3. ChicagoChicago’s changing’s changing
neighborhoodsneighborhoods
Chicago historian Dominic Pacyga characterizes
Chicago as a snake that transforms itself every
generation, shedding its old skin to emerge a new and
different creature. The city’s neighborhoods reflect
various social incarnations that can be read as layers in
the surrounding cityscape.
7. Largest Polish City after Warsaw?Largest Polish City after Warsaw?
Well maybe many moons agoWell maybe many moons ago
There are about 9-10 million
Americans of Polish descent.
Chicago bills itself as the largest
Polish city outside of Poland,
with approximately 185,000
Polish language speakers.
Name 1900 2007
Warsaw 756,400 1,706,624
Krakow 120,300 756,583
8. Polish Organizations inPolish Organizations in
ChicagoChicago
The Polish Museum of America
Polish American Association
Polish American Congress
Polish National Alliance
Polish Falcons
Polish Highlanders Alliance of North America
10. Avondale neighborhood-Avondale neighborhood-
The Polish VillageThe Polish Village
This area is referred to as Jackowo (pronounced Yahtskovo) and Wac awowo inł
Polish based on the churches in the area. Owo has the same function as “ville”
or “ton” in English.
11. Avondale:Avondale:
The Polish VillageThe Polish Village
The Polish Village (Jackowo and Wac awowo), together make upł
one of Chicago's largest and most vibrant Polish Patches.
The neighborhoods derive their Polish names from the two
contiguous Polish Roman Catholic parishes- Saint Hyacinth's
Basilica and St. Wenceslaus Church.
Milwaukee Avenue is the district's main commercial strip with
dozens of sausage shops, restaurants, bakeries etc.
In English the area is usually referred to as the Polish Village - the
name featured on signs hung on street lamps over the district.
Pulaski Avenue, named after the Polish Revolutionary War hero,
runs through the area.
12. Casimir Pulaski Day is a holiday
observed in Illinois on the first Monday
of every March in memory of Casimir
Pulaski, a Revolutionary War cavalry
officer born in Poland.
The day is celebrated mainly in areas
that have large Polish populations, such
as Chicago. The focus of official
commemorations of Casimir Pulaski
Day in Chicago is at the Polish
Museum of America where various city
and state officials congregate to pay
tribute to Chicago's Polish Community.
Illinois enacted a law on June 20, 1977,
to celebrate the birthday of Casimir
Pulaski and held the first official
Pulaski Day celebrations in 1978.
Casmir Pulaski
13. Avondale and the OldAvondale and the Old
Polish DowntownPolish Downtown
Many Polish patches and
neighborhoods in Chicago
historically.
The Original Polish Downtown
neighborhood was around
Division, Ashland and Milwaukee
Avondale is connected to the
Polish Downtown by Milwaukee
Avenue
Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago is
known as the Polish Corridor or
Polish Broadway.
Map of the Old Polish Downtown
which is South and East of
Avondale
14.
15.
16. Old Polish DowntownOld Polish Downtown
Today the area is gentrified.
Young, hip Wicker Park
neighborhood
But layers of the old landscape
persist
Polish National Museum in Old
Polish Downtown
17. 1. St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, Rectory, and Elementary School, 1351 W. Evergreen Street
2. Holy Trinity Church and Rectory, 1120 N Noble Street
3. Holy Trinity Elementary School, now Polish offices, 1135 N. Cleaver Street
6. St. Stanislaus Gymnasium, now residential, 1521 W. Haddon Avenue
7. Polish Roman Catholic Union of America and Polish Museum of America, 984 N. Milwaukee Avenue
8. Polish National Alliance, now College of Office Technology, 1520 W. Division Street
9. Chopin Theater, 1543 W. Division Street
10. Polish Welfare Association, now other businesses, 1303 N. Ashland Avenue
11. Polish Women’s Alliance, now residential, 1309 N. Ashland Avenue
14. Home Bank, now Mb Financial, 1200 N. Ashland Avenue
15. Polish Veterans Home, now art gallery, 1239 N. Wood Street
16. Falcons Hall, now other uses, 1062 N. Ashland Avenue
23. A holdover from another era when neighborhood taverns on side streets in Chicago were
almost as common as corporate chain drugstores are today. The ethnic character of this
establishment’s proprietors is well established by the name, along with the words advertising
Zimne Piwo (cold beer) below the Old Style logo.
24. An ad on the side of Pasieka Bakery at the corner of Lawndale and
Milwaukee charms passersby by declaring it has “the best” baked goods in
town.
25. Religious Landscape:Religious Landscape:
Two Polish Catholic ChurchesTwo Polish Catholic Churches
St. Hyacinth (1894) St. Wenceslaus (1912)
It is a prime example of the so-
called "Polish Cathedral style" of
churches in both its opulence and
grand scale.
Built as the Polish population
swelled in the area.
46. One can’t appreciate the built environment of Avondale without grasping
its prominent industrial character. From Florsheim Shoes to Olson Rug,
factories here produced goods that were shipped across the country,
alongside a host of smaller scale, and often family-owned, industrial
operations.
This vintage shot from 1970s of Dad’s Root Beer factory.
51. As one immigrant group movesAs one immigrant group moves
out, the next moves inout, the next moves in
Sequent Occupance:
The succeeding stages of
human inhabitation over
time on one site. Each
stage is seen as being
established by its
predecessor, although
the sequence will almost
certainly be interrupted
by outside forces.
54. Two Cultures
At right is a prominent sign on the
Polish Village’s commercial strip
along Milwaukee Avenue, along
with a Latino vendor selling paletas
(Latin American ice pops) beneath
it, an indication of the increased
Hispanic presence in the area.
60. ChicagoChicago’s changing’s changing
neighborhoodsneighborhoods
Chicago historian Dominic Pacyga characterizes
Chicago as a snake that transforms itself every
generation, shedding its old skin to emerge a new and
different creature. The city’s neighborhoods reflect
various social incarnations that can be read as layers in
the surrounding cityscape.
