1893. Prior to its incorporation, the village was sustained by approximately 500 regional residents. Strides to become a village occurred as a result of other Chicago suburbs requesting annexation in order to survive. The final decision to incorporate the village as its own entity separate from the City of Chicago was made by 41 out of 50 residents that showed up to vote on the matter. On that day, the Village of Evergreen Park officially occupied an area of four square miles; it now covers an area of the same size. While the village remains small in size, it is only seventeen miles southwest of the Loop. The Village is also currently surrounded by Chicago on the north, south, and east sides. Evergreen Park is also known as the “Village of Churches” because of its thirteen established religious congregations within close proximity.
The Evergreen Plaza, located on 95th and Western, was an indoor shopping mall originating from the early 1950s. In 1952, real estate developer Arthur Rubloff debuted the Evergreen Plaza in the heart of the southwest Chicago suburbs. A few years after the shopping mall’s debut, Rubloff decided to enclose the mall thereby making it the first indoor shopping mall in the Chicago area. As a result, Rubloff changed shopping by allowing people the opportunity to pull up, park, and shop for various goods all in one place. Since the 1950s the Evergreen Park Plaza had seen more than $8 million in major internal & external improvements. Evergreen Plaza was shortened to be acknowledged as, “The Plaza”. The Plaza covered 1,200,000 square feet (110,000 m2), and two stories. As of 2006, The Plaza had an annual visitor count of roughly 7 million people. The Plaza closed on May 31, 2013, after 61 years of operation and is presently under construction for re-development.
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