Bridgeport, Chicago
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Community Area 60 - Bridgeport Location within the city of Chicago |
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| ZIP Code | parts of 60608, 60609 and 60616 | |
| Area | 5.44 km² (2.10 mi²) | |
| Population (2000) Density |
33,694 (up 12.78% from 1990) 6,194.9 /km² |
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| Demographics | White Black Hispanic Asian Other |
41.0% 1.05% 30.2% 26.1% 1.63% |
| Median income | $35,535 | |
| Source: U.S. Census, Record Information Services | ||
Bridgeport is a neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is one of 77 official community areas of Chicago. Historically and still today, a large section of the neighborhood has served as an enclave of the Irish-American community in Chicago, as large numbers of immigrants from Ireland settled in this working class neighborhood beginning in the 1830s. Many of the same Irish immigrants who helped build the Erie Canal later came to Chicago to work on the Illinois and Michigan Canal. Because of inadequate funding for the project, the State of Illinois began issuing "Land Scrip" to the workers rather than paying them with money. A large number of those Irish-Americans who received the scrip used the scrip to purchase canal-owned land to settle at the northern end of the canal, at its junction with the south branch of the Chicago River which is near the original Bridgeport village, named Hardscrabble, centered on what is now the diagonal section of Throop Street [1], the northwest side of the present day official Bridgeport community area. See also South Side Irish and Finley Peter Dunne. Dunne's Mr Dooley charcacter lived on "Archey Road" (present day Archer Avenue, Chicago ) in Bridgeport.
Bridgeport has also been home to a large number of Lithuanian-Americans, particularly along Lituanica Avenue, which runs between 31st and 35th Streets one block west of Halsted. Today, there are also large numbers of first and second generation Mexican-Americans who, like the Irish immigrants of the mid-late 19th Century, also settled in the Bridgeport area due to its affordability and proximity to their work.
The father-son mayors of Chicago, Richard J. and Richard M. Daley, are both Bridgeport natives.
Bridgeport has been the home of five of Chicago's 45 mayors. They are, in order, Edward Kelly, Martin Kennelly, Richard J. Daley, Michael Bilandic, and Richard M. Daley. At one point, Bridgeport held the mayor's office for 46 straight years.
According to the 2000 Census, the population of Bridgeport is 33,694.
[edit] External links
- Official City of Chicago Bridgeport Community Map
- Bridgeport A brief history and look into one of Chicago's oldest neighborhoods
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