Skokie, Illinois
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| Incorporated | Village in 1888. | |||||||||||||||
| County, State | Cook County, Illinois | |||||||||||||||
| Township | Niles | |||||||||||||||
| Government | Council-manager | |||||||||||||||
| Mayor | George Van Dusen | |||||||||||||||
| Population (2000) | 63,348 (up 6.6% from 1990) | |||||||||||||||
| Pop. density | 2,436.1/km² (6,308.7/mi²) | |||||||||||||||
| Zip code(s) | 60076, 60077 | |||||||||||||||
| Area code | 847 & 224 | |||||||||||||||
| Land Area | 2.62 km² (10.1 mi²) | |||||||||||||||
| Lat. / long. | ||||||||||||||||
| Income | Per capita: $27,136 Household: $57,375 |
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| Home value | Mean: $235,000 (2001) Median: $209,700 |
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| Website | skokie.org | |||||||||||||||
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Skokie (formerly Niles Center) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of Chicago, located 16 and a half miles north-northwest of the Loop. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 63,348. The Yellow Line of the Chicago Transit Authority rapid transit system (formerly known as the "Skokie Swift"), has its terminus on Dempster Street in Skokie. Plans are underway to build a new station at Oakton Street, serving downtown Skokie and nearby neighborhoods. The station is slated to open in 2008.
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[edit] Geography
Skokie is located at (42.037030, -87.740070)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 26.0 km² (10.0 mi²), all land.
Skokie is bordered by Evanston, Chicago, Lincolnwood, Niles, Morton Grove, Glenview and Wilmette.
Skokie has a standard grid street pattern with major east-west streets every half a mile. Major east-west streets are Old Orchard Road, Golf Road, Church Street, Dempster Street, Main Street, Oakton Street, Howard Street, and Touhy Avenue. The major north-south streets are Skokie Boulevard, Crawford Avenue, and McCormick Boulevard. Major diagonal streets are Lincoln Avenue, Niles Center Road, and Gross Point Road.
North-South streets continue street names and grid values of Chicago North-South streets, with the notable exceptions of Cicero Avenue, which is renamed Skokie Boulevard in Skokie, and Pulaski, which retains Chicago's original name of Crawford. East-West streets continue Evanston street names but assign the Chicago grid values to them, such that Evanston's Dempster, for example, is 8800 north in Skokie addresses. As a result, Skokie has two Greenleafs, the one continuing west from Chicago's Rogers Park south of Touhy and one continuing west from Evanston south of Dempster.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 63,348 people, 23,223 households, and 17,045 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,436.1/km² (6,308.7/mi²). There were 23,702 housing units at an average density of 911.5/km² (2,360.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 65.6% White, 4.51% African American, 0.17% Native American, 21.28% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.86% from other races, and 3.23% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.71% of the population.
There were 23,223 households out of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.5% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.6% were non-families. 23.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.20.
In the village the population was spread out with 23.0% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 19.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 90.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.2 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $57,375, and the median income for a family was $68,253. Males had a median income of $44,869 versus $33,051 for females. The per capita income for the village was $27,136. About 4.2% of families and 5.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.9% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] History
Skokie was originally incorporated in 1888 with the name Niles Centre. Historians estimate that around 1910, the spelling was changed to Niles Center. Confusion was caused by the neighboring village of Niles (both villages were within Niles Township), and a campaign emerged to change the village's name by the late 1930s. The community became known as the Village of Skokie (see below) on November 15, 1940.
Village land was widely subdivided during the real estate boom of the 1920's. Many two and three flat apartment buildings, and Chicago style bungalows were built at the time, however, the market crash of 1929 halted widespread development. It wasn't till the 1940's and 1950's, when the baby-boomer generation moved their families to the suburbs, did Skokie's housing development take off again. The 1950's also brought commercial development like the Old Orchard Shopping Center, now Westfield Old Orchard, considered to this day as one of the North Shore's premier shopping destinations.
