Portage Park, Chicago

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Portage Park (Chicago, Illinois)**
Community Area 15 - Portage Park Location within the city of Chicago
Latitude Longitude	41°57′N 87°45.6′W
Neighborhoods	Portage Park
ZIP Code	parts of 60630, 60634, 60641
Area	10.31 km² (3.98 mi²)
Population (2000) Density	65,340 (up 15.62% from 1990) 6,338.7 /km²
Demographics	White Black Hispanic Asian Other	69.5% 0.51% 23.0% 3.78% 3.21%
Median income	$45,117
Source: U.S. Census, Record Information Services

Portage Park is a neighborhood located on the northwest side of Jefferson Township, Chicago, Illinois. Portage Park has a large Polish community like many neighborhoods on the Northwest Side of Chicago, Illinois.

The area is notable for its Six Corners outdoor shopping district, centered at the intersection of Irving Park Road, Cicero Avenue and the diagonal-running Milwaukee Avenue and for its major park - Portage Park. The name of the park was taken from the major portage linking Lake of Chicago and Chicago River with a prehistoric lake boundary along today's Naragansett Avenue. The present Irving Park Road was so dumpy and soaked with water, that Indians and trappers used it till 1830. to easily transport their canoes to the West.

In the 1840., along with construction of Milwaukee Road (present Milwaukee Avenue), and foundation of village of Jefferson (present district of Jefferson Park), Indians moved Westward, and construction of Irving Park Road begun.

At one time, it was to be called West Irving and was supported with a bus service that continued to the western terminal at Dunning. When the park was created in the 1910's, people of the area chose to call it Portage Park after their new park. When the new grade school was to be named, the community, spearheaded by the PTA of the time, pushed to have the name assigned as Portage Park Grade School. Another school, looking very similar and built at about the same time, to the southwest, near Addison and Central was given the name of Ole A. Thorp. The naming of the Park and then the School firmed up the name of the neighborhood.

The park in Portage park originally had a dirt bottom pond that blended into a cement bottom pool. The hill to the east of the pool that exists now, was the dirt that was removed when the pool was first created when the park was first established. The pond portion of the pool extended to the western edge of this 'hill'. The earliest building in the park is the gynasium, followed by the field house. The staircase to the field house was a circular affair, supported by several cement posts under the platform that was created by a large landing at the second floor.

The WPA was very involved in the creation of the long gone, ROCK HOUSE at the south end of the Park. This 'Rock house' had a small pond area that had goldfish and flower basins. Until the polio epidemic, the water was kept at a substantial depth to support the fish over winter. The flower planters to the north and east of the main entrance off Central at Irving Park Road will give an idea of just what the Rock House looked like. There were seats throughout the half circle structure of flagstone. Except for the overhead wooden canopy, every where you looked there was white flagstone - walls, seats, floor, support pillars. The Chicago Park DIstrict has WPA photos of the structure. The park predates all of the buildings that surround it.

The swimming events of the Pan-American Games were held here in the 1960's in the second pool constructed in the park.

Official City of Chicago Portage Park Community Map
Chicago Landmarks
- Peoples Gas Irving Park Neighborhood Store
Chicago Park District

City of Chicago
History • Neighborhoods • Places and Landmarks • Parks • Architecture • Culture • Theatre • Sports • Media • Colleges and Universities • Public Schools • Economy • Government • Geography • Climate • Metropolitan Area