Cermak Road

Cermak Road, formerly 22nd Street, is a major east-west artery on Chicago's near south side and the city's western suburbs. It is named for Anton Cermak, the Czech immigrant who became mayor of Chicago and was assassinated in 1933. 22nd Street was chosen to honor Cermak because it passes through the neighborhoods of Pilsen and Lawndale, both at the time heavily Czech-American. The adjoining suburbs of Cicero and Berwyn were also home to a large Czech population during the first half of the twentieth century.

Points of interest

Starting behind McCormick Place, a huge exposition center that straddles Lake Shore Drive, Cermak Road heads west past Chinatown, over the south branch of the Chicago River, through a warehouse district, and past Benito Juarez Community Academy. At the corner of Cermak Road and Marshall Boulevard is the famous Apollo 2000 theater.^[1] It leaves the city limits at Cicero Avenue and passes through the towns of Cicero, and Berwyn, and suburbs to the west.

Near the intersection of Cermak Road and 54th Avenue, there is an rapid transit station that is the terminus of the Chicago Transit Authority Pink Line. At Harlem Avenue, there is a shopping center called Cermak Plaza. It was home to the former Spindle sculpture, a tall spike with eight cars stuck through it like a Shish Kebab.

References