Washington Park, Chicago (Community area)
| Washington Park | |
|---|---|
| Community area | |
| Community Area 40 - Washington Park | |
 Streetmap |
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 Location within the city of Chicago |
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| Coordinates: 41°47.4′N 87°37.2′W / 41.7900°N 87.6200°WCoordinates: 41°47.4′N 87°37.2′W / 41.7900°N 87.6200°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| County | Cook |
| City | Chicago |
| Neighborhoods | |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.48 sq mi (3.83 km2) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 11,717 |
| • Density | 7,900/sq mi (3,100/km2) |
| Demographics 2010 | |
| • White | 0.74% |
| • Black | 97.04% |
| • Hispanic | 0.89% |
| • Asian | 0.1% |
| • Other | 1.23% |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP Codes | parts of 60609, 60615, 60621, 60637 |
| Median household income | $21,899 |
| Source: U.S. Census, Record Information Services | |
Washington Park is a well-defined community area on the South side of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, USA, which gets its name from the neighborhood. It includes the 372 acre (1.5 km²) park named Washington Park, stretching east-west from Cottage Grove Avenue to the Dan Ryan Expressway, and north-south from 51st Street to 63rd. It is home to the DuSable Museum of African American History. The park was the proposed site of the Olympic Stadium and the Olympic Aquatics Center in Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Including the park, the community area hosts two listings on the National Register of Historic Places. It includes and is surrounded by smaller neighborhoods that have gone though notable and often turbulent racial transitions.
In the mid-to-late 19th century, a large number of Irish and German railroad workers and meatpackers made Washington Park home. There was a sprinkling of African American residents in the working-class district south of Garfield Boulevard/55th Street. Affluent American-born European Americans settled the wide north-south avenues that provided a direct route into the Loop 7 miles (11 km) to the north. Cable cars, The Chicago 'L' and wide boulevards contributed to late 19th century prosperity. The wide avenues, especially Grand Boulevard (now named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Drive), provided popular locations for mansions and grand apartments built by many wealthy Chicagoans.
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