South Lawndale, Chicago

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South Lawndale is a community area located on the west side of Chicago, Illinois, more commonly known as the Little Village neighborhood.

**South Lawndale (Chicago, Illinois)**
Community Area 30 - South Lawndale Location within the city of Chicago
Latitude Longitude	41°51.0′N 87°42.6′W
Neighborhoods	Little Village South Lawndale
ZIP Code	parts of 60608 and 60623
Area	11.5 km² (4.44 mi²)
Population (2000) Density	91,071 (up 12.22% from 1990) 7,919.5 /km²
Demographics	Black Hispanic Asian White Other	12.9% 83.0% 0.13% 3.52% 0.41%
Median income	$32,320
Source: U.S. Census, Record Information Services

1 Neighborhoods
- 1.1 Little Village
- 1.2 Marshall Square
2 External links

[edit] Neighborhoods

[edit] Little Village

Little Village is a neighborhood on Chicago's West side, historically designated "South Lawndale" it was popularly known as "Czech California" for many years due to the largest ethnic group being of Bohemian heritage. It is home to the largest Mexican-American population in the midwest, and was formerly the home of large Italian, Polish, Czech, Irish, Lithuanian, Croatian and Slovene ethnic communities. It is located south of the BNSF Railway tracks (Metra's BNSF Railway Line also runs on these tracks) that run south-west from 18th St and Western Ave to 26th St and Cicero Ave and north of the South Branch of the Chicago river, and west of the north/south railroad tracks just west of Western and east of the city limits at Cicero Ave.

The name "Little Village" was reportedly coined by a realtor in the early 1970s to "capture the Bohemian character of the community".^[1] Famous past residents of Little Village include Mayor Anton Cermak, who lived in the 2800 block of S. Millard. Pat Sajak was also a Little Village resident. He attended Gary Elementary Schools and Farragut High School.

The bulk of Little Village falls within the aldermanic boundaries of the 22nd ward (Muñoz). The commercial strip along 26th Street is said to have the second highest business revenue in the city after N. Michigan Ave.

[edit] Marshall Square

Marshall Square is a neighborhood on Chicago's West side, in the northeast corner of the South Lawndale Community Area, named to designate the square formed by Marshall Blvd, 24th Blvd, Cermak Rd., and California Ave. It is bounded roughly by Kedzie Ave. on the west, 26th street on the south, the BNSF Railway tracks (2000 S.) on the north, and the north/south railroad tracks (2500 W) on the east. The bulk of the Marshall Square neighborhood falls within the aldermanic boundaries of the 12th Ward. According to the Chicago Public Library Marshall Square Branch webpage, James A. Marshall, for whom Marshall Boulevard was named, came to Chicago in 1832, opened a dancing school and served as secretary of the Chicago Real Estate Board.

Points of interest include: the art-deco Marshall Square Theater at Cermak and Marshall Blvd., which was originally a vaudeville venue, later a silent movie theater, and currently a venue for banquets, weddings, and Latin music under the current name of "Apollo's 2000"; The massive Carter Harrison High School at 24th Blvd. and Marshall Blvd., now an elementary school named for Maria Saucedo, an area teacher who lost her life in a fire in 1981; and the highly visible statue of Marquette and Joliet which stands at the junction between Marshall and 24th Blvds.

[edit] External links

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