The section of Hyde Park between 53rd and 55th Streets, and between Harper and Woodlawn Avenue, is the oldest part of our neighborhood. It is also the most modest, the most urban, the most “renewed” – and the least appreciated. The section of Hyde Park between 53rd and 55th Streets, and between Harper and Woodlawn Avenue, is the oldest part of our neighborhood. It is also the most modest, the most urban, the most "renewed" - and the least appreciated.

Notable Locations in Hyde Park Center

5459 S. Kenwood Ave.Brick cottages, before 1890
Nichols Park (opposite/west side) 200+ buildings cleared during urban renewal
5420 S. Kimbark Ave. Crate frame cottage, before 1880
E. 54th St. & S. Kimbark Ave., SE corner Site of Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church
1362 E. 54th St. (Murray School) Proposed site of Hyde Park town hall
5405 S. Ridgewood Ct. Original farm house for this area, before 1890
5437-39-41-43 S. Ridgewood Ct. Brick cottages, 1882
5456-58 S. Ridgewood Ct. Companions to 5457-59 S. Kenwood Ave.
5474 S. Dorchester Ave. Frame cottage, before 1871
5448-50 S. Dorchester Ave. Frame duplex, before 1890
5436-38-40-42 S. Dorchester Ave. Companions to 5437-43 S. Ridgewood Ct.
5420-22 S. Dorchester Ave. Frame duplex, before 1890
5317 S. Dorchester Ave-Henry Work house, 1860, oldest house in Hyde Park
5322-24-26-28 S. Blackstone Ave. Masonry row houses, 1875
5401 S. Blackstone Ave., SE corner Site of Hyde Park M. E. Church
5418-20 S. Blackstone Ave. Frame duplex, 1887
5417 S. Blackstone Ave. Frame single family, 1868
5424-26-28-30-32-34-35 S. Blackstone Ave. Frame cottages, 1890
5416 S. Harper Ave. A"villa," 1892

After the Chicago fire of 1871 Hyde Park Center grew quickly. Close to the Illinois Central commuter station at 53rd and Lake Park and to the 55th Street cable car line, it offered convenient and inexpensive transport for middle and lower class workers to the new jobs in the Loop to the north, the steel mills to the south and the Stock Yards to the west. Eager real estate developers built small cottages and narrow row houses on tiny lots. No valuable land was wasted on large yards or parkways to the front or on alleys at the rear. Many of these buildings were made of inexpensive wood , a practice prohibited north of 39th Street by the new Chicago fire regulations, but allowed in the independent Village of Hyde Park until it was annexed by Chicago in 1889. The style of the houses was simple and utilitarian in contrast to the Italian villas, French chateaux and English castles of the more wealthy surrounding parts of the neighborhood. Hyde Park Center offered modest houses in a dense urban setting to average working families.Because both the houses and the residents were more modest, this section of the neighborhood was especially vulnerable to post-World War II land clearance projects. More than half of the structures in Hyde Park Center were demolished, including three churches and scores of convenient mixed-use retail/commercial/residential buildings. Most of what is now Nichols Park and the Murray School campus was once packed with small wooden and brick houses.Much of the original Hyde Park Center remains and, although often over looked, it is a joy to explore. Notice the brickwork and stone carving, the carpentry, the arrangement of the windows, the roof gables and the porches, and notice how many different kinds of houses there are. But also listen to how these houses talk to one another, like neighbors. What can still be seen and heard on the streets of Hyde Park Center are the beautiful modest houses that nurtured the beginnings of city life for average people like ourselves.The photography and Graphic Design for the "The Evolution of Hyde Park" was created by David Schalliol for a program offered by the Hyde Park Historical Society on March 1st of 2008. This included a presentation by Jack Spicer and the opening of a photo exhibit by David Schalliol. The photographs on this site of the Hyde Park houses were all taken by David Schalliol.All materials collected for this project (maps, photos, documents, interviews. etc.) are housed at:Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Libraryunder the title: Hyde Park Center Project and are available for viewing and research.1100 East 57th StreetChicago, Illinois60637-1596773-702-8705specialcoliections@lib.uchicago.edu

Hyde Park Center is a project of:The Hyde Park Historical Society5529 S Lake Park Avenue Chicago, IL 60637773-493-1893