[edit] Toponymy
According to Virgil Vogel's Indian Place Names in Illinois (Illinois State Historical Society, 1963), the name Skokie may have been derived "directly from 'skoutay' or 'scoti' and variant Algonquian words for fire. The reference is to the fact that the marshy grasslands, such as occurred in the Skokie region were burned over by the Indians in order to flush out the game."
Vogel continues; "Several persons declare that 'Skokie is the Indian word for marsh.' Allowing for corruption this seems correct. Until about 30 years ago the Skokie marsh area was shown on maps as Chewab Skokie. This is probably a derivation from Kitchi-wap choku, the Potawatomi term for a great marsh. This explanation, though lacking documentation, is more credible because it is consistent with the former physiography of the area."
William Bright in the book Native Placenames of the United States (U. of Oklahoma Pr, 2004) lists Vogel's Potawatomi derivation first but adds reference to the Ojibwa term miishkooki which also means marsh. Bright cites the Eastern Ojibwa-Chippewa-Ottawa Dictionary by Richard A Rhodes (Mouton, 1985) as the source of this information.
Another theory is that the name of Skokie originated from a word in the Potawatomi language meaning "Big Swamp".
[edit] Economy
In addition to a strong retail and manufacturing base, the village is poised to add jobs in the Health Sciences. In 2003 Forest City Enterprises announced that they would redevelop the shuttered Pfizer research facilities in downtown Skokie. The Illinois Science + Technology Park is a 23-acre corporate research campus that when complete will offer 2 million square feet of advanced facilities that will include among other things, chemistry and genomics laboratories, clean rooms, NMR suites, research and toxicology labs, and conference facilities. Evanston Northwestern Healthcare announced in 2006 that it would consolidate its Data Center operations to the park, adding 500 jobs.
The Village's AAA bond rating attests to strong economic health and prudent fiscal management. In 2003, Skokie became the first municipality nationwide to achieve nationally accredited Police, Fire, and Public Works Departments, and a Class 1 Fire Department as rated by the Insurance Services Office (ISO). That same year Money Magazine named Skokie among the 80 fastest-growing suburbs in the entire nation.
Rand McNally, a publisher of maps, globes, and atlases, and Rush North Shore Medical Center a 265-bed acute care hospital affiliated with Rush University Medical Center call Skokie home.
[edit] Parks and Recreation
The Skokie Park District protects natural resources, preserves historical sites and provides unique recreational opportunities within its more than 240 acres of parkland and in its ten facilities. The district is a recent winner of the national "Gold Medal for Excellence" in parks and recreation management. Skokie is home to one of the most diverse populations in the Chicago suburbs. To celebrate this diversity, every May since 1991, the park district hosts the Skokie Festival of Cultures.
Skokie also has a sculpture garden that is situated between McCormick Avenue and north channel of the Chicago river (Sanitary canal). It was started in 1988 and now has over 70 sculptures. Website address: http://www.sculpturepark.org/
Just north of the scupture garden is a statue to Mahatma Gandhi with five of his famous quotations engraved around the base. This was dedicated on October 2, 2004. http://www.skokienet.org/gandhimemorial/memorial.htm
The Village is also home the the state of the art [North Shore Center for the Performing Arts](NSCPAS), home to Centre East, Northlight Theatre, and Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra. The facility celebrated it's 10th anniversary in 2006.
[edit] Local media
[edit] Skokie Media With Websites
- Skokie Review - local website of the weekly Sun-Times Newspaper Group publication.
- Backfence.com - local citizen media website with neighborhood news, operated by a company in Virginia with offices in Northbrook.
[edit] Schools
See SkokieNet's School page [1] for the most complete listing of Skokie's public and private schools with links to their websites.
[edit] High schools
See this map for the borders between the districts.
- Niles West of District 219
- Niles North of District 219
- Niles East High School, formerly of District 219 (does not exist anymore)
- Evanston Township High School of District 202 (only serves students who live on the border of Skokie and Evanston east of Crawford, south of Golf and north of Greenleaf St. in zipcode 60203 and a small part of zipcode 60076)
[edit] Elementary schools
See this map for the borders between districts.
