Avondale

My neighborhood, aka Jackowo, according to Wikipedia. I’ve never heard my Polish-speaking friend, who also lives here, mention it having a different name. This is a neighborhood in Chicago that even long-time Chicago residents have never heard of, so I tell everyone that I live in the adjacent neighborhood.

1 Comment so far

  1. Carter on April 7th, 2009

    Avondale has had an identity problem since they ran the expressway from its SE to NW corner, in the process wiping out much of what was the neighborhood’s flagship park.

    It’s older history is here:

    http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/98.html

    and more info here:

    http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/parks.detail/object_id/454F3D58-8D95-48B4-944B-9EF2C1A8E1B9.cfm

    You’ve got to dig quite a bit to find anything after the Kennedy construction, I grew up almost directly west (3 miles, around St Alphonsus) and never knew the area by name.

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