Hyde Park, Kenwood, and Woodlawn Neighborhoods. Collection

Historical Note

Before European settlement, the Chicago area functioned as a trade center for various Native American nations, such as the Potawatomi, Myaamia (Miami), and Illiniwek Confederacy nations. Other nations that lived in this region were the Ottawa, Sauk, Ojibwe, Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo), Mascouten, Wea, Delaware, Winnebago, Menominee, and Mesquakie (Fox) nations. The first non-native settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, a Haitian from the French colony of Saint-Domingue, who by 1790 had established a trading settlement near the Chicago River. After several wars and raids between Myaamia and Iroquois nations, in the late 18th century the Ojibwe and Potawatomi nations took control over the Chicago area. It was ultimately the Potawatomi nation that, with the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, ceded their remaining lands in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan to the American government.

Twenty years later, Paul Cornell, a lawyer, real estate spectator, and cousin of the founder of Cornell University, purchased 300 acres of land between 51st and 55th street. Cornell had envisioned creating a residential neighborhood for Chicago businessmen and their families and quickly Hyde Park became that suburban retreat. In 1861, Hyde Park was incorporated as an independent township, called Hyde Park Township, and its boundaries were extended south from 39th to 63rd Streets to 138th Street and west to State Street.

Woodlawn, previous a part of the Hyde Park Township, is a neighborhood south of Hyde Park extending north to 60th Street, south to 67 Street, and west to King Drive. The first non-native settlers of Woodlawn were Dutch farmers who arrived in the 1850s. These farmers were able to sell their produce to merchants via the Illinois Central Railroad, which in 1862 opened a station on 63rd Street.

Kenwood, also a former Hyde Park Township neighborhood, was settled in the 1850s by Chicago individuals who sought a respite from the city. The first of these residents was Dr. John A. Kennicott, who built a home near the Illinois Central Railroad tracks at 48th Street. Dr. Kennicott named his home Kenwood after his ancestral land in Scotland, and eventually the name Kenwood came to be applied to the land between 43rd Street and 51st Street, and west to Cottage Grove Avenue.

In 1889, Hyde Park Township, including the neighborhoods of Kenwood and Woodlawn, was annexed to the city of Chicago.

Though the University of Chicago was originally was located in the Bronzeville neighborhood, on the northwest corner of 35th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue, through the efforts of the American Baptist Education Society and billionaire John D. Rockefeller, the university was moved to Hyde Park in 1890

In 1893, The World’s Columbian Exposition was hosted in Hyde Park-Kenwood and Woodlawn, which, alongside an influx of residents, brought increased attention and development to the neighborhoods. During this period, Hyde Park was an affluent white neighborhood governed by racially segregating covenants that prevented African Americans from purchasing or occupying property.

In the 1950s, Both Hyde Park-Kenwood and Woodlawn experienced racial tensions and declining housing conditions, which led to a “white flight” as middle class white families left the area. In response to deteriorating housing conditions and economic decline, during the 1950s and 1960s the University of Chicago sponsored an urban renewal plan. This plan involved demolishing and redeveloping entire blocks of buildings in disrepair. Significantly, substandard housing primarily populated by low-income African Americans was demolished and replaced, but these former residents could not afford to live in these newly developed areas. The goal of this renewal plan was to create an affluent but diverse community, and after this plan, the average income of Hyde Park increased sharply by 70 percent, but the population of African Americans decreased by 40 percent.