Mount Greenwood, Chicago
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Community Area 74 - Mount Greenwood Location within the city of Chicago |
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| ZIP Code | part of 60655 | |
| Area | 7.07 km² (2.73 mi²) | |
| Population (2000) Density |
18,820 (down 1.87% from 1990) 2,661.7 /km² |
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| Demographics | White Black Hispanic Asian Other |
93.58% 3.59% 3.84% 0.32% 1.26% |
| Median income | $57,493 | |
| Source: U.S. Census, Record Information Services | ||
Mount Greenwood is a predominantly Irish-Catholic neighborhood on the Southwest Side of Chicago. It neighbors the Chicago neighborhoods of Beverly and Morgan Park to the east, the suburb of Evergreen Park to the north, the suburb of Oak Lawn to the west, and the suburbs of Merrionette Park and Alsip to the south.
Even though there were a small number of settlers in Mt. Greenwood, the origins of Mt. Greenwood began in 1877 when it was surveyed by George Waite. Mr. Waite established an area where he could trade with the local Native Americans. Mount Greenwood Cemetery was established around this time by Mr. Waite. With the cemetery came the saloons and restaurants and eventually tracks for horse and greyhound racing. Mt. Greenwood became part of Chicago in 1927. It was not until 1936 that the Works Progress Administration finally laid sewage systems, and paved and lighted city streets. As late as the 1960s, the Mount Greenwood Civic Association was still fighting the city for curbs and gutters.
Mount Greenwood is home to many Chicago Firefighters and Police Officers of Irish heritage.
Most of Mt. Greenwood's population is also Roman Catholic. Most students in the area attend Catholic elementary schools and high schools. Mount Greenwood is home to two Catholic elementary schools (Queen of Martyrs and St. Christina), three Catholic high schools (Brother Rice High School, Marist High School, and Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School) and a Catholic university (Saint Xavier University).
Mount Greenwood is home to the last surviving farm in the city, which was developed as the Chicago High School for Agricultural Studies, a magnet school.
The community is the subject of a book by sociologist Maria Kefalas: Working-Class Heroes: Protecting Home, Community, and Nation in a Chicago Neighborhood (2003). Kefalas is an associate professor of sociology at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia.
[edit] Chicago Public Library Branch
Mount Greenwood, like many other Chicago neighborhoods, has its own branch of the Chicago Public Library. The library in this area looks identical to the Hegewisch Branch of the Chicago Public Library.
John R. Powers wrote a fictionalized account of his experience growing up in Mount Greenwood in The Last Catholic in America (1973). Powers called the neighborhood "Seven Holy Tombs" in the book.
[edit] External links
- Official City of Chicago Mount Greenwood Community Map
- ChicagoIrish.org
- Daily Southtown photo coverage of Mount Greenwood
- Encyclopedia of Chicago entry on Mount Greenwood
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