Lincoln Square, Chicago - Neighborhood History


July 5, 2008

Before it was ever called Lincoln Square, people were drawn to the area surrounding Lincoln, Lawrence and Western Avenues because they wanted to live somewhere a little greener and a little removed from the densely populated parts of Chicago. When the first few settlers arrived in the early 1800s, they established their homes in the forests and prairies outside Chicago. One of the area's first residents was Swiss immigrant Conrad Sulzer, the namesake of the north side regional library branch now located in Lincoln Square.

After the Chicago Fire in 1871, more people moved to the area so that they could build the wood-frame homes that had been prohibited within Chicago's city limits due to the new fire codes. Those who couldn't afford to build more costly brick or stone homes brought their families to the villages on the city's outskirts. By 1885, the area's first realtor, the Clark Real Estate Office opened at Lincoln and Wilson. Yet large portions of land still sat empty until after the turn of the century.

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From Fields to Family Homes What we know today as Lincoln Square grew from a series of small villages and settlements such as West Ravenswood, Bowmanville, Winnemac and Summerdale. The area had a number of farms, including an onion farm, the Budlong Pickle Farm to the north, as well as some truck farms and cow pastures. Immigrants traveled from far corners of the city to work these fields.

From the time it was populated, the neighborhood always had access to public transportation. Horse cars brought riders up Western until the 1890s when they were replaced by the electric streetcars that survived until the 1950s. And the arrival of the elevated train was what precipitated the neighborhood's first boom. As late as 1902, just a few homes dotted the landscape and itinerant people still camped in the woods at Western and Montrose. But when the Ravenswood branch of the Northwestern "L" began shuttling riders as far as Western in May of 1907, that changed the neighborhood forever. Rapid Transit, Rapid Growth In the late 1800s, real estate speculators began buying up parcels of land in the Lincoln Square area. The same speculators were also financial backers of the Ravenswood branch of the "L." Although few people lived beyond Western at that time, the developers paid to extend the train line to Kimball by the end of 1907 with plans to build homes for the future riders. The train quickly became a popular mode of transit, and only a few months after it opened carried about 10,000 passengers a day. It didn't take long for homes to spring up all along the tracks, and for German, Irish, Greek, Swedish, Polish and Italian families to fill them. People moved in waves to the area, which was known as a safe and clean neighborhood where they could breathe "hygienic air" and raise their families away from the industrial pollution and threat of disease common in Chicago's heavily populated neighborhoods. To serve the growing community, merchants established a thriving business district along Lincoln and Western Avenues.

Business Thrives in Lincoln Square All that growth did not go unnoticed. The city of Chicago eventually annexed the area, then in 1923 officially named the region Lincoln Square. By that time, the neighborhood was a bustling business district, with a hotel, several banks, grocery stores, shoe stores, furniture stores, commercial laundries and department stores. The Bowmanville National Bank, now Corus Bank, was built in 1922. Dieden's Department Store, which opened in 1906, was located at Lawrence and Lincoln, and Abrahams Department Store was located in the building that now houses Lincoln Square Optical (4740 N. Lincoln), where it remained open until 1993. There were several theatres, including the Pershing Theatre (now the Davis, 4614 N. Lincoln), the Bertha Theatre (now Degerberg Academy of Martial Arts, 4717 N. Lincoln) and the Leland Theatre (where Merz Apothecary is now, 4716 N. Lincoln). During Prohibition, the current Leland Liquors location (4660 N. Western) operated as a speakeasy. In the 1930s, the Chicago Brauhaus space (4732 N. Lincoln) hosted an indoor mini golf course. Because of the neighborhood's economic strength, the Depression had less of an impact on Lincoln Square's businesses and residents than in many other areas of the country. The strong community of Lincoln Square business owners eventually banded together to found the Lincoln Square Chamber of Commerce in 1948. Lincoln Square's Changing Face As the neighborhood grew, it began to draw large populations of German immigrants. Some of Chicago's estimated 130,000 German immigrants had lived in the area since it was first settled. But around the time of World War II, the German population expanded until Lincoln Square was known as Chicago's German neighborhood. You can still see the influence that the German residents brought the area today, in businesses like Delicatessen Meyer (4750 N. Lincoln) and in the German-influenced public art. The next cultural wave arrived in the 1960s, when Greek families who were displaced by the construction of the University of Illinois at Chicago campus and the Eisenhower Expressway began moving to the neighborhood. By the 1970s, Lincoln Square had the largest concentration of Greek residents of any neighborhood in the city. Remnants of the Greek influence still remain in restaurants like Barba Yianni Grecian Taverna (4761 N. Lincoln) and the St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox parish (2727 W. Winona). Today, Lincoln Square is a blend of cultures, each of which brings the area a rich layer to experience.

Change Returns Again In 1978, Lincoln Square experienced a series of renovations that transformed it into the configuration we know today. The city of Chicago began a project that redirected the flow of traffic away from Lincoln for one block between Leland and Lawrence to simplify the traffic patterns at the Lincoln, Lawrence and Western intersection. At the same time, the CTA replaced the old Western "L" station with a modernized and expanded one. The old post office building, which was located at the corner of Western and Leland, was demolished and a new one was built a block west on Lawrence Avenue. Several city parking lots were added for shoppers and commuters. The city also created Giddings Plaza, a community space for neighborhood events. And new signs were installed that marked the area as Lincoln Square. Nearly 25 years later, Lincoln Square is experiencing another renaissance. A new renovation project has replaced all the well-worn street furniture from the 1970s with new fixtures. The streets and sidewalks of Lincoln Avenue have been refaced, re-bricked and repaved. New archways designate the entrance and exit of the Lincoln Avenue shopping district. And a completely rebuilt Giddings Plaza features a permanent stage to serve as the centerpiece for the neighborhood's frequent summer concerts and festivals. Still a Green, Clean Place to Live In some ways, Lincoln Square still offers the same advantages that it did to the first waves of people who moved here. It's still a quiet, green neighborhood with a little extra room to breathe. It's also a great place to do business, and a great place to find specialty items to suit all tastes. Even in this car-dominated age, you will find Lincoln Square's streets busy with pedestrians throughout the day and night. People are still attracted to the possibilities in Lincoln Square and move here to start businesses, families and new lives.

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