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Uptown, Chicago

Encyclopedia : U : UP : UPT : Uptown, Chicago

Skyline of Uptown, looking northeast
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Skyline of Uptown, looking northeast

Uptown, Chicago, Illinois
Detailed area map of Uptown. Neighborhoods shown in blue.
Community Area 03 - Uptown

Location within the city of Chicago
Latitude
Longitude 		[41°58.2′N 87°39.6′W]
Neighborhoods
  • Buena Park
  • Clarendon Park
  • New Chinatown
  • Sheridan Park
  • Uptown
ZIP Code parts of 60613, 60640
Area 6.09 km² (2.35 mi²)
Population (2000)
Density 		63,551 (down 0.45% from 1990)
10,441.3 /km²
Demographics White
Black
Hispanic
Asian
Other 		42.2%
21.1%
19.9%
12.9%
3.89%
Median income $32,328 USD
Source: U.S. Census, Record Information Services

Uptown is a diverse neighborhood located north of Chicago's downtown. As one of Chicago’s 77 community areas, Uptown has officially defined boundaries. They are: Foster on the north; Lake Michigan on the east; Montrose (Ravenswood to Clark), and Irving Park (Clark to Lake Michigan) on the south; Ravenswood (Foster to Montrose), and Clark (Montrose to Irving Park) on the west. Uptown borders three community areas and Lake Michigan. To the north is Edgewater, to the west is Lincoln Square, and to the south is Lake View.

The historical, cultural, and commercial center of Uptown is Broadway, with Uptown Square at the center. In 1900 the Northwestern Elevated Railroad constructed its terminal near Montrose and Broadway (now part of the CTA Red Line). This may be where the neighborhood gets its name since it was the terminal of the rail line that led north from the center of the city. For a time, all northbound trains from downtown ended in Uptown. From here Uptown became known as an entertainment destination. The Aragon Ballroom, Riviera Theater, Uptown Theatre, and Green Mill Jazz Club are all located within a half block of Lawrence and Broadway. Uptown is also home to one of Chicago's most celebrated final resting spots, Graceland Cemetery.

This Uptown landmark has stood at the intersection of Broadway and Lawrence for more than 80 years. Formerly known as the Uptown Bank (and before that, Sheridan Trust & Savings), it is now home to Bridgeview Bank and a number of other businesses.
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This Uptown landmark has stood at the intersection of Broadway and Lawrence for more than 80 years. Formerly known as the Uptown Bank (and before that, Sheridan Trust & Savings), it is now home to Bridgeview Bank and a number of other businesses.

Contents

Uptown Entertainment District

Historically a very popular tourist destination, the [current Uptown Entertainment District] is home to various music venues, nightclubs, restaurants and shops. The Uptown Entertainment District is now experiencing a revival, with new restaurants and shops opening every year. Uptown Square, at the center of the Uptown Entertainment District, was designated as a National Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. Uptown is also a stop for Chicago [Gangster tours], with many locations tied to famous gangsters such as John Dillinger, Al Capone, Machine Gun Jack McGurn, Roger "The Terrible" Touhy and others.

Aragon Ballroom

The [Aragon Ballroom], probably the most famous ballroom in America, is [still a very popular music venue]. During the 1920's and 1930's, most of the nation's well-known jazz groups played the Aragon. Live radio broadcasts from the Aragon helped promote the Aragon's entertainers throughout the Midwest and beyond. Hotels quickly sprang up in the Uptown area, and it became a mecca for young adults who visited Chicago to dance to the Big Bands of the 1940's and 1950's. Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Lawrence Welk, Guy Lombardo, Wayne King and other famous bandleaders often played there. In decades to follow, a very diverse selection of "big name" groups have performed, including The Rolling Stones, U2, The Doors, Snoop Dogg, The Kinks, Dino Latino, Dr. John, Grateful Dead, B.B. King, Nirvana, Circuit Mom and many others.

Riviera Theater

The [Riviera Theater], also a popular music venue, was once a Jazz Age movie palace which featured live jazz performances with the movies. In the 1960's, the seats were removed on the main floor and it was converted to a concert venue.

Green Mill Jazz Club

The [Green Mill Jazz Club] is on the site of a much bigger [Green Mill Gardens] complex, which was an outdoor music gardens fashioned after The Moulin Rouge Gardens in Paris. It was a sunken gardens area, surrounded by a wall and featured nightly entertainment during the summer months. It also featured a dining room which was later converted to the [Green Mill Cocktail Lounge] during construction of the Uptown Theatre on the former site of the outdoor music gardens.

