Ravenswood, Chicago
| Ravenswood | |
|---|---|
| Neighborhood | |
A Chicago 'L' train passes through Ravenswood with the tower of the former J.C. Deagan Company factory in the background.
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| Coordinates: 41°57′56″N 87°40′00″W / 41.96556°N 87.66667°WCoordinates: 41°57′56″N 87°40′00″W / 41.96556°N 87.66667°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| County | Cook |
| City | Chicago |
| Elevation | 604 ft (184 m) |
| ZIP Code | 60613 and part of 60640 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1802408 |
Ravenswood is a neighborhood located in the north side of the city of Chicago, Illinois in the Lincoln Square Community Area. According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago, Ravenswood was founded in 1868 as an exclusive commuter suburb by a group of real-estate speculators. These speculators formed the Ravenswood Land Company and purchased 194 acres of farmland and woods eight miles north of Chicago. The conflation of Ravenswood and Lincoln Square is a common mistake — the two are not interchangeable. The boundaries of the original Ravenswood subdivision, drawn in 1869, were Montrose, Lawrence, Clark and Damen.
Back in the 1920s, the University of Chicago divided the city into 77 well-defined "community areas." Ravenswood didn't make the cut as a standalone entity, rather it was folded into Lincoln Square. In short, according to U. of C., Ravenswood is a subset of Lincoln Square.
The Ravenswood Community Council is clear on this point: "The name Ravenswood remained in popular use, even after the area was officially designated part of the Lincoln Square community area."
Ravenswood is known for its courtyard-style residential buildings. Once considered an "up and coming" neighborhood, Ravenswood has seen its real estate values skyrocket since the 1990s, making it one of the highest valued markets in the city.
The commercially zoned and historic Lincoln Square district is located near the center, while most of the neighborhood is residentially zoned except for stretches along Lawrence, Montrose, Wilson, and Damen Avenues. Ravenswood has good transportation access, with the Brown Line running through the neighborhood, bus lines on several major streets, and a Metra commuter railroad station.
Residents in Ravenswood are zoned to the campuses of the Chicago Public Schools:
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Wikipedia