South Shore, Chicago
| South Shore | |
|---|---|
| Community area | |
| Community Area 43 - South Shore | |
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 Location within the city of Chicago |
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| Coordinates: 41°45.6′N 87°34.8′W / 41.7600°N 87.5800°WCoordinates: 41°45.6′N 87°34.8′W / 41.7600°N 87.5800°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| County | Cook |
| City | Chicago |
| Neighborhoods |
list
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| Area | |
| • Total | 2.97 sq mi (7.69 km2) |
| Population (2014) | |
| • Total | 51,450 |
| • Density | 17,000/sq mi (6,700/km2) |
| Demographics 2010 | |
| • White | 1.29% |
| • Black | 95.02% |
| • Hispanic | 1.72% |
| • Asian | 0.2% |
| • Other | 1.77% |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP Codes | 60649 and parts of 60619, 60637 |
| Median household income | $27,903 |
| Source: U.S. Census, Record Information Services | |
South Shore is one of 77 defined community areas of Chicago, Illinois, United States. A predominantly African American neighborhood on the city's South Side, the area is named for its location along the city's southern lakefront. Although South Shore has seen a greater than 40% decrease in residents since Chicago's population peaked in the 1950s, the area remains is one of the most densely populated neighborhoods on the South Side. The community benefits from its location along the waterfront, its accessibility to Lake Shore Drive, and its proximity to major institutions and attractions such as the University of Chicago, the Museum of Science and Industry, and Jackson Park.
A 1939 description of South Shore stating that it was "predominantly middle class—upper middle class, to be sure, but not social register," offers an antiquated characterization of the community. Though the economic demographics among its residents has varied, for much of its history South Shore has been a generally middle-class enclave. The area, bounded by 67th and 79th streets to the north and south and by Stony Island Avenue and Lake Michigan to the east and west, was mostly swampland in the 1850s when Ferdinand Rohn, a German truck farmer, utilized trails along the area's high ground to transport his goods to Chicago.
Before the community came to be known as South Shore in the 1920s, it was a collection of settlements in southern Hyde Park Township. The names of these settlements—Essex, Bryn Mawr, Parkside, Cheltenham Beach, and Windsor Park—indicate the British heritage of the Illinois Central Railroad and steel mill workers who had come to inhabit them. Most of these settlements were already in place when the Illinois Central built the South Kenwood Station in 1881 at what is now 71st and Jeffrey Boulevard.
As with many South Side Chicago communities, the two events that sparked commercial and residential development were annexation to Chicago in 1889 and the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. The location of the fair in nearby Jackson Park prompted the sale of land and building lots and subsequently a housing explosion. White Protestants fled neighboring Washington Park as immigrants and African Americans moved there. In 1905 these former residents of Washington Park built Jackson Park Highlands, an exclusive residential community ensconced within South Shore. In 1906 they established the South Shore Country Club, a posh 67-acre (27 ha) lakeside playground, which excluded blacks and Jews.
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