The [Green Mill Cocktail Lounge] was once owned by "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn, a right-hand man of Al Capone, who was a regular patron at The Green Mill. The 1957 movie, The Joker Is Wild, is based on the life of a regular performer at the Green Mill, Joe E. Lewis. Starring Frank Sinatra, the movie is the story about how Joe tried to leave his gig at the Green Mill and was attacked and left for dead in his apartment. Joe survived and continued his successful career in California. The [Green Mill Jazz Club] still hosts top jazz performers and a weekly Poetry Slam. Marc Smith, who is credited for developing the Poetry Slam, still hosts the weekly events at the Green Mill.

Kinetic Playground

The [Kinetic Playground] is a new Uptown concert venue which takes its name from the famous music venue of the early 1960's, which helped launch the Rock 'N Roll Era in Chicago. Famous for its light shows, the original Kinetic Playground, located in the former [Rainbo Arena] on Clark Street, hosted such Rock greats as Janis Joplin, Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, The Who and Jethro Tull.

Argyle Street Asian restaurants and shops

Argyle Street, from Sheridan to Broadway and spilling onto Broadway, features an exceptional selection of Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Laotian, French Vietnamese and Cambodian ethnic restaurants and bakeries. There are also many Asian groceries, shops and trading companies that sell unique Asian merchandise. This area is locally called by many different names, including New Chinatown, North Chinatown, Little Chinatown, Little Saigon, Little Cambodia or Little Vietnam. The surrounding neighborhood, which has attracted Asian immigrants and refugees for the past several decades, is a unique and popular tourist destination. It is easily reached by the Argyle stop on the Red Line "El."

Uptown Theatre

The Uptown Theatre is a mammouth, ornate movie palace with almost 4,500 seats. The largest in Chicago, this architectural gem is on several Landmark Registers. The Uptown Theatre was designed by famous movie palace Architects, Rapp and Rapp, who also designed the Chicago Theatre in the Chicago Loop. It was managed by the Balaban and Katz Company. The Uptown Theatre is currently closed, but efforts are underway by Friends of the Uptown and other local groups to restore and reopen the theater.

The Rainbo

[The Rainbo], at 4812 N. Clark, has recently been torn down for a new condo and townhouse development. At one point, however, it was a very popular outdoor music garden, fashioned after the Moulin Rouge Gardens in Paris, which is the original namesake for what was then called "Moulin Rouge Gardens."

Investors bought the Moulin Rouge Gardens property and spent one-million dollars to expand the facility. Opened in 1921, Mann's Million Dollar Rainbo Room, named after Fred Mann's service in the Rainbo Division of the military, was said to be the largest nightclub in America, featuring some of the biggest names in Vaudeville and musical entertainment. Larry Fine (actor) was performing there the night he was asked to join The Three Stooges. The Rainbo Room had a revolving stage to allow for continuous entertainment. There was table seating for 2,000 patrons and space on the dance floor for an additional 1,500. WMAQ radio, which was then WQJ and owned by the Rainbo and Calumet Baking Powder Company, broadcasted music of the Rainbo's performers as a form of promotion.

In 1927, during Prohibition, it was converted to a major casino and sports venue, called the Rainbo Fronton.

In 1934, during the Chicago World's Fair (A Century of Progress), it became French Casino. The French Casino is where John Dillinger spent his birthday, July 21, 1934, the night before he was shot.

In 1939, it became Mike Todd's Theater Cafe, which was a popular dinner theater. [Tommy Sutton], the Theater Cafe's choreographer, went on to work with Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington and Nat King Cole, among others. It was also a venue for Championship Wrestling where, in 1955, the first women's tag team wrestling match was held. ([Mille Stafford and Penny Banner vs LeChona LeClaire and Mae Weston])

In 1957, The Theater Cafe was converted to an ice skating rink, called Rainbo Arena, which was a practice rink for the Chicago Blackhawks including the year they won the 1961 Stanley Cup. The Rainbo Arena was also a training rink for several Olympic figure skaters, housed a pro bowling alley and the original Kinetic Playground music venue.

More recently, The Rainbo was a popular late night roller rink.

Arcadia Ballroom

The [Arcadia Ballroom], at 4444 N. Broadway was one of the first Dance Halls in Chicago. Promoter Paddy Harmon, who later developed Dreamland Ballroom and the Chicago Stadium, found that black jazz bands were popular with the Arcadia Ballroom late night crowds. It was one of the few places on the north side of Chicago which would book black jazz bands in the 1920's and 1930's, the other being the Green Mill Jazz Club. The building was destroyed in a fire in the 1950's.

