McKinley Park is a neighborhood and official community area located at the geographic center of Chicago, Illinois, about 4-1/2 miles southwest of Chicago's Loop. Its borders are Interstate 55 on the north, the South Branch of the Chicago River (aka "Bubbly Creek") on the east, Pershing Road on the south and the CSX railroad tracks and viaduct on the west.
Major thoroughfares include South Ashland Avenue, West 35th Street, South Archer Avenue, South Damen Avenue, West Pershing Road and South Western Avenue and Boulevard, as well as Interstate 55 and two Orange Line El stops at 35th/Archer and at Ashland. The neighborhood's namesake 69-acre park abuts Chicago's boulevard system at Western and comprises the largest green space in the area.
Neighborhood Info
In addition to its official Community Area, the effective region of the McKinley Park neighborhood stretches to man-made boundaries on the north and south, including, respectively, the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and the Norfolk Southern Ashland Yard. These areas include planned manufacturing districts that the City of Chicago has designated for commercial and industrial use, including the historic, first-of-its-kind Central Manufacturing District along West Pershing Road and between South Ashland Avenue and Bubbly Creek.
Neighborhood History
First settled around 1836 by Irish immigrants working on the Illinois & Michigan Canal, the neighborhood gained industrial businesses over the next couple decades, supported by the canal and nearby rail lines. The City of Chicago annexed the neighborhood in 1863, and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 pushed many burned-out companies to rebuild there, providing jobs for the working-class families populating the growing area. Originally the Brighton Park Race Track and then cabbage patches, the land comprising the initial park was dedicated in 1901 following the assassination of President William McKinley. It was to be a different, experimental type of park, as stated on the Chicago Park District's website:
At the time, Chicago's existing parks were far away from the filthy, noisy, overcrowded tenement neighborhoods in the center of the city. Superintendent J. Frank Foster envisioned a new type of park that would provide social services as well as breathing spaces in these areas. ... The effort was so successful that the following year the South Park Commission began creating a whole system of new neighborhood parks for the south side.
Over 10,000 attended the park's dedication on June 13, 1902, and it received such intensive use that in 1906, the parks commission acquired adjacent property, doubling McKinley Park's acreage. Its current facilities include a field house, swimming pool, gymnasiums, meeting rooms, ball fields, ice rink, tennis courts, biking and walking trails, and a lagoon. It is supported by Chicago Parks District staff and the McKinley Park Advisory Council.
McKinley Park Neighborhood Plan
In February 2021, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) released the McKinley Park Neighborhood Plan, a project won by the McKinley Park Development Council in 2017.
McKinley Park's neighborhood plan was based on years of outreach and engagement, and resulted in recommendations to achieve six identified community goals: preserve neighborhood diversity, promote equitable transit-oriented development, revitalize commercial corridors, modernize the Central Manufacturing District, enhance and expand parks and recreational opportunities, and create a resilient community.
Demographics, Businesses and Institutions
Latino residents comprise 55 percent of the current population of the McKinley Park neighborhood, joined by close to 30 percent Asian and 15 percent white residents. The neighborhood includes a mix of commercial and residential areas, with housing stock consisting mostly of single family homes and two-flats.
McKinley Park's many restaurants and shopping options are clustered along South Archer Avenue, West 35th Street and on South Ashland Avenue, and include Mariano's and Jewel grocery stores, a Target department store, an Ace Hardware, a Walgreens drugstore, and many independent and franchise outlets serving both retail and business clientele. Numerous manufacturing, production and industrial companies maintain sites east of South Ashland Avenue, along Pershing Road in the historic Central Manufacturing District, and north of Interstate 55.
Neighborhood institutions include grammar and middle schools, a branch of the Chicago Public Library, the William McKinley American Legion Post 231, and several churches. Hoyne Park is very popular; other neighborhood public green spaces include Kucinski-Murphy Park, Mulberry Playlot Park, Canal Origins Park, Canalport Riverwalk Park and Richard J. Daley Park, which includes the city's only public boat launch on the Chicago River.
The longest-lived community group is the McKinley Park Civic Association; some other groups serving the neighborhood include the McKinley Park Community Garden and the McKinley Park Development Council.
Politics and Government
The McKinley Park neighborhood is split between Chicago's 11th and 12th Wards, represented, respectively, by Alderwoman Nicole Lee and Alderwoman Julia Ramirez. It is represented within the 9th District Police Council by Carlos Sanchez, Denise McBroom and Erin Vogel.
In the Illinois State Legislature, the neighborhood's House districts include District 24, represented by Theresa Mah, and District 1, represented by Aarón Ortíz, as well as Senate District 12, represented by Celina Villanueva, and District 1, represented by Javier Loera Cervantes.
In the U.S. Congress, the McKinley Park neighborhood is represented by 4th District Representative Jesús "Chuy" Garcia and U.S. senators Richard Durbin and Tammy Duckworth.