- Jane Stenson School (K through 5th) of District 68
- Devonshire School (K through 5th) of District 68
- Highland School (K through 5th) of District 68
- Madison School (pre-K through 2nd) of District 69
- Edison School (3rd through 5th) of District 69
- Fairview North formerly of District 72
- Fairview South School (K through 8th) of District 72
- Cleveland School (K through 6th) of District 73.5 (school closed and building razed)
- Elizabeth Meyer School (pre-K and K) of District 73.5
- John Middleton School (1st through 5th) of District 73.5
- East Prairie School (Pre-K through 8th) of District 73
- Walker Elementary School (K through 5th, located in Skokie) of Skokie/Evanston District 65
- Dr. Bessie Rhodes Magnet School (K through 8th, located in Skokie) of Skokie/Evanston District 65, formerly Timber Ridge Magnet School (may be attended by Skokie students in District 65)
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Laboratory School (K through 8th magnet school, located in Evanston) of Skokie/Evanston District 65 (may be attended by Skokie students in District 65)
[edit] Jewish day schools
- Arie Crown Hebrew Day School (pre-K through 8th) Orthodox Judaism
- Cheder Lubavitch Hebrew Day School (pre-K through 8th) Orthodox Judaism, separate boys and girls programs
- Hillel Torah North Suburban Day School (pre-K through 8th) Orthodox Judaism
- Skokie Solomon Schechter Day School (K through 5th) Conservative Judaism
- Fasman Yeshiva High School (9th through 12th) Orthodox Judaism, boys only
[edit] Catholic elementary schools
See also the parish websites.
[edit] Junior high schools
See the same map as elementary schools.
- Oliver McCracken Middle School (formerly Oakview Junior High) of District 73.5
- East Prairie Middle School of District 73
- Fairview South School of District 72
- Lincoln Junior High of District 69
- Old Orchard Junior High of District 68
- Chute Middle School (located in Evanston) of Skokie/Evanston District 65
[edit] Higher education
- Oakton Community College (Ray Hartstein Campus) This is the site of the old Niles East High School. The original structure, built in the 1930's, was demolished in the 1990's.
[edit] Library
[edit] Population trends
- 1900 - 529
- 1910 - 568
- 1920 - 763
- 1930 - 5,007
- 1940 - 7,172
- 1950 - 14,832
- 1960 - 59,364
- 1970 - 68,627
- 1980 - 60,278
- 1990 - 59,432
- 2000 - 63,348
- 2002 - 63,126 (estimate)
- 2004 - 63,965
[edit] Controversies and tragedy
Skokie is the traditional home of a sizable Jewish population, although in recent years the town has significantly diversified and much of the Jewish population has moved to other suburbs. In 1977 and 1978, members of the National Socialist Party of America (an offshoot of the American Nazi Party) attempted to march through Skokie. The NSPA planned to rally in Marquette Park, Chicago; the city reacted by placing a ban on all demonstrations in the park. Seeking another venue, the NSPA chose Skokie. On account of the large number of Holocaust survivors in Skokie, it was believed that the march would be disruptive, and the village refused to allow it. The American Civil Liberties Union interceded on the behalf of the NSPA in National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie, and the march was permitted to proceed under court order but they were not permitted to show or wear the swastika. However, due to the recant of the Marquette Park ban, the NSPA ultimately rallied in Chicago. In 1981, the incident was documented in the network TV movie, "Skokie".
In 1999, Creativity disciple Benjamin Nathaniel Smith went on a random shooting spree randomly targeting members of racial and ethnic minorities in drive-by shootings in Illinois and Indiana, during the weekend of July 4. Among those killed was former Northwestern University basketball coach, African American Ricky Byrdsong near Byrdsong's house in Skokie.
In December 2000, Skokie's courthouse on Old Orchard Road became the stage for yet another anti-Semitic organization, the Ku Klux Klan. Anti-Racist Action and the Jewish Defense League made counter-protests.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Village of Skokie
- Brief history of Skokie
- Skokie History Center
- SkokieNet Community Information Network
- archive on the Nazi march
- The ACLU and the Skokie march
- Skokie Festival of Cultures
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
