Pulaski Road (Chicago)

Pulaski Road is a major north-south thoroughfare in the city of Chicago, at 4000 W., or exactly five miles west of State Street. It is named after revolutionary war hero Casimir Pulaski. It still retains its former name, Crawford Avenue, in the north suburbs of Lincolnwood, Skokie, Evanston and Wilmette, north of Devon Avenue (6400 N) and south from the Chicago City Limits to Lincoln Highway US-30. Prior to 1913, Pulaski Road was known as 40th Avenue. That name lasted until 1935 when, over local opposition and a legal battle all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court, it was named after Pulaski.^[1]

Chicago neighborhoods and suburbs

From north to south:

• Wilmette (Suburb)
• Evanston (Suburb)
• Skokie (Suburb)
• Lincolnwood (Suburb)
• Forest Glen (City of Chicago)
• North Park (City of Chicago)
• Albany Park (City of Chicago)
• Irving Park (City of Chicago)
• Avondale (City of Chicago)
• Logan Square (City of Chicago)
• Hermosa (City of Chicago)
• Humboldt Park (City of Chicago)
• West Garfield Park (City of Chicago)
• North Lawndale (City of Chicago)
• South Lawndale (City of Chicago)
• Archer Heights (City of Chicago)
• West Elsdon (City of Chicago)
• West Lawn (City of Chicago)
• Ashburn (City of Chicago)
• Evergreen Park (Suburb)
• Oak Lawn (Suburb)
• Mount Greenwood (City of Chicago)
• Alsip (Suburb)
• Robbins (Suburb)
• Crestwood (Suburb)
• Midlothian (Suburb)
• Markham (Suburb)
• Country Club Hills (Suburb)
• Olympia Fields (Suburb)
• Matteson (Suburb)

Points of interest

• Bohemian National Cemetery is located on Pulaski between Bryn Mawr and Foster.
• At 4650 North Pulaski Road there is the 17th District of Chicago Police Department.
• Pulaski passes by the Villa District between Avondale and Addison streets.
• Pulaski runs through Chicago's Polish Village, the famous "Polish Patches of Jackowo and Wacławowo at Milwaukee Avenue.
• Caryl Yasko's famous mural Razem, Chicago's only outdoor Polish-themed mural, which combines Polish patriotic and folkloric motifs with American Street Art is located on Belmont Avenue just west of its intersection with Pulaski.^[2]
• Pulaski ran past the site of one of Chicago's Seven Lost Wonders, the Olson Park and Waterfall complex which was located at the northwest corner of Pulaski and Diversey.^[3]
• Around Monroe Street is the Henry E. Legler Regional Branch of the Chicago Public Library.^[4] a building on the National Register of Historic Places.
• At Archer Avenue (approximately 50th Street), Pulaski passes by Curie Metro High School, named for another famous Pole as well as the Polish Highlanders Alliance of North America nearby .
• The corner of 63rd and Pulaski is known for a Giant Native American Statue on top of a Cigar Store that has been converted into an optometrist.
• At 65th Street sits the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, and at 75th Street is Richard J. Daley College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago.
• Brother Rice High School is at 100th Street.
• At 111th Street sits the campus of the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, home to the last remaining farm within the Chicago city limits, which stretches south to 115th.

Additionally, a number of prominent Polish churches in Chicago are located on side streets just off of Pulaski Road such as St. Hyacinth Basilica as well as St. Wenceslaus.

References