5100 Club

The [5100 Club], at 5100 N. Broadway Avenue, was a nightclub that hosted comedy performances before the advent of television. One regular headliner was Danny Thomas, who was discovered there by the head of the William Morris Agency. Danny would later go on to star in movies and in "Make Room For Daddy," one of the [longest running sitcoms] in American Television history. His daughter, Marlo Thomas, who is married to Phil Donahue, was the star of the Television series, That Girl.

Parks, Beaches and Boating

A lakefront community at the northern edge of Lincoln Park on Lake Michigan, Uptown features two public beaches: Foster Beach and Montrose Beach. There is also a dog beach at the southern edge of Montrose Beach. Montrose Harbor, just near Montrose Beach, is a marina for local and transient boaters and is home to the [Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club]. Small craft [boat rental] is available at Montrose Beach.

Uptown also has an extensive park system. The main park for the Uptown area is Lincoln Park, which has soccer and athletic fields, a segment of the Chicago lakefront bicycle/running path, Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary ("The Magic Hedge"), a sledding hill, Puptown Dog Park, Wilson Skatepark and Waveland (Marovitz) Golf Course to the south. Two separate parks, which may be considered inland extensions of the lakefront Lincoln Park, are located just west of Lake Shore Drive. Named Clarendon Park and Margate Park, each feature athletic fields, children's playgrounds and indoor sports facilities. Both parks in turn give its name to the surrounding neighborhood. Chase Park, located on the west side of Clark Street at Leland Avenue, has indoor and outdoor athletic facilities, as well as an outdoor pool and tennis courts.

Neighborhoods

Neighborhoods comprising Uptown
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Neighborhoods comprising Uptown

Buena Park

Buena Park is a neighborhood bounded by Montrose Avenue, Irving Park Road, Graceland Cemetery and Lake Shore Drive. The core of the neighborhood is very suburban with driveways and spacious lots. It is in sharp contrast to the skyscrapers that populate the area around it. It can be accessed from the Sheridan stop on the CTA's Red Line.

Today, many people assume that Buena Park is a "new name" given to this part of Uptown by developers trying to give the area a better name (like those trying to call Humboldt Park "West Bucktown"). In reality Robert A. Waller developed Buena Park starting in 1887 by subdividing his property. The original Waller home is now the site of St. Mary of the Lake church (built in 1917). Buena Park pre-dates the remainder of Uptown by a number of years.

Additionally, Lincoln Park High School on Armitage Ave in the Lincoln Park neighborhood was formerly Robert Waller HS until being renamed in 1980.

"The Delectable Ballad of the Waller Lot" by Chicago poet Eugene Field:

Up yonder in Buena Park There is a famous spot, In legand and in history (Known as) the Waller lot.

Above information from the book "They Built Chicago" by Miles L. Berger. A must read for anyone interested in the history of Chicago.

Sheridan Park

Sheridan Park is a neighborhood bounded by Lawrence Avenue on the north, Clark on the west, Montrose on the south and Broadway on the east. It is mostly residential, containing six-flats, single family homes, and courtyard apartment buildings. There is a growing business district along Wilson Avenue, which bisects Sheridan Park from Broadway to Clark. Truman College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago, is also located in Sheridan Park. The neighborhood can be accessed from either the Wilson or Lawrence stop on the CTA's Red Line.

Little Chinatown

The Little Chinatown, also known as North Chinatown or New Chinatown neighborhood (indicated as Argyle Park on graphic) is along Argyle Street and Broadway in Uptown. Despite the name, this neighborhood is mostly populated by residents who had Vietnamese and Cambodian nationality. However, many, if not most, were from ethnic Chinese minorities and, for that reason, became refugees during the Sino-Vietnamese war of the late 1970s. This neighborhood may also be referred to as Little Cambodia or Little Vietnam. In the span of a few city blocks, New Chinatown boasts half a dozen Asian grocery stores as well as more than a dozen Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, and Chinese restaurants. The neighborhood should not be confused with Chinatown, which is in the Armour Square community area on the South Side of the city.

A noteworthy minority within a minority on Argyle are the Bui Doi, those of mixed Vietnamese and American ancestry. Children of mixed unions often suffered from discrimination in Vietnam, partly because of hostility to the US armed forces and partly because the women (the unions were almost always of Vietnamese women and American men) were seen as prostitutes. The most discriminated against are those of African American-Vietnamese parents.

The neighborhood can be easily reached from the Argyle stop on the CTA's Red Line.

Points of interest

Hospitals

Schools

New Chinatown at the Argyle Red Line stop. Photo by Jordan Bettis.
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New Chinatown at the Argyle Red Line stop. Photo by Jordan Bettis.

Theatres

External links

